In the UK we have a yeast-based food spread called Marmite (Vegemite,) and people’s vehement love or hate for it has become a British institution. Our featured coral, The Hollywood Stunner chalice coral is similarly polarizing amongst the reefing community, known for being fast-growing and plating, yet aggressive, and a bit of a weed at the same time.
Although we refer to the Hollywood Stunner as a chalice, Echinopora lamellosa as it is formally known belongs to the family Merulinidae, which includes hugely varied LPS coral genera from Trachyphyllia and Catalaphyllia to Favites, Pectinia, and Mycedium. New reefers will be forgiven for mistaking it for an SPS coral, with its thin skin and plating tiers. Still, the corallites are larger and more widely spread than on that of say a plating Monitpora species. The other LPS giveaway is the far-reaching, stinging sweeper tentacles that the Stunner can release and stretch out at will, often to the detriment of its less heavily weaponized neighbors.
Hollywood Stunners are cheap to buy and widely available, and once glued into position they soon start to grow, plate, and scroll. They are useful space fillers and good for consuming Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium through growth when extra consumption is necessary to even out a dosing regime. However, their commonness and fast growth work against them, as stores won’t want to buy back frags on many occasions, and due to their thin, brittle nature, accidental frags made while cleaning can be worthless.
If you’re looking for a gateway coral from LPS to SPS, fancy a cheap, structural reef builder, and like Marmite, try the Hollywood Stunner. Just don’t blame us if it overgrows and stings other corals!
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