Plerogyra sinuosa
The Bubble Coral, Plerogyra sinuosa, have lightweight skeletons consisting of short thick stalks topped with corallites.
This skeleton is hidden by the oval water-filled vesicle bubbles. The bubbles will expand or contract as needed for acquiring more or less light during the day, but at night they deflate, making way for their tapered feeding tentacles to come out and gather prey.
While the ?bubbles? do not have toxins, these feeding tentacles are capable of delivering a sting.
Plerogyra sinuosa come in shades of bluish-green to green, cream and tan with lighter striations on the surface, but will turn brown if the light is too high.
There are usually pieces of sharp, delicate, thin ?bone? called septa in-between the bubbles.
In the wild, they are found in turbid waters with gentle water movement on lower reef slopes, inhabiting caves or crevices, and under overhangs.
They seem to have no real light preference and can be found in low light areas that have almost total shade or in shallower brighter waters.
Basic Water Parameters
pH
8.0 to 8.3
Salinity
34 - 36ppt
Temperature
24.0 - 26.0 Celsius
Husbandry Requirements
Lighiting
50-100 PAR
Flow
Passive circulation
Aggressiveness
Has long sweeper tentacles and/or strong stinging ability that can damage most other corals.
Acclimation Guide
- It is highly recommended to acclimate all corals to a new environment to prevent shocking corals.
- Place the corals in the water from the packing bags and slowly add the water from new environment (Dripping method is recommended).
- Use the water parameter above as a guide.
- When the vessel becomes full , replace the water with the new environment water by a small amount at a time.
- Ensure the water temperature matches with the new environment’s water.
- After the corals have spent adequate time in the acclimation water, gently place the corals to a new environment.
- It is recommended to place new corals under lower light intensity than usually required. Once corals show no signs of stress, it can be moved to higher lighting area gradually.”