CHALICE CORAL CARE OVERVIEW

• LIGHT: LOW (50-100 par) Lighting we find 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: Chalice Corals tend to have hungry little mouths and will usually benefit from occasional spot 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. Chalice 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 or an inability to capture food. You can read more about Flow and its overall impact on your reef tank in our article Flow and your Reef Tank

• DIFFICULTY: BEGINNER. Chalice corals do fairly well in captivity and their are many aquacultured varieties available. That doesn't mean every wild specimen will adapt to captivity but it does mean that many hobbyists have experienced success long term with these types of corals. Although not considered the fastest growers, depending on the sub species some of them can grow at reasonable rates and 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: LOW-MODERATE. Like most corals, depending on size and coloration Chalice's can be valuable. These are very popular corals in the hobby due to their wide range of coloration and variety as well as the general ease of care. Many varieties are available through aquaculture as well which helps to keep the pricing reasonable.

• COLLECTION ZONE: Indo-Pacific

• SCIENTIFIC NAME:  The phrase “Chalice corals” represents a variety of corals that include the genus Echinophyllia, the genus Echinopora, the genus Echinomorpha, the genus Oxypora, the genus Mycedium, and sometimes even the genus Lithophyllon
  

• AGGRESSION: AGGRESSIVE. While it depends on the sub species of the chalice some are far more aggressive than others. On the level you would not want to place them too closely to anything that you don't want to get stung. As the chalice coral grows in health and size so does it's aggressive nature. We recommend at least 3" away from other species, potentially more. You should monitor as it grows.

• 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

More About Chalice Corals

The phrase “Chalice corals” represents a variety of corals that include the genus Echinophyllia, the genus Echinopora, the genus Echinomorpha, the genus Oxypora, the genus Mycedium, the genus Pectinia, the genus Lithophyllon, and the genus Physophyllia. Chalices are large polyp stony (LPS) corals. They have an encrusting base but grow forming little cups. Chalice corals appear in a variety of colors and patterns.

Caring for Chalice corals is relatively easy, making them an excellent choice for both beginner and expert Reef Chasers. They require low to moderate lighting. We recommend 75-100 PAR. Bear in mind that most corals can be gradually adapted to lighting conditions outside of their normal preferences. Chalice corals also prefer moderate water movement.

Through their symbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic algae, known as zooxanthellae, they receive many of their nutrients. Chalice 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.

When placing your Chalice coral, please remember that these corals are known to be aggressive. They have long sweeper tentacles that can extend to sting other corals that get too close. Be sure to provide enough personal space for your Chalice coral to grow and thrive.