QUICK STATS
Care Level: Moderate
Coral Type: LPS / Meat Coral / Acanthophyllia
Scientific Name: Acanthophyllia deshayesiana
Temperament: Semi-Aggressive
Photosynthetic: Yes
Placement: Lower to Middle / Sandbed Preferred
Lighting: Low to Moderate / Moderate Once Acclimated
Water Flow: Low to Moderate, Indirect
Approximate Purchase Size: Varies by Specimen
Approximate Max Size: Expansion Depends on Stability, Feeding, Space, Lighting, and Flow
MULTICOLOR ACANTHOPHYLLIA DESHAYESIANA CORAL
The Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral is a large, fleshy LPS coral known for its dramatic inflated tissue, bright mixed coloration, and centerpiece appearance. Depending on the specimen and lighting, it may show combinations of red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, pink, gold, rainbow, or marbled multicolor patterning across the tissue, mouth, ridges, and outer rim.
This coral is commonly identified as Acanthophyllia deshayesiana and is often called a Meat Coral, Doughnut Coral, or Button Coral. These names are charming in the same way a clownfish named “Tax Deduction” would be charming. Not elegant, but somehow still correct.
Multicolor Acanthophyllia Corals are popular because they offer huge fleshy expansion, bold color, and a premium LPS look without needing harsh SPS-style conditions. They work especially well as lower-placement showpieces in mixed reefs, LPS gardens, and open sandbed areas where their tissue can expand without rubbing against rock or nearby corals.
The Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral is photosynthetic, but it also benefits from occasional feeding. Regular feeding with small meaty foods can help support tissue fullness, coloration, resilience, and long-term health. This coral is slow-growing, so do not expect it to suddenly double like a weed. It is more of a luxury reef pancake with a long-term investment strategy.
This coral is considered semi-aggressive. It has fleshy tissue and can damage or be damaged by nearby corals. It may also extend feeding tentacles when food is present or after dark. Give it space from other corals, especially aggressive LPS with long sweepers.
Note: Image is a representation of what to expect. The coral you receive may vary slightly in size, color pattern, mouth coloration, tissue inflation, rim color, marbling, and overall appearance.
AQUARIUM REQUIREMENTS
AQUARIUM SIZE
A minimum aquarium size of 30 gallons or larger is recommended for Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral, though larger mature reef systems are preferred. Larger aquariums provide better water stability, more sandbed space, and more room for full tissue expansion.
Acanthophyllia can expand significantly when healthy, so placement space matters. Do not wedge it between rocks or place it where fleshy tissue can rub against sharp surfaces. This coral is not built for cramped real estate. It is built to sit there looking expensive and judging the rest of the tank.
PLACEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral is best placed on the sandbed or lower rockwork where it receives low to moderate lighting and gentle indirect flow. Sandbed placement is usually preferred because it protects the fleshy tissue from rock abrasion and gives the coral room to expand.
Sandbed Placement: Usually the best option. Place the coral on a clean, stable sandbed area where it will not be buried, flipped, or irritated by sand movement.
Rock Placement: Possible only if the surface is smooth, stable, and does not press into the coral’s fleshy tissue. Avoid sharp rock edges.
Open Space: Leave room around the coral for full expansion. Acanthophyllia can inflate much larger than its skeleton.
Spacing: Leave several inches between this coral and nearby corals. Avoid aggressive neighbors such as torches, hammers, frogspawn, galaxea, chalices, favias, and other stinging LPS.
Avoid High SPS Zones: Do not place this coral in intense light and strong flow meant for Acropora. That is not premium care. That is expensive tissue harassment with equipment.
WATER PARAMETERS
Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral needs stable reef conditions. Stability is more important than chasing exact numbers. Sudden swings in alkalinity, salinity, temperature, nutrients, or lighting can cause poor inflation, fading, tissue recession, mouth gaping, or long-term decline.
Temperature: 75-79°F
pH Level: 8.1-8.4
Salinity: 1.024-1.026 specific gravity
Alkalinity: 8-10 dKH
Calcium: 400-450 ppm
Magnesium: 1250-1350 ppm
Nitrate: 5-15 ppm
Phosphate: 0.03-0.10 ppm
Acanthophyllia are stony corals, so calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium still matter. They are not usually fast skeleton builders, but unstable chemistry can still cause stress. Slow growth does not mean zero standards, annoyingly.
