LEPTASTREA CORAL CARE OVERVIEW

• LIGHT: LOW-MODERATE (75-150 par) is what we find best. Leptastrea corals are an encrusting coral variety that is shaggy in its appearance. It is important to keep in mind that it is far easier 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: We don't feel that Leptastrea corals require any special feeding regimen although they are sure to benefit from occasional spot feeding. They will catch and consume most food particles in the water column. 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: MODERATE. Leptastrea Corals benefit from moderate water movement which will be enough to keep the coral clean of any detritus and debris while bringing food to it's mouths. 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. There are a few varieties of Leptastrea commonly found in aquaculture which means many hobbyists have found long term success in keeping these corals. This does not mean every wild colony will be able to adapt to captivity. 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. Leptastrea is easy to aquaculture and keep long term. It is not the most sought after coral in the hobby and is limited with its color vareity. Most commonly found in green and orange, there are also some multi color varieties as well.

• COLLECTION ZONE: Indo-Pacific

• SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Leptastrea is a genus of massive reef building stony corals known primarily from the Indo-Pacific. Although previously assigned to Favidaee, it was reclassified into Scleractinia incertae sedis based on phylogenetic results demonstrating the polyphyly of Faviidae.
  

• AGGRESSION: PEACEFUL. We have not noticed any aggressive tendancy from this coral 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: 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 Leptastrea Corals

Leptastrea are large polyp stony (LPS) corals that currently belong to the Faviidae family. These beauties are fairly new to the reefing hobby. (At the time of this writing, taxonomists are still re-classifying corals in the Faviidae family.) Leptastrea corals grow by encrusting and can be found  in a variety of shades of orange, green, yellow, blue, red, and purple.

Leptastrea corals require low to moderate lighting.  We recommend a range of 50-100 PAR depending on the specific type of Leptastrea. Bear in mind that most corals can be gradually adapted to lighting conditions outside of their normal preferences. Leptastrea corals also prefer moderate water flow.

Through their symbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic algae, known as zooxanthellae, they receive many of their nutrients.  Leptastrea corals may benefit from targeted feeding with phytoplankton. To maintain good health, calcium, strontium, and other trace elements should be monitored and added as needed. When placing your Leptastrea, please remember that these corals are aggressive and may attack other corals with their sweeper tentacles. Be sure to provide enough personal space for your Leptastrea corals to grow and thrive.