The Elegance Coral (Catalaphyllia jardinei) 🌊 - Aquamarine Aquaristic

The Elegance Coral (Catalaphyllia jardinei) 🌊

Written by: jonathan jordon

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Published on

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Time to read 1 min

The Elegance Coral (Catalaphyllia jardinei) is a stunning and highly popular LPS coral, well known for its long flowing tentacles and unique movement in the aquarium.

It is often considered a great coral for beginners due to its beauty and relatively hardy nature when kept in stable conditions.

The Elegance coral is closely related to other Euphyllia-type corals such as:


  • Frogspawn
  • Torch coral
  • Hammer coral

All of which share similar LPS coral care requirements.


Care Level & Behaviour

While the Elegance coral is generally hardy, it has a reputation for being one of the more semi-aggressive LPS corals.

For this reason, it is important to:

  • Keep at least 6 inches of space between it and other corals
  • Avoid placing it directly next to other LPS or soft corals
  • Allow room for tentacle expansion, especially at night

Its sweeper tentacles can extend and sting nearby corals if placed too close.


Lighting & Flow Requirements

For best health and extension:

  • Lighting: Medium
  • Flow: Medium, indirect flow

You want to see the tentacles gently waving in the current without being blasted or pinned over by direct flow.

Too much flow can cause stress, while too little can lead to poor expansion and detritus buildup.


Growth & Space Considerations

The Elegance coral can grow quite large over time, making it important to consider:

  • Long-term space requirements
  • Future expansion of its tissue and skeleton
  • Placement in open sand bed areas or low-traffic zones

It is best suited as a feature coral in a reef aquarium due to its size and movement.


Feeding Elegance Coral

While they can survive without frequent feeding, Elegance corals benefit from occasional target feeding.

Suitable foods include:

  • Finely chopped meaty seafood
  • LPS coral pellets
  • Products such as Vitalis LPS foods

Regular feeding can help improve:

  • Polyp extension
  • Growth rate
  • Overall coral health

Final Thoughts

The Elegance coral (Catalaphyllia jardinei) is one of the most visually striking LPS corals in the reef aquarium hobby. With its flowing tentacles and bold presence, it makes an excellent centrepiece coral when given proper space and stable conditions.

The key to success is:

  • Moderate lighting
  • Medium indirect flow
  • Plenty of spacing from other corals
  • Occasional feeding

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