Avoid ultra-low nutrient systems with this coral. Acanthophyllia often look better and inflate more fully with some available nutrients and occasional feeding. Sterile reef water may sound clean, but to fleshy LPS it can feel like being asked to thrive inside a polished desert.
LIGHTING
Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral generally prefers low to moderate lighting, though some specimens may adapt to moderate lighting once settled. A general target range of 75-150 PAR works well for many Acanthophyllia corals, with careful acclimation if moving higher.
LIGHTING RECOMMENDATIONS
Low to Moderate PAR: Start around 50-100 PAR if newly added, especially if the coral is freshly shipped or coming from lower light.
Target Range: Once settled, many Multicolor Acanthophyllia Corals do well around 75-150 PAR. Some may tolerate higher moderate lighting if acclimated slowly.
Gradual Acclimation: Increase light slowly over several days to weeks. Sudden increases can cause bleaching, shrinking, fading, or refusal to inflate.
Color Display: Multicolor Acanthophyllia often shows its best red, orange, yellow, green, teal, purple, pink, and rainbow tones under moderate reef lighting with a blue-heavy spectrum.
Too Much Light: Signs may include bleaching, faded color, tight tissue, gaping mouth, tissue recession, or repeated shrinking.
Too Little Light: Signs may include dull coloration, reduced feeding response, weak inflation, or slow decline over time.
Do not place a fresh Multicolor Acanthophyllia directly under a light cannon because the colors looked expensive. That is not reef keeping. That is using photons as a blunt instrument.
WATER FLOW
Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral prefers low to moderate indirect flow. Flow should be enough to keep debris from settling on the coral, but not so strong that the fleshy tissue is pulled, folded, or pressed against the skeleton.
FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS
Ideal Flow: Low to moderate, indirect, gently varied flow.
Avoid Direct Flow: Strong direct flow can cause poor inflation, tissue irritation, exposed skeleton, or recession.
Avoid Dead Spots: Too little flow can allow detritus to collect around the coral, especially near the mouth or folded tissue.
Watch Tissue Movement: Healthy flow should create gentle movement without causing the coral to fold, whip, or stay tightly contracted.
Feeding Flow: Lower flow briefly during target feeding if needed so the coral can capture food.
The goal is gentle water movement, not power-washing the coral like patio furniture. Somehow, in reef keeping, this distinction remains necessary.
DIET
Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral is photosynthetic, but it benefits strongly from occasional feeding. Feeding can help support tissue inflation, coloration, recovery, and long-term condition.
PRIMARY DIET
Photosynthesis: Low to moderate reef lighting provides baseline energy through symbiotic zooxanthellae.
Target Feeding: Offer small meaty foods when feeding tentacles are visible or when the mouth shows a feeding response.
Frozen Food: Mysis shrimp, enriched brine shrimp, finely chopped shrimp, chopped clam, chopped scallop, reef blends, and other small marine-based foods can be used.
Prepared Coral Foods: LPS pellets, soft sinking pellets, powdered coral foods, and suspended coral nutrition may be accepted.
Amino Acids / Coral Nutrition: Amino acids and LPS coral supplements can be used carefully in established systems.
Food Size: Use small pieces. Large chunks can be rejected, regurgitated, or rot before digestion, because even a meat coral does not need an actual steak dinner.
FEEDING FREQUENCY
Feed 1-2 times per week for maintenance and condition. More frequent feeding may increase tissue fullness or growth, but it can also raise nutrients if the aquarium cannot process the added food.
Turn down flow briefly during feeding if needed. Allow the coral time to grab and swallow food before restoring normal flow.
COMPATIBILITY
Multicolor Acanthophyllia Coral works well in mixed reef and LPS-focused aquariums when placed with proper spacing, gentle flow, moderate light, and protection from aggressive neighbors.
COMMON TANK MATES
Fish: Reef-safe fish such as clownfish, gobies, blennies, wrasses, cardinalfish, firefish, tangs, anthias, and other peaceful to semi-peaceful community fish.
Avoid: Fish known to nip fleshy LPS corals, such as some angelfish, butterflyfish, puffers, filefish, and certain triggers.
