Snowflake Coral

About

Snowflake coral (Carijoa riisei) is a soft coral that builds branching, pipe-like colonies covered in small white polyps, giving rockwork the appearance of being dusted with frost. Native to the Western Atlantic and Indo-Pacific, including Caribbean waters around Panama and coastal South America, it turns up across a wide depth range from the shallows down to around 55 meters, often colonizing reef structures and hard substrates. In the aquarium, it grows as an upright, tree-like colony, and the individual polyps extend noticeably when water conditions are to its liking, adding a delicate, textural quality to the tank that is quite different from the bolder forms of many stony or large-polyp soft corals. Its care requirements are forgiving by reef standards, making it a reasonable choice for hobbyists who are still getting comfortable with coral keeping. Moderate lighting and moderate water movement seem to suit it well, and it is considered reef safe, posing little threat to neighboring corals in a typical mixed reef setup. Growth can be fairly quick under good conditions, so giving it a bit of space to spread without overrunning smaller neighbors is worth thinking about when placing the colony.