The Funnest Part of Reefing with Happy Little Corals

Setting up a reef tank can be a lot of work – getting the whole system right where you want it in terms of the placement, rock scape, lighting, flow, chemistry levels, not to mention gear selection to get your reef…

How to Frag the Very Dense Branches of Large Stylophora

The Milka Stylophora is one of the most legendary corals in the reef aquarium hobby, and as far as we know the only stony coral strain from the mythical waters of the Red Sea. This purple polyped, yellow tipped Stylophora…

Unboxing a New Coral Shipment from Jason Fox

Jason Fox is one of the most prolific progenitors of fun and unique coral strains in the aquarium hobby and we love comparing notes with him about our observations of corals on wild reefs. While Jason might be best known…

A new way to photosynthesize discovered in mesophotic coral, Stylophora pistillata

A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science found that photosynthetic algae in corals which inhabit mesophotic reefs have a never-before seen adaptation to life in the twilight zone. Researchers found that the Symbiodinium spp. algae responsible for powering photosynthesis…

Stylophora: Achieve that SPS Aesthetic with Less-Demanding Corals

Stylophora are branching small-polyp stony corals from the Family Pocilloporidae. Stylophora shares that family with Pocillopora and Seriatopora, and the three together are the only genera in the family. As a result of their close relationship to one another, all…

Confirmed: The purple Milka Stylo was originally collected in the Red Sea

The Purple Milka Stylo aka purple polyp Stylophora is a very unusual coral. Of all the strains of birdnest (Seriatopora) cat’s paw (Stylophora) and Pocillopora that we’ve ever seen imported for the trade, many have come in tons of wild colors and…

ORA Pink Stylo returns to reefing for a second round

The ORA Pink Stylo, Stylophora pistillata is back in action after a long leave of absence from ORA’s stocklist. Stylophora pistillata as a species is highly variable in growth form with strains like the ORA purple stylo aka ‘Milka Stylo‘ growing thick…