Starry Cup Coral

General information

The Starry Cup Coral are large reef-building corals that usually takes the massive and encrusting form. Their corallites are irregularly shaped that forms short valleys with several centers. They have a moderate flesh cover that is usually colored red, cream or brown with a contrasting color on the wall and mouth.

This is the ideal range of water parameters for raising Starry Cup Coral in captivity:

• Calcium: 400 – 450 ppm
• Alkalinity: 3.2 – 4.8 MEQ/L
• Phosphates: 0
• Magnesium: 1200 – 1350
• Strontium: 8 – 10

In the wild, Starry Cup Coral has developed a symbiotic feeding relationship with marine algae called zooxanthellae. But in captivity, you have to feed them with nanoplankton or dissolved organics.

A mature tank is highly recommended in propagating Starry Cup Coral. Thriving them with fish is recommended as fish excretes nitrogen that can sustain the coral's growth.

Starry Cup Coral does not need high flow rate and intense light. Giving them moderate lighting allows the Starry Cup Coral to spread their polyps thereby allowing them to feed. Too much light will cause the polyps to be retracted.

Except for their kind, Starry Cup Coral is aggressive towards other species. During the night, they extend their tentacles and sting nearby corals. It is recommended to observe proper spacing between corals. Further, they have the tendency to be overpowered with soft corals and will die especially if soft corals outnumber them.

Starry Cup Coral is usually found on the Indo-West Pacific region particularly in Indonesia to Melanesia, north to Japan and south to Australia which makes them a tropical to subtropical species.

Except for their kind, Starry Cup Coral is aggressive towards other species. During the night, they extend their tentacles and sting nearby corals. It is recommended to observe proper spacing between corals. Further, they have the tendency to be overpowered with soft corals and will die especially if soft corals outnumber them.

Starry Cup Coral are purely marine. So, therefore, salinity must be maintained thoroughly at 1.023 to 1.025 specific gravity.