R6REEFER
Active Member
Exactly what the title states, I'm getting into cyphs. I need some care tips and personal experience recommendations. Lighting, flow, eating habits, placement, compatability with chalices etc.
Cyphastrea care
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Anthony Wood
Active Member
Chalices will kill everything in the path of their sweepers that they mainly throw at night. They are a hardy SPS and will adapt to just about any light level and flow conditions. They are a lower light coral which means if you place them in say the same place an acro could go they will eventually adapt given time and grow like crazy but will most likely be pale in color. The lower the light you put the in the deeper the color you will get but growth rate will be slower. As for flow in my experience it doesn't matter again given time they will adapt. Ive had mine all over the tank before I decided on a spot to leave it. Right now its on the side face of a rock slanting down away from the light on the very outter edge of the tank in an unobscured flow path 10" away directly in line with my ecotech mp40QD set to one dot past half power. Needless to say it gets pounded by flow all day everyday. It wasn't happy and didn't polyp for about 2 weeks but now has full polyp extension and would say has average growth nothing crazy but is very deep in perfect color. But you have to keep in mind I also have a 6x80W ATI Sunpower 10" off the surface of the water haha.
I went from having a 1" frag to a 9 square inch colony in about a year by having it in low flow, low light and with a rose bubble tip brushing against it everyday. I can't speak for chalices but I highly doubt a chalice sting is worse than a rose bubble tip and if my cyphastrea can handle having a rose on it all day every day it can take some contact from a chalice at night an be fine. Good luck
ermartin
Active Member
mine grows like a weed. as a matter of fact i cant get rid of the stuff it has become invasive . I now have the main colony sitting right on the sand so it wont grow all over my rock. it takes over and grows up to and onto frags.
Anthony Wood
Active Member
Rose bubbles don't sting as much as you would think and anemones can choose when they deploy their stingers so it may have been brushing up against your cyphastrea but it wasn't getting stung. Chalice sweepers sting every time it touches something no matter what it may be. Put a chalice next your cyphastrea and let me know how it turns out lol. Like I said in my post I didn't say they couldn't survive in low light I said you would get slower growth then if you were to put it at the top of the tank directly under 480W of T5HO bulbs, then got into the color it would be under different light levels. Mine is in the legit shade and grows perfectly fine. But if it was directly under my sun power it would grow faster
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You have a valid point on the stinging of the nems, however like he said they can vary greatly and best way is to experiment. His grew better in high light, mine grew better in low light. All in all just try it out!
Anthony Wood
Active Member
Very well said! Now thats a thread ending comment haha nothing more needs to be said.
