BOWERBANKI CORAL CARE OVERVIEW

• LIGHT: MODERATE (150 par) Lighting is best. It is easy to damage coral with too much lighting so in our opinion when it comes to lighting, less is often more for LPS corals. You can learn more about Lighting and it's overall impact on your reef tank in our article Lighting and your Reef Tank

• FOOD: Bowerbanki tend to have hungry mouths and polyps always at the ready for feeding. They like to capture nutrients from the water column and will do best when supplied a healthy amount of food. Our method is high import, high export. You can learn more about Feeding and Filtration in our article Feeding, Filtration and your Reef Tank.

• FLOW: MODERATE. Bowerbanki corals do best with moderate indirect flow. Enough to keep them clean and carry food and nutrients to them. Too much flow, especially direct flow, can cause damage to the corals tissue. You can read more about Flow and its overall impact on your reef tank in our article Flow and your Reef Tank

• DIFFICULTY: MODERATE. Like most LPS corals the Bowerbanki is not the most difficult to keep. They are very similar to Lobophyllia and Favias in terms of the care requirements. They are typically considered slow growers and are not the type of coral you see aqua cultured very often. Their slow growth rate is often reflected in their price. These corals can really thrive when the right combination of Food/Light/Flow and Filtration are achieved, but in our opinion requires a moderate level of reef keeping knowledge.

• PRICE: MODERATE. Depending on size and coloration Bowerbanki's can be valuable. However for the most part this is not the most popular coral in the hobby although they can be stunning and often times slept on by the general hobbyist. The price remains moderate due to its slow growth nature and limited aquaculture availability.

• COLLECTION ZONE: Indo-Pacific

• SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Homophyllia Bowerbanki. Formerly a member of the Acanthastrea family the Bowerbanki has been re-classed into Homophyllia.
  

• AGGRESSION: AGGRESSIVE. Bowerbanki's are very aggressive corals especially as they grow larger and start to thrive. It is best to give large or even medium sized colonies a fair bit of room. We recommend at least 4-5". Other strategies can be implemented by advanced hobbyists such as using wavemakers to keep sweepers pointed down wind.

• NATURAL TEMPERATURE: 82 °F / 28 °C  although most corals can adapt and survive in temps as low as 77 degrees and as high as 84 degrees. You can read more about temperature and how it affects your reef tank in our article Temperature and your Reef Tank.

• PH: Recommend 8.0-8.4, we tend to run around 8.2-8.3 over 24 hours. You can read more about pH in our article pH and your Reef Tank

• NITRATE: 5-10, try to keep stable. You can read more about nitrate and our approach to maintaining it in our article Nutrients and your Reef Tank

• PHOSPHATE: 0.05-0.1, try to keep stable. You can read more about Phosphate and our approach to maintaining it in our article Nutrients and your Reef Tank

• ALKALINITY: Recommend 8-9 dKh. You can read more about how we maintain our alkalinity in our article Alkalinity, Calcium and your Reef Tank

• CALCIUM: Recommend 400-450. You can read more about how we maintain our calcium in our article Alkalinity, Calcium and your Reef Tank

The Bowerbanki coral, assigned to the genus Homophyllia in 2016, is a large polyp stony (LPS) coral. The thick-walled, circular corallites of the Bowerbanki coral appear joined directly to one another by fused walls. The corallites are irregularly shaped and may be arranged individually or in short valleys with continuous walls containing several corallites. The skeleton is covered with folded, fleshy tissue. Bowerbanki corals can appear in shades of gold, green, blue, yellow, purple, orange and red.

When introducing a Bowerbanki coral into your reef, location is important regarding lighting and waterflow. Bowerbanki corals should be kept under moderate lighting.  We recommend 150-200 PAR. Bear in mind that many corals can be gradually acclimated to lighting beyond their normal range. High lighting can damage a Bowerbanki coral and quickly lead to bleaching.  Bowerbanki corals also prefer low to moderate flow. High flow could cause the polyps to not fully extend or could cause tears in the fleshy tissue. Lower flow also provides more opportunities for your Bowerbanki coral to catch a meal.

Through their symbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic algae, known as zooxanthellae, they receive many of their nutrients.  Bowerbanki corals benefit from targeted feeding of meaty foods like Mysis shrimp or brine shrimp. To maintain good health, calcium, strontium, and other trace elements should be monitored and added as needed.

Bowerbanki corals are peaceful, but they need their own personal space.  At night, stinging sweeper tentacles will emerge from the Bowerbanki coral and ensure that nothing is encroaching on that personal space, so make sure to give this coral about 2 - 4 inches away from other corals to grow and thrive.