Recently, I found myself musing over the livestock lineup I had in my first reef tank many years ago. Along with a variety of easy-to-keep soft corals and a handful of hardy fish, I fondly recalled that I also had a solitary large-polyp stony (LPS) coral that brought me a lot of enjoyment—a bubble coral, known taxonomically as Plerogyra sinuosa. For as delicate as this coral looked, and its common name sounded, it proved to be quite a rugged and durable specimen. In my opinion, this wonderfully unusual-looking species is well worth keeping for beginners and experienced reefkeepers alike. I should note that there are other so-called bubble corals in the Plerogyra and Physogyra genera, but Plerogyra sinuosa is the species you’re most likely to come across and the care requirements for each are pretty much the same. Physical traits P. sinuosa comes by its common name honestly, as its tentacles are modified into oval-shaped, bubble-like vesicles, which, depending on the specimen, might be white, tan, green, yellow, or even bluish in color. If you look closely at some specimens, you might also notice interesting fingerprint-like striations or shiny bands on the vesicles. The bubbles remain expanded during the day but contract at night to reveal tapered feeding tentacles. Also after lights out, P More: The Beautiful, Beginner-Friendly Bubble Coral… More:
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