You lost an acropora the week your alkalinity drifted, and you still want that branching, small-polyp look. Stylophora is the usual answer: a fuzzy bush of polyps on thick, round-tipped branches, with color that holds steady through the small swings every tank has.
Looking for one now? See the stylophora corals in stock: Purple Stylophora, Burning Banana Stylo, Hot Pink Stylo and Smoldering Stylo. Quarantined: held at our Key West facility for at least 4 weeks and dipped multiple times before it’s offered for sale.
Stylophora is a branching small-polyp stony (SPS) coral in the family Pocilloporidae, the same family as Pocillopora and Seriatopora. The best-known species, Stylophora pistillata, is so widely studied that researchers call it the lab rat of coral science. A 2021 review in Science of the Total Environment counted 126 studies on how it responds to stress alone, and found that what was long treated as one species is really four genetically distinct lineages.
Stylophora vs Seriatopora vs Pocillopora
All three are bushy, branching pocilloporids, and their polyps look nearly identical up close. CORAL Magazine’s advice is to judge the whole colony instead of the polyps, and that is the most reliable way we know.
| Stylophora | Seriatopora | Pocillopora | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branch tips | Round, blunt | Thin and sharply pointed | Round, blunt |
| Surface | Smooth and even | Thin, fine branches | Slightly rougher |
| Common name | Stylo, cat’s paw | Bird’s nest | Pocci, cauliflower |
If the branch tips could prick your finger, it is a bird’s nest. Our bird’s nest coral page covers that one. If the tips are round, compare the texture: stylophora looks smoother than pocillopora.
Light and flow
Our listings run stylophora at medium light, about 100 to 200 PAR, with medium flow. That matches the experience CORAL Magazine and Reef Builders report: it does well under medium light and medium flow, and stronger light and flow may improve growth and color. It is a good coral for the middle of the rockwork in a mixed reef, where an acropora would want the top.
Start a new frag lower than its final spot and move it up over a couple of weeks. Our listings call for indirect, variable circulation rather than a constant jet. Our reef tank lighting guide has PAR targets by position in the tank.
Color, and what changes it
Stylophora comes in pink, purple, green, cream and mixed forms, and trade names like Burning Banana, Hot Pink and Smoldering are strain names rather than species. One thing reefers like about it is that its color tends to stay put. CORAL Magazine notes it holds fairly steady through moderate lighting changes, unlike montipora or acropora, which can shift a lot.
When it does change, it is usually toward brown, and the cause is usually light or nutrients. In a study of Stylophora pistillata published in Symbiosis in 1998, N. Stambler found the algae in its tissue were densest under high light, that added ammonium roughly doubled their density under low light, and that each algal cell packed more chlorophyll as light dropped. More algae with more pigment reads as brown. So a stylo that is browning under weak light in nutrient-rich water needs more light and less nitrogen, not more food.
Pale or white tissue is the opposite problem: too much light too fast, or a temperature or alkalinity swing.
Growth rate and fragging
Our listings describe our stylos as growing fast enough to frag within a few months in good conditions. The branches are thick enough to snap or cut cleanly with bone cutters. Take a healthy branch, glue the base to a plug, and put the frag in the same light and flow as the colony. Keep calcium, alkalinity and magnesium steady, because a fast-growing stony coral uses them up quickly.
A stylo that grows into a neighbor can lose tissue to it. Stylophora is not known as an aggressive coral, so give it room from aggressive corals like hydnophora, torches and galaxea rather than the other way around. Our hydnophora care guide covers how far those sweepers reach.
Common problems
| What you see | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Tissue peeling from the base up | Alkalinity or temperature swing, or a pest | Test alkalinity first, then inspect the base. See bleaching vs STN vs RTN |
| Tissue sloughing off fast, all over | RTN, often after a parameter crash | Frag healthy branches right away and fix the cause |
| Pale or white branches | Bleaching from light shock or heat | Lower the coral or the light, check temperature |
| Brown color | Low light, high nutrients | More light, keep nitrate and phosphate low but not zero |
| Polyps stay retracted | Recent shipping, flow too strong, or a parameter change | Give it a few days, then check flow and parameters |
Reef Builders warns that high nitrate or phosphate can stop growth or cause a crash, so stylophora is not a coral for a tank that runs nutrients high. It is also not as demanding as acropora. If you are building toward acros, our acropora care guide is the next step up.
Acclimation
Corals do not need a drip. Lights off, float the sealed bag for 15 to 20 minutes, then add about half a cup of tank water every few minutes for 15 to 30 minutes. Lift the frag out by the plug, throw the bag water away, dip it, and place it low in the tank in moderate flow with the light off or low for the first day. Expect polyps to stay in for a day or two after shipping.
FAQ
Is stylophora easy to keep?
It is one of the easier SPS corals. It handles medium light and flow and holds color through moderate changes, but it still needs stable alkalinity and low nutrients.
How much light does stylophora need?
Medium, about 100 to 200 PAR, with room to go brighter once it is settled.
How fast does stylophora grow?
Fast for a stony coral. In good conditions a frag can be ready to cut within a few months.
Why is my stylophora turning brown?
Usually low light, high nutrients or both. Both raise the amount of algae and pigment in the tissue.
What is the difference between stylophora and pocillopora?
Both have round branch tips. Stylophora looks smoother and more even. Pocillopora looks slightly rougher.
Is stylophora aggressive?
Not much. Keep it away from aggressive neighbors rather than worrying about what it will sting.
Buy stylophora coral
Shop the stylophora category or browse all SPS corals. In stock now: Purple Stylophora, Burning Banana Stylo, Hot Pink Stylo and Smoldering Stylo.
The Underwater Gardener is a reef aquarium store in Key West, Florida. Quarantined: held at our Key West facility for at least 4 weeks and dipped multiple times before it’s offered for sale. Livestock ships UPS Next Day Air on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Corals in stock right now
Photographed in Key West, in stock today. Fill your box: up to 4 spots ship for one shipping charge. A frag takes 1 spot and a colony takes 2. Browse corals under $100 or beginner corals to fill one.
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