Description
The very slippery to the touch Colt coral is also called the Cauliflower Colt Coral, Stubby Finger Leather Coral, Blushing Coral, Finger-Tip Cladiella, and Seaman's Hand Coral. A very popular and easy care leather coral, there are many species of Colt Coral and its difficult to know the exact species but its easy to tell colt corals because they are pink to tan colored and are slippery to the touch. These thick finger-like projections branch upward from a very short, pale white stalk. It has projections resembling fingers that are round to cone-shaped, and stubby. A popular and easy care leather coral, a perfect coral for the beginning through expert reef aquarist, on a scale of 1-10, difficulty of care is a 2!. They are not very sensitive to handling as many soft corals are, and are easy to propagate.
Care Level
Easy
Aggressiveness
Peaceful
Lighting & Flow Requirements
Colt Coral, Cladiella sp. is very easy to care. Provide a moderate level of water flow. For lighting the Colt coral requires a low to moderate level of lighting. Lighting can be Power compacts, T5's, LED's or even Metal Halides. All lighting can grow Leather Corals as long as the proper level of light is provided. If a Par meter is available the appropriate lighting level is anywhere from a Par 100 all the way to a Par 250. Which is a wide range of acceptability. For lighting spectrum use between a 14-20K color spectrum for your bulbs for best coral coloration.
Rinse
Rinse: This coral will slime during shipping. Make sure to rinse it off in saltwater before placing it in your display aquarium.
Placement
Mount Colt Coral on any exposed rock in the bottom two-thirds of the reef aquarium. Make sure you leave several inches around the Colt Coral as it is a very fast grower. If your colt coral gets to large remember it is very easy to frag.
Diet and Feeding
Although Colt Coral receives the majority of the nutritional requirements through the process of photosynthesis, which simply means their lighting creates symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae in the body of the leather coral which provides its nutrition. We do recommend providing supplemental food such as micro-plankton, baby brine shrimp, or foods designed for filter feeding invertebrates.
Water Chemistry:
Providing additions of iodine will help the Colt Coral grow.
|
