Maize Brain Coral

Platygyra do well in medium to low light however do not appear to be as sensitive to changes in light as many of their close relatives in the brain coral family. Unlike many types of brain corals, they have consistent coloration despite dramatic changes in light intensity and spectrum. We recommend low to medium light for Playtgyra because it is safer to err on the side of too little light than too much light. Platygyra are known to be somewhat fragile and can die quickly if stressed.

Low to Moderate water movement is recommended. We have kept Platygyra in both low and strong flow reef aquariums without significant differences in health. Lower flow is helpful come feeding time as they do not have the most aggressive feeding behavior. You will want to avoid strong flow directed right at a colony of Platygyra. Too much flow can stress the coral and cause the skin to strip off of it.

Like many of our other LPS, we strongly believe that feeding is a major key to the long term success of keeping Platygyra brains. They can be fed a mix of meaty foods such as pieces of mysis shrimp or small pellet food. They have a series of small mouths that line the inside of their trenches and cannot eat very large pieces of food.

Proper acclimation is extremely important considering the stress imposed on the animals by the shipping process.

Platygyra are one of the corals that extends long sweeper tentacles. Sweeper tentacles are often used as a means of defense against other encroaching coral colonies. Their white tips contain a concentration of nematcysts that can damage more delicate tank mates. Most of the time, this is not a major problem but to be safe, we recommend placing it in a location far from other corals initially.