Symphyllia sp.

Care Level	Easy to moderate
Lighting	Low to moderate
Water Flow	Low to moderate
Placement	Low rock or sand
Aggression	Semi-aggressive — night feeder/sweeper tentacles
Coloration	Rainbow — red, green, orange and purple across meandering valleys and ridges

Overview

Symphyllia — sold as the Meat, Master or Dented Brain Coral — is a large fleshy LPS that builds a heavy, dome-shaped colony of continuous meandering ridges and valleys, like a giant thick-tissued brain. Often spectacularly multicolored (“rainbow”), it makes a hardy, showy centerpiece. (Taxonomy has recently folded Symphyllia into Lobophyllia, but the hobby still recognizes the classic massive Symphyllia form.)

Care & Placement

Adaptable to low-to-moderate light and gentle flow. Place it low on the rock or directly on the sand, where its heavy fleshy tissue will not be torn by strong current. Give it space — it inflates with water by day and extends feeder and sweeper tentacles at night, so keep a few inches from neighbors.

Feeding

Photosynthetic, but a strong feeder that grows and colors up faster when fed — target-feed meaty foods (mysis, chopped shrimp, coral foods) after dark, when the feeding tentacles emerge.

Propagation

Difficult — as a continuous meandering colony it can only be divided by cutting through the skeleton with a saw, and fragging large brains is best left to experienced hobbyists.

Cautions

Keep flow gentle so the inflated tissue is not torn, and watch for “brown jelly” infection if the flesh is damaged. Extends stinging sweeper tentacles at night — give it room.