WYSIWYG Rose Bubble Coral (5″)

You are buying the exact coral in the photo — a 5-inch Rose Bubble Coral. Photographed under blue spectrum reef lighting, the vesicles inflate into a dense cluster of grape-sized bubbles in dusky rose and lavender, each one finely veined with a darker blush and tipped with a pale point. Under daylight spectrum the rose tone deepens considerably; under actinics it reads cool and pearled, as shown here. It is one of the few corals whose entire appearance changes between morning and evening in the same tank.

About Rose Bubble Coral (Plerogyra sinuosa)

Bubble corals inflate their vesicles during the day to maximize light capture, then deflate at night and extend feeding tentacles — so the coral you look at in the evening is a genuinely different animal from the one you saw at noon. The rose and pink morphs are considerably less common than the standard pearl-white, and they hold their color best under moderate light rather than the high-PAR conditions people often assume a large LPS wants.

Care Guide

An easy, dramatic centerpiece LPS, provided you respect one rule: it hates flow.

• Lighting: Low to medium — PAR 50–150. High light washes the rose out toward plain cream.
• Flow: Low — this is the one that matters. Strong flow prevents the vesicles from inflating and can tear them, which is the usual cause of a bubble coral failing.
• Placement: Sandbed or lower rockwork, in a calm pocket. Make sure the skeleton sits stable — the sharp septa will cut the tissue if the coral rocks.
• Feeding: Medium — feed at night when the sweeper tentacles are out. Mysis or chopped seafood once or twice a week.
• Aggression: High — long nocturnal sweepers. Give it six inches of clearance in every direction.
• Water Parameters: Temp 76–78°F, salinity 1.025–1.026, Alk 8–9 dKH, Ca 420–440, Mg 1300–1400. Stability matters more than exact numbers.

Ships UPS Next Day Air every Tuesday and Wednesday from Key West, Florida. Packed with insulated box and heat or cold pack appropriate for current conditions. Specimen is carefully secured to prevent movement during transit.

Placement: Sandbed or lower rockwork in a low-flow pocket, sitting stable, with six inches of clearance from neighbors.

Not sure how to keep it? See the large polyp stony corals in our Coral Field Guide — ID notes, PAR, flow, placement and aggression, next to the corals people mistake them for.

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