Merulina ampliata
| Care Level | Moderate |
| Lighting | Moderate to high |
| Water Flow | Moderate |
| Placement | Rock, mid tank |
| Aggression | Semi-aggressive (short sweepers) |
| Coloration | Green, cream, with contrasting edges |
Overview
Merulina, sometimes called ruffled or lettuce coral, grows as plates and short branches crossed by distinctive ridges that radiate and fork outward, giving it a rippled, ruffled texture. Green and cream forms with contrasting growth edges are common and eye-catching. It is a fast-growing, rewarding stony coral for a keeper ready to move past the absolute beginner pieces.
Care & Placement
Moderate. Give it moderate to high light and moderate flow, mounted on rock in the mid tank where its plates have room to spread. It grows quickly and encrusts, so plan for expansion and keep it from crowding neighbors. Stable alkalinity and calcium support its rapid skeletal growth.
Feeding
Photosynthetic and mostly self-sufficient on light. It will take small meaty and planktonic foods at night, and occasional feeding supports its fast growth and color, but it does not depend on it.
Propagation
Easy and fast: cut a section of the ridged plate and glue it to a plug or rubble. Merulina heals and regrows quickly, readily encrusting and plating outward from the frag.
Cautions
It can extend short sweeper tentacles at night and, more importantly, grows fast enough to overgrow and shade slower neighbors, so give it space and watch its spread.
Frequently Asked Questions
How fast does Merulina grow?
Quite fast for a stony coral — under good light and stable chemistry it plates and encrusts rapidly, which means it will overgrow slower neighbors if crowded. Give it room to expand.
Is Merulina aggressive?
Mildly. It can put out short sweeper tentacles at night, so leave a little space, and its main “aggression” is really its fast growth shading out nearby corals.
What lighting does Merulina need?
Moderate to high. It colors up and grows best under solid reef lighting with moderate flow. Acclimate it gradually into brighter light to avoid bleaching.