Dragon ball chalice

Dragon ball chalice is a chalice coral listed as Echinophyllia aspera. The colony grows as an encrusting to plating crust over rock, with a fleshy surface raised into bumps and ridges, and each mouth sits in a distinct corallite that stands out from the surrounding tissue. Chalices grow slowly outward from the margin and thicken as they settle. The dragon ball name follows the round, bright eyes that sit across the surface like small orbs, the feature keepers look for first in this morph.

The entry lists intermediate care, low light, medium flow, bottom placement, moderate aggression, and moderate growth. Intermediate reflects the settling period and the sensitivity chalices show to sudden change. Place the frag low, on flat rock or a stable base near the bottom, with the surface facing up. Low light protects the color and keeps tissue full. Strong light can pale a chalice, shrink tissue toward the skeleton, and wash out the contrast