This guide is structured for reef keepers who want the husbandry targets first, then the inventory. Use it to decide whether the coral fits your system before you buy or move it.
What this coral wants
Chalices show their best fluorescence when light is controlled, flow is gentle, and the coral is not being forced into an SPS-style environment. They reward patient placement and slow acclimation.
At a glance
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Coral Type: LPS
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Scientific Name: Echinophyllia spp.
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Care Level: Moderate
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Light: 50 to 120 PAR
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Flow: Low to moderate, indirect flow
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Placement: Lower zones, shelves, and partially shaded edges
Target water chemistry
These are Lunar Tide Aquatics holding targets for stability, then cross-checked against peer-reviewed coral physiology literature on flow, calcification, feeding, and nutrient stress.
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Temperature: 77 to 78.5 F
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Salinity: 1.025 to 1.026 specific gravity
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Alkalinity: 8.0 to 9.0 dKH
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Calcium: 420 to 460 ppm
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Magnesium: 1280 to 1380 ppm
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Nitrate: 5 to 15 ppm
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Phosphate: 0.03 to 0.10 ppm
Light, flow, and placement
Light: 50 to 120 PAR. Flow: Low to moderate, indirect flow. Placement: Lower zones, shelves, and partially shaded edges.
Most chalices do better when they are allowed to encrust and inflate in lower light before being tested higher. Excess light often shows up first as edge recession, washed color, or a coral that never fully settles.
Feed after lights down if you want to push tissue and eye growth. Keep neighboring corals off the rim so the growth edge stays clean and uninterrupted.
Feeding and acclimation
Feeding: Target feed after lights down 1 to 2 times weekly.
Acclimation: Start low and shaded; increase exposure only when the tissue stays inflated and color remains deep.
What to watch
Stability target: Stable nutrients and conservative light changes.
Watch for: Over-lighting, edge recession, and nearby sweepers.
How Lunar Tide uses this guide
We use these ranges as decision support, not as random numbers to chase. Stable chemistry, predictable placement, and consistent observation usually outperform aggressive adjustments after a coral lands.
If you are ready to compare this husbandry target against what is currently available, browse the current Chalices. There are currently 4 pieces in that group.
Scientific references
- Jokiel PL (1978), Effects of water motion on reef corals
- Anthony KRN and Fabricius KE (2000), Shifting roles of heterotrophy and autotrophy in coral energetics under varying turbidity
- Houlbrèque F and Ferrier-Pagès C (2009), Heterotrophy in tropical scleractinian corals
- Holcomb M, Tambutté E, Allemand D and Tambutté S (2014), Light enhanced calcification in Stylophora pistillata
- Jokiel PL (2013), Coral reef calcification: carbonate, bicarbonate and proton flux under conditions of increasing ocean acidification
- Page TM, D'Angelo C, Wiedenmann J and Foster GL (2025), Changes in host gene expression patterns underpin responses of the coral Stylophora pistillata to nutrient stress
Current availability
Use this guide against live inventory
The care guidance lives here. When you're ready to compare it against the corals currently available from Lunar Tide, jump straight into the matching collection.