Invertebrates: Generally safe with cleaner shrimp, snails, hermit crabs, and other common reef invertebrates. Some shrimp may steal food during target feeding because tiny crustacean crime is apparently part of the reef ecosystem.
Coral: Keep away from aggressive corals such as torches, hammers, frogspawn, galaxea, favias, chalices, acans, hydnophora, and other stinging LPS.
LPS Garden Placement: Can be used as a centerpiece in an LPS garden, but do not allow neighboring coral tissue or sweepers to touch it.
Sandbed Neighbors: Leave enough open sandbed around the coral for full expansion. This coral may inflate beyond the visible skeleton, because apparently “personal space” also applies to reef pancakes.
BEHAVIORAL NOTES
Temperament: Semi-aggressive. It may damage or be damaged by nearby corals through tissue contact or nighttime feeding extension.
Growth Pattern: Large solitary fleshy polyp over a hard skeleton. Growth is usually slow compared with many other stony corals.
Coloration: May show red, orange, yellow, green, teal, blue, purple, pink, gold, rainbow, or marbled multicolor patterning depending on the specimen, lighting, nutrients, and photography conditions.
Tissue Inflation: Healthy Acanthophyllia should inflate with full fleshy tissue when settled. Poor inflation may indicate too much light, too much flow, unstable parameters, pests, irritation, or hunger.
Mouth Condition: The mouth should usually remain closed or only open during feeding. A persistently gaping mouth can be a stress sign.
Feeding Tentacles: Feeding tentacles may appear at night or when food is in the water. This is normal and useful for target feeding.
Skeleton Safety: Avoid placing the coral where fleshy tissue is pressed against sharp rock, coral skeletons, or rough frag racks.
Tissue Recession: Receding tissue can be caused by excessive light, harsh flow, unstable alkalinity, aggression, pests, starvation, or physical damage.
Color Shifts: Acanthophyllia can shift coloration under different lighting intensity and spectrum. A multicolor specimen may look different under white-heavy, blue-heavy, LED, or T5 lighting.
Slow Growth: This coral is generally slow-growing. Expect long-term stability and tissue health before expecting dramatic skeletal expansion.
Dipping: Coral dipping before introduction may be used carefully with coral-safe dips according to product instructions. Avoid harsh dips, extended dips, or aggressive handling that could damage the fleshy tissue.
Pest Awareness: Inspect carefully for flatworms, nudibranchs, algae, vermetid snails, sponge growth, and other hitchhikers before placing into the display.
Frag Handling: Handle by the underside, base, or skeleton whenever possible. Avoid touching, squeezing, or scraping the fleshy tissue.
Placement Reality: This coral can become a stunning multicolor centerpiece, but it needs room, gentle flow, stable water, and careful handling. It looks like a soft reef pillow, but underneath is a skeleton and a quiet capacity for expensive disappointment.
ACCLIMATION PROCESS
This acclimation method helps reduce stress by gradually introducing the coral to your aquarium’s temperature, lighting, and water chemistry.
1. DIM THE LIGHTS
Turn down aquarium lights or place the coral in a shaded lower area at first. This helps reduce stress while the coral adjusts.
2. FLOAT THE BAG
Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for 15-20 minutes to allow the temperature in the bag to equalize with the tank.
3. OPEN BAG, ADD CORAL TO CONTAINER
Carefully open the bag and transfer the coral and shipping water into a clean container. Handle the coral by the base or skeleton rather than touching, squeezing, or scraping the fleshy tissue.
4. ACCLIMATE USING TANK WATER
Add small amounts of tank water to the container every few minutes for 20-30 minutes. Avoid exposing the coral tissue to air longer than necessary.
5. CORAL DIP
Use a coral-safe dip carefully according to the product instructions. Keep the dip gentle and avoid excessive time in dip solution. Inspect carefully for pests, algae, sponge growth, tissue damage, and hitchhikers before the coral enters your aquarium.
6. TRANSFER CORAL TO AQUARIUM
Place the coral on the sandbed or a smooth lower area with gentle indirect flow and lower lighting at first. Discard the shipping and dip water. Do not pour shipping water or dip water into your aquarium.
7. LIGHT ACCLIMATE
Allow the coral to adjust gradually over several days to weeks before moving it into brighter light. Watch for tissue inflation, coloration, mouth condition, feeding response, and any signs of recession before making major placement changes.
