I want to know more about chalice corals? What do you know about them?

[Gumbies R Us]

One coral that has interested me for a while has been chalice corals. I love the variety they come in, and how they can truly make a tank pop. The issue is, im not well versed in chalice coral knowledge. That is where you as a community come in! I want to know your thoughts on chalice corals, your experiences, and your general care tips! (Also if you have pictures of chalice corals, bonus points for you). Photo Credit: @Acanholic

 

[exnisstech]

I know I have never been able to keep one alive

 

[timmyrules]

I really don’t know much about them…I just saw one at my lfs and thought “Omgosh!!! It’s so pretty!!! I must have it!” So I got two, and they have been with me for about 5 months.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Following along.

I can keep them alive but I can't get them to grow. My 2 that I've had for one and two years are still on the frag plug, they just won't grow.

 

[timmyrules]

Following along.

I can keep them alive but I can't get them to grow. My 2 that I've had for one and two years are still on the frag plug, they just won't grow.

Mine seem to grow better in dirty water…I went through a rough patch where I unintentionally neglected my tank, and for whatever reason, the chalices loved it.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I really don’t know much about them…I just saw one at my lfs and thought “Omgosh!!! It’s so pretty!!! I must have it!” So I got two, and they have been with me for about 5 months.

Are they growing well for you?

 

[timmyrules]

Are they growing well for you?

I think so! They’ve grow at least an inch since I got them!

 

[JGT]

Grow well for me. Some great colors. Low to medium light, moderate flow. Some are encrusters which can get annoying in trying to contain them.

 

[rhitee93]

I got this little guy back in March:

Here it was a few weeks ago:

I don't really know much about them though. I asked a few weeks ago for some advice on where to place this one as I've never really felt I had it in the right spot. After all the replies, I decided to just leave it where it is as and let it keep plating out.

 

[Reefer Matt]

The ones I have seem to thrive in lower par, around 50.

 

[Dkmoo]

I have a pretty big colony that started as a 2 inch frag that put on the "back side" of my main rock structure so it's relatively low par and low flow. It's not completely in the shade but it's it's on the edge of the tank so mostly getting indirect lighting from internal refraction.

Parameter is definitely on the "high nutrient" side but as with all corals, stability and patience is key.

My biggest surprise is how aggressive they are. At night their sweepers extent 3-5 inches. Currently I'm basically leaving that entire section of the tank just for them ( you can kinda see the gorgonia in the back has bare stalks bc of them)

 

[Tcook]

I also found moving them down to 50-70 par made them take off.

 

[Derrick0580]

I see everyone has them growing nice and flat or cup shaped, yet mine take the shape of whatever they are growing over. My Raja is almost growing upside down as it grows up and over a ledge. This is definitely going to make it difficult to frag once it gets too large.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have a pretty big colony that started as a 2 inch frag that put on the "back side" of my main rock structure so it's relatively low par and low flow. It's not completely in the shade but it's it's on the edge of the tank so mostly getting indirect lighting from internal refraction.

Parameter is definitely on the "high nutrient" side but as with all corals, stability and patience is key.

My biggest surprise is how aggressive they are. At night their sweepers extent 3-5 inches. Currently I'm basically leaving that entire section of the tank just for them ( you can kinda see the gorgonia in the back has bare stalks bc of them)

Oh wow, didn't know they could get aggressive like that

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I got this little guy back in March:

Here it was a few weeks ago:

I don't really know much about them though. I asked a few weeks ago for some advice on where to place this one as I've never really felt I had it in the right spot. After all the replies, I decided to just leave it where it is as and let it keep plating out.

Seems like it is doing great in that area!

 

[dkline]

One coral that has interested me for a while has been chalice corals. I love the variety they come in, and how they can truly make a tank pop. The issue is, im not well versed in chalice coral knowledge. That is where you as a community come in! I want to know your thoughts on chalice corals, your experiences, and your general care tips! (Also if you have pictures of chalice corals, bonus points for you). Photo Credit: @Acanholic

I have one. When I got it I put it in medium light and it died back to a small spot. I moved that tiny spot to the bottom of the tank under an overhang so very low par and over the course of 9 months it has grown to the size of a quarter. Also have higher nutrients in my tank. So I think very low par is the way to go.

 

[Dburr1014]

Low light/high light, low/medium flow, once they are established, hard to kill.
They don't like sand on them for any amount of time, I found that out. They don't need to be fed but you can.
Easy to frag, just break a piece off after they ran out of rock because they will plate out.

 

[Saffer1]

Contrary to everyone else's experience, my chalice grew from a 3 cm frag to 12 cm under bright light and good flow, in slightly dirty water.

 

[Reef Puncher]

I know I have never been able to keep one alive

same! me too!!! its the only coral that dies on me that i cant point to a reason. i have lost a couple torches, but that was a bjd infection. i can explain that one. and one time i bleached a coral when i was new and didnt know. but chalice is the only coral i have lost, a couple, and cant explain why. meanwhile sensitive acro and goni in my tank are doing fine.....explain that.....

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Contrary to everyone else's experience, my chalice grew from a 3 cm frag to 12 cm under bright light and good flow, in slightly dirty water.

Do you have pictures?