Pectinia Coral

Pectinia sp.

Care Level	Moderate
Lighting	Low to moderate
Water Flow	Low to moderate
Placement	Low rock or sand
Aggression	Semi-aggressive — night sweeper tentacles & filaments
Coloration	Green, teal, purple or orange, often with a contrasting fluorescent center

Overview

Pectinia is a striking LPS coral that grows in jagged, upright blades, spires and folded laminae, creating a dramatic, almost architectural colony. Often intensely fluorescent, it is sometimes called the Lettuce, Carnation or Spiny Cup coral. Its thin, lightweight tissue makes a bold, colorful centerpiece.

Care & Placement

It colors up best under low-to-moderate light — too much light or flow can burn or tear its thin tissue. Provide gentle, indirect flow and place it low on the rock or on the sand where it will not be blasted. Give it room, as it can extend sweeper tentacles and mesenterial feeding filaments at night.

Feeding

Photosynthetic, but benefits from feeding — target-feed small meaty foods (mysis, fine chopped seafood, coral foods) after dark, when the polyps and feeding tentacles emerge.

Propagation

Fragged by cutting through the thin skeleton with bone cutters or a saw; the delicate tissue must be handled carefully so it can heal on a plug.

Cautions

Thin, fragile tissue tears easily — keep flow gentle and handle with care. It deploys stinging sweeper tentacles and digestive filaments at night, so leave a few inches from neighbors. Prone to bleaching under intense light; acclimate it gradually.