Plate Echinopora (Echinopora lamellosa) Propagation Guide
How to propagate Echinopora lamellosa (plate echinopora): a fast-growing plating LPS fragged by cutting the thin porous plate, then mounted to add new tiers.
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.