About Stock: Chalice Corals and Their Encrusting Growth Habit

Chalice corals are some of the most photographed pieces in any reef tank, and for good reason. Their polyps sit in a thin sheet of tissue over a plating or encrusting skeleton, often patterned with eyes, stars or ridges in colours that shift depending on the angle you view them from. Two forms we regularly carry, the aquacultured Bubblegum Chalice and the aquacultured Green Convict Chalice frag, show off this growth style well: low mounds that spread outward rather than up, adding new tissue at the growing edge while the older centre thickens.

Why does the growth form matter for care? Because chalices grow outward across a surface, they are more sensitive to shading from their own skeleton than corals that grow as branches or single heads. A chalice that starts encrusting over an uneven rock or plug can end up with sections of tissue tucked into shadow, which slows growth and dulls colour in those spots. Understanding this habit changes how you mount and position the coral from day one.

Lighting: shaded and indirect, not blasted

Chalices are LPS, but they do not behave like sun corals or hardy zoas that shrug off strong light. In the wild they are often found on the undersides of ledges, in caves or on vertical walls where light is diffuse and indirect. In captivity this translates to lower to moderate PAR, generally somewhere in the 60 to 120 PAR range depending on the specific colour morph and how the coral was acclimatised at its source. Bright, direct light from an LED bar positioned straight overhead can bleach or stress a chalice within days, especially deep colours like the Green Convict pattern, which tend to hold their contrast better in gentler light.

Place chalices in the lower to mid sections of the tank, ideally where a rock ledge or overhang provides some natural shading, or dial back intensity on your fixture for that zone. If you run a controllable LED system such as an AI or Kessil unit, this is a good candidate for a dedicated low-intensity channel or a shaded corner of the aquascape rather than the top of the rockwork. Check out our lighting range if you need a fixture with enough spread and dimming control to create these shadowed zones.

Flow: gentle and indirect

Strong, direct flow across a chalice's flat surface can cause tissue recession at the edges and makes it harder for the coral to fully extend its polyps to feed. Aim for low to moderate, indirect flow, the kind you get from a wavemaker set to a broad, randomised pattern rather than a single narrow jet. Turbulent, ambient movement around the rockwork works better than a direct blast from a pump outlet.

Mounting frags without self-shading

This is the detail most people get wrong with chalices. When mounting a frag, think about which direction it will grow and make sure the growing edge has clear line of sight to light, not blocked by a lip of skeleton or a neighbouring rock. A few practical tips:

• Mount on a flat plug or small tile angled slightly toward the light source rather than flat on the substrate.
• Leave clearance around the frag so future lateral growth is not immediately blocked by other coral or rockwork.
• Avoid gluing into a crevice where the coral will encrust into its own shadow as it spreads.
• Use a reef-safe cyanoacrylate gel rather than epoxy for precise placement, available in our fragging supplies.

Feeding and water quality

Chalices feed on both light-driven zooxanthellae and direct feeding of small particulate foods at night when polyps extend fully. Target feeding with a turkey baster using a fine coral food a few times a week can noticeably improve growth rate and colour saturation over a few months. Stable calcium, alkalinity and magnesium within normal reef ranges support steady tissue growth, and keeping nutrients from swinging wildly helps colour retention in patterned morphs like the Bubblegum. Browse our coral food options if you want to add target feeding to your routine.

Because chalice availability shifts with each aquaculture batch and import, we cannot promise a specific colour morph is on hand at any given time. The best way to see current options, including pieces similar to the Bubblegum and Green Convict patterns, is to check out our stock list for LPS corals, where new frags and colonies are added as they become ready for sale.