Dig stylos? Then you will want a Tyree Rainbow Stylo, another limited edition coral from Steve Tyree. The polyps are incandescent and they vary in color from green to blue. What? Different colored polyps? Yes! And the green and blue just radiate against the coral\’s deep purple/pink body. I love solid colored purple and green stylos but this thing just pops! According to the Reeffarmers website, the coral was originally maintained in David Wang\’s captive reef system and it was distributed at a few frag farmers markets by Reeffarmers in 2008.
Stylophoras, commonly known as Cat’s Paw corals, are hardy so this is a good LE coral to try for those who are just venturing into the SPS game. Stylos can do well in the upper, middle or lower part of a tank if they receive moderate lighting under T5s, metal halides and LEDs. I have a frag off to the side in the middle part of my tank and it is doing well under a 400W 20,000K Radium bulb.
As for circulation, medium to strong flow is required to keep the coral happy. Overall, the Tyree Rainbow Stylo is a beautiful edition to any reef tank that will thrive when the proper calcium (400-440 ppm), alkalinity (8-9 dkh) and magnesium levels (1300-1400 ppm) are maintained. Give one a try the next time you are in the market for a new frag.
Additional Resources
If you would like some help with a new tank build, including help designing a custom aquarium, or help re-configuring your current setup then you can visit this page for more information. And if you are looking to add some equipment, I do sell GHL, Pax Bellum, Reef Octopus Calcium and Kalk Reactors and Royal Exclusiv products, including Dreamboxes, which is the equipment I use and recommend. I also sell Reef Brite metal halide and LED fixtures as well as Maxspect & IceCap Gyres.
As for additional insights and information, please explore my many other reef tank and SPS related articles as well as my YouTube channel. For an even deeper dive into reef tank care you can check out my Reef Keeping Master Class. This online course is an immersive and one of a kind educational tool designed to help reef aquarium hobbyists build and maintain a beautiful SPS reef tank. The course is a series of video presentations with some supplemental video from my YouTube channel. There are also quizzes to help students retain and understand the information presented in the course.
Need some frags…..I can help with that as well 🙂 Please visit my SPS Frag store to see what is available.
