Balanophyllia Cup Coral Care Guide
Balanophyllia is a solitary, non-photosynthetic cup coral related to Tubastraea; bright orange-yellow and dependent on frequent feeding.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Balanophyllia is a genus of solitary stony corals in the family Dendrophylliidae. It is a non-photosynthetic (azooxanthellate) cup coral: it lacks symbiotic zooxanthellae and instead captures food from the water column. Aquarium specimens are typically bright orange or yellow, and the genus is a close relative of Tubastraea, sharing its feeding-dependent care.
Taxonomy
- Order: Scleractinia
- Family: Dendrophylliidae
- Genus: Balanophyllia (Wood, 1844)
- Scientific name: Balanophyllia sp.
- Common name: Cup Coral
Habitat
The genus contains roughly 70 species occurring across the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific, from shallow to deep water. As solitary corals, they grow as individual cup-shaped polyps rather than colonies, and are often found in shaded or low-light positions consistent with their non-photosynthetic biology.
Tank requirements
- Salinity: 1.024–1.026 SG
- Temperature: 22–26 °C (72–79 °F)
- pH: 8.1–8.4
- dKH (alkalinity): 8–11
- Calcium: 400–450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1280–1350 ppm
- Nitrate: below 20 ppm; phosphate below 0.15 ppm
- Lighting: low (0–50 PAR)
- Flow: medium
- Minimum tank age: about 6 months
Feeding
Feeding is essential. As an NPS coral, Balanophyllia must be fed meaty foods such as mysis and reef-roids, with amino acids, multiple times per week, since this is its main nutrition. It also captures planktonic particles and can absorb dissolved organic matter. Because of the food load, good filtration and substantial water changes are needed, making it a coral for advanced aquarists.
Compatibility
Balanophyllia is passive but has stinging tentacles used to capture food, so neighbouring corals should not be placed within reach. It is considered reef-, shrimp- and fish-safe.
Balanophyllia (Cup Coral): Propagation Guide
Overview
Balanophyllia is a genus of solitary stony corals in the family Dendrophylliidae, the same family as the better-known sun corals (Tubastraea). The genus was established by Wood in 1844 and contains over 60 species distributed across tropical and temperate waters, including Balanophyllia europaea and Balanophyllia elegans. Being solitary, each individual is a single cup-shaped corallite rather than a branching colony.
The well-studied Balanophyllia elegans is azooxanthellate: it does not contain symbiotic dinoflagellates in the way most corals do, and instead feeds on whatever its tentacles can catch with the aid of nematocysts, mainly zooplankton, and can also extract dissolved organic carbon from seawater. This non-photosynthetic biology applies to the cup corals kept in the trade and dictates their feeding-driven care.
Reproductive Mode
In Balanophyllia elegans, sexual reproduction involves internal brooding: fertilisation takes place inside the female's gastrovascular cavity, the larvae are brooded there, and they are later released as worm-like orange larvae. These crawl-away larvae settle nearby rather than dispersing as long-lived planktonic forms, which is how natural patches of cup corals build up.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Because Balanophyllia is solitary, the branch-cutting fragging used for colonial corals does not apply: there is no colony to divide into many clones. Propagation in these cup corals is therefore tied to their brooded larvae rather than to mechanical fragmentation, and the whitelisted sources do not document a routine home asexual technique.
Feeding & Conditions for Propagation
Sustaining a cup coral well enough that it might brood larvae depends on consistent feeding of meaty zooplankton-scale foods, as its azooxanthellate biology requires. The species favours habitats with vigorous water movement, so moderate-to-strong flow that delivers food to the extended tentacles supports both survival and any prospect of reproduction.