Birdsnest Coral: The SPS to Try First

Birdsnest coral — Seriatopora — grows a tangle of thin, pointed branches that looks exactly like its name, in pinks, greens and yellows. It belongs to the pocilloporid family along with blunt-branched Stylophora and fuzzy Pocillopora, and together the three are the honest answer to “which SPS should I try first?” They forgive the parameter wobble that would strip an acropora, and they grow fast enough to reward you within months.

SPS rules still apply, just with a wider margin for error: strong light, real flow, and stable alkalinity matter more than any feeding schedule. Thin branches shade themselves as the colony thickens, so good flow through the interior is what keeps the middle alive.

Care at a glance

If a birdsnest thrives for a few months, you are ready for montipora and then acropora — that is the ladder we actually recommend, in that order. Frags snap cleanly at any branch, which is why this family fills so many frag racks. The species directory has the rest of the SPS shelf.

Pocilloporids in stock now

One thing to know before you order: the $10 Box & Handling Fee is charged by the box, not by the coral, and UPS Next Day Air is one flat shipping charge per order. A box holds several corals for the same $10 Box & Handling Fee and the same overnight ride, Florida orders under 6 lb ship UPS Next Day Air for a flat $30, and livestock orders of $349 or more ship free. If this page puts one coral on your list, it is worth seeing what else belongs in the box — start with corals under $100 or the newest WYSIWYG pieces.

Our stony corals are either aquacultured at the shop in Key West under Florida Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072 or conditioned in our Key West systems before they ship, and the photo on a WYSIWYG listing is the exact animal that ships. Corals ship UPS Next Day Air every Tuesday and Wednesday. If you are ever in Key West, come see the raceways.