Plate Echinopora care guide
Plate Echinopora (Echinopora lamellosa) — reef coral, 24-26 °C, PAR 75-175, salinity 1.024-1.026.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Echinopora lamellosa is a plating, foliose LPS that forms layered tiers of overlapping plates. The colony is a fast grower and typically displays a uniform bright green colour under blue actinic lighting.
Taxonomy
- Family: Merulinidae
- Genus: Echinopora
- Scientific name: Echinopora lamellosa
- Common synonyms: Lamellose Echinopora, Lettuce Echinopora
Habitat
Native to the tropical Indo-Pacific. Wild colonies are typical of reef slopes at moderate depth where they form broad horizontal plates that maximise light capture.
Tank requirements
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- Salinity (SG): 1.024-1.026
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Alkalinity (dKH): 8-11
- Calcium: 400-450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1280-1350 ppm
- Phosphate (max): 0.03 ppm
- Nitrate (max): 5 ppm
Placement and lighting
- Lighting (PAR): 75-175 PAR
- Flow: medium
- Recommended tank age: 3 months
- Growth rate: 0.3-0.6 cm/mo
Mount on rockwork in the middle of the aquarium with medium flow and moderate light. As the colony grows it forms overlapping plates that may shade neighbouring corals — leave generous open space.
Feeding
Primarily photosynthetic. Spot-feeding is not strictly required; occasional reef-roids can be used as an optional supplement.
Compatibility
Moderately aggressive — short polyps can sting after lights-out. Reef-safe with shrimp and fish. Maintain a small buffer from neighbouring corals.
Care notes
Fast growth makes it a good choice for actively growing reefs but requires planning of placement. Stable alkalinity and calcium support the rapidly forming skeleton.
Plate Echinopora (Echinopora lamellosa) Propagation Guide
Overview
Echinopora lamellosa, the plate echinopora, is a plating stony coral in the family Merulinidae. It forms thin plates that build extensive, layered colonies and can dominate reef slopes, with round, dome-shaped corallites dotting the upper surface and gaps between them. This plating, sheet-like growth makes it easy to divide for propagation.
Reproductive Mode
In aquaria Echinopora lamellosa is propagated asexually by cutting the plate. Because the colony grows as thin laminar tiers, a keeper can cut off a piece of plate and grow it into a new tiered colony. It is one of the faster-growing plating corals, gaining several centimeters per month under good conditions, so frags fill in rapidly.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
- Select a section of the thin plate bearing several corallites.
- Cut through the porous laminar skeleton with coral cutters or a band saw.
- Handle the coral carefully, as the plate is described as quite fragile.
- Lay the frag flat on a plug or base rock so it can re-establish a plating margin.
- Place it in medium light and moderate flow and let it resume laminar growth.
Because the plate is thin and fast-growing, a small frag can expand into a large layered colony over several months once mounted flat.
Conditions for Propagation
Echinopora lamellosa is largely photosynthetic and thrives under medium light and moderate flow. Stable temperature near 24-26 degrees Celsius, pH 8.1-8.4, and steady alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium support the rapid skeletal extension that drives its plating growth.
Common Challenges
Plating Echinopora can extend long sweeper tentacles at night that sting and overgrow neighbors, so frags need clear space around their margins. The thin plate is also fragile, so cuts should be clean and the coral handled gently to avoid cracking or tissue loss.