Scolymia

Scolymia for Sale — Collector Single PolypsScolymia — now formally Homophyllia for the Australian pieces — are single-polyp brain corals and among the most collected LPS in the hobby. One polyp, one spot in the tank, and color running from deep blood red through to the multi-ringed patterns people queue up for. Because each is a single polyp rather than a colony, no two are alike, which is why nearly everything in this category is photographed as the exact coral you receive.They ask very little once placed correctly: low to moderate light, and the gentlest flow in the tank. A scoly belongs flat on the sand bed or a level rock and should never be tilted — water needs to run off the polyp rather than pool in it. They feed readily on small meaty foods and will inflate dramatically when they are happy. If one stays tight and puckered for days on end, the usual culprits are too much flow or too much light, in that order.Scolymia, Cynarina and the single-polyp brainsThese are one enormous polyp on a small skeleton, and they are collector pieces bought for the color pattern on that single face. Trade names move around: what is sold as a “scoly” may be Homophyllia australis, and “master scoly” or “doughnut” usually refers to Cynarina or Acanthophyllia. All want the same care.Buy carefully. The polyp should be evenly inflated across its whole face with no torn or receding tissue at the edge, and no exposed skeleton anywhere on the rim. Because you are buying one polyp, damage to any part of it is damage to the whole animal — there is no second head to carry it.Care, in numbersLight: 40–100 PAR. Low. These are deepwater animals and strong light bleaches them quickly.Flow: low. They should not be rocking.Placement: flat on the sand bed, never on rock where a falling frag or snail can damage the tissue.Feeding: direct feeding after lights out thickens the polyp noticeably over a few months.Common problemsA tear or split in the tissue. Usually mechanical — a snail, a hermit, or something dropped on it. Keep them clear.Deflating during the day. Light too strong. Move it out of the beam.Questions we get askedWill it grow? Slowly, and it gets thicker rather than wider. These are not corals you buy for growth.What UPS Next Day Air for a live animal actually costsUPS Next Day Air for a livestock box costs us about $30 inside Florida and between $45 and $75 everywhere else in the lower 48. We charge $30 in Florida and $50 elsewhere, which means on most out-of-state orders we are already absorbing part of it, and above a $349 livestock subtotal we cover the whole thing. We would rather tell you that than pretend shipping a living animal overnight is cheap. Orders leave Key West Tuesdays and Wednesdays so nothing sits in a truck over a weekend.