Galaxy Coral

Galaxea fascicularis

Care Level	Moderate
Lighting	Moderate
Water Flow	Moderate
Placement	Low to mid rock, with space
Aggression	Very aggressive — long sweeper tentacles
Coloration	Green, gray or brown with contrasting oral discs

Overview

The Galaxy Coral forms a mound of small, star-like calices whose tentacles give the colony a shimmering, galaxy-of-stars appearance. Beautiful and hardy, but armed with exceptionally long sweeper tentacles.

Care & Placement

Moderate light and moderate flow suit it well. Its real danger is its reach — it deploys sweeper tentacles several inches long at night that badly sting anything nearby, so place it in open space with a wide buffer from all other corals.

Feeding

Photosynthetic, but a hungry feeder — target-feed meaty foods (mysis, chopped seafood) a couple of times a week for best growth.

Propagation

Colonies can be fragged by cutting through the skeleton between calices with a saw; encrusting pieces grow out on plugs.

Cautions

VERY AGGRESSIVE — the long sweeper tentacles will kill neighboring corals; leave 4–6 inches of clear space on all sides.