Description
TUG Midnight Ice Blasto Merleti (Aqua-Culture)
This Midnight Ice Blastomussa merleti (Pineapple Coral) features deep, near-black polyp bases that create a dramatic backdrop for icy-blue to frosty-white centers, giving each head a striking “midnight ice” contrast under reef lighting. A peaceful, slow-growing LPS coral that makes an excellent centerpiece or focal point for any reef display, with large fleshy polyps that pulse and sway gently with flow.
Care Requirements:
- Care level: Easy to Moderate
- Lighting: 100–200 PAR
- Flow: Low to moderate, indirect flow preferred
- Placement: Lower to mid-tank, away from aggressive neighbors
- Feeding: Benefits from target feeding meaty foods (mysis, pellets) 1-2x weekly
- Water parameters: Stable reef parameters (Ca 380-450, Alk 8-12 dKH, Mg 1250-1350)
Aquaculture & Shipping:
at our Key West facility (FL Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072). All livestock is shipped via UPS Next Day Air on Tuesdays/Wednesdays to ensure optimal arrival conditions.
:
We guarantee live arrival.
Care Guide
Blastomussa is a hardy, popular LPS with round, fleshy polyps that cluster together in a honeycomb-like pattern. It thrives under low to moderate lighting and gentle, indirect flow, and its coloration intensifies with regular feeding of meaty foods.
Placement: Lower rockwork or sandbed, shaded from direct light and flow.
What to expect when it arrives
Acans arrive deflated with the skeleton visible between polyps, which looks worse than it is. Float the sealed bag 15 minutes, drip acclimate 30 to 45 minutes, and place the frag low in the tank with gentle flow. Most acans begin inflating within 24 hours and are fully puffed within two to three days.
Placement, and the light mistake
Acans burn under SPS lighting. Start low — sand bed or the bottom third of the rockwork — and leave it there. A deflated acan sitting under strong light is not going to adapt; it is going to recede. Flow should be gentle and indirect enough that the fleshy polyps are not visibly pushed around.
Feeding, which is the whole point
This is where acans reward you. Target feed with a small meaty food two or three times a week, pumps off for ten minutes, placing food directly on the polyps. A fed acan produces new heads at the frag edge within weeks. An unfed one can sit unchanged for a year and many keepers conclude the coral is slow when it is simply hungry.
Growth and fragging
A three-head frag that is placed correctly and fed regularly commonly becomes eight to ten heads within a year. New heads emerge at the margin and mature over a few months. Frag by cutting between heads with a band saw or bone cutters once the colony has spread past its plug.
Compatibility
Acans have short sweepers and lose most exchanges. Keep them clear of Euphyllia and chalices. They are also a favorite target for some angels and butterflies, and a colony that stays deflated in otherwise good conditions is usually being picked at after lights out.
Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee
- UPS Next Day Air, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We hold the box if the weather at either end puts the animals at risk. Florida livestock orders under 6 lb ship UPS Next Day Air at $30. Other continental-U.S. orders use the applicable UPS Next Day Air rate. Eligible livestock orders of $349 or more ship free. A $10 Box & Handling Fee applies per box, including on free-shipping orders. We do not ship to Alaska or Hawaii.
- Live arrival guaranteed. Photograph the animal in the sealed, unopened bag and send it to us within 4 hours of the delivery scan.
- Approved claims are resolved with a replacement or store credit. We do not issue cash refunds on livestock.
- Coverage is for condition on arrival and ends at acclimation.
New arrival? Read this before you open the bag →
Full Shipping & Live Arrival Guarantee · Refunds & Returns
Conditioned in our Key West systems · FL Aquaculture Certificate #AQ0254072 · (305) 850-9949
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