KENYA TREE CORAL CARE OVERVIEW
LIGHT: LOW-MODERATE(100-200par) is what we find best. These corals are highly adaptable to lighting. You can learn more about Lighting and it's overall impact on your reef tank in our article Lighting and your Reef Tank
FOOD: We haven't noticed that any specific feeding strategy is required for these corals. Like most corals they capture nutrients from the water 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: LOW-MODERATE. Kenya Tree like other leathers will benefit from low-moderate indirect water movement. Their polyps aren't overly sensaitive to water movement and it's important to keep detritus clear. Too much flow will cause their polyps to retract and can even kill the coral. Like goldilocks you want it to be just right. Too much flow, especially direct flow, can cause damage to the coral's 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. Kenya Tree corals are easy to care for can grow nicely in ideal conditions. They are not very susceptible to coral diseases like STN, RTN, and the like. Kenya Tree are a soft coral species and do not have a calcium carbonate skeleton and therefor do not require extreme maintenance of Calcium and Alkalinity. Like with all corals, specimens have been seen to do well in captivity when the right combination of Food/Light/Flow and Filtration are achieved.
PRICE: LOW. These corals tend to grow very quickly and are readily available as aquacultured frags. They tend to do well in captivity overall and are considered difficult to kill. Because of this their pricing never gets too high. Still, for very large or particularly beautiful specimen's you should expect to pay more.
COLLECTION ZONE: Indo-Pacific
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Capnella is a genus of soft corals in the family Nephtheidae. They are also commonly known as Kenya tree corals.
AGGRESSION: AGGRESSIVE. Some corals are just notorious for creating allelopathy (Chemical Warfare) issues. For instance, among the soft corals, various Sarcophyton, Lobophytum, Sinularia, and Lemnalia species are well known for their toxic tendencies. While we have had much success keeping leather corals along side many other species or at least within the same system as other species, we are sure to employ activated carbon and adequate filtration and dwell time. We tend to keep them downwind from other more sensitive species.
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: While these are soft corals and are not consumers of calcium/alkalinity as they do not lay a calcium carbonate skeleton, we still recommend 8-9 dKh. You can read more about how we maintain our alkalinity in our article Alkalinity, Calcium and your Reef Tank
CALCIUM: While these are soft corals and are not consumers of calcium/alkalinity as they do not lay a calcium carbonate skeleton, we still recommend 400-450 Calcium. You can read more about how we maintain our calcium in our article Alkalinity, Calcium and your Reef Tank
More About Kenya Tree Corals
Capnella, commonly known as “Cauliflower'' or “Kenya Tree corals,” are soft corals in the Nephtheidae family. They are typically cream, gray, pink, green, or brown in color. Besides adding beautiful movement to their environment, they are also valued for their ability to tolerate most reef conditions. Kenya Tree corals are a great choice for the new hobbyist.
Kenya Tree corals can thrive under a variety of lighting conditions. We recommend 100-150 PAR. Bear in mind that most corals can be gradually adapted to lighting conditions outside of their normal preferences. Kenya Tree corals also prefer moderately strong water flow.
Through their symbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic algae, known as zooxanthellae, they receive many of their nutrients. Kenya Tree corals may benefit from supplemental weekly feedings of micro-plankton and other foods designed for filter-feeding invertebrates. To maintain good health, iodine, strontium and other trace elements should be monitored and added as needed. If you notice a branch of your Kenya Tree coral swells up and falls off, there’s no need to worry. This is how they reproduce. The branch will attach itself to a substrate and a new Kenya Tree coral will grow.
When placing your Kenya Tree coral, please remember that these corals aren't really aggressive corals, but have the potential to release chemicals that could damage other corals that are too close. Be sure to provide enough personal space for your Kenya Tree corals to grow and thrive.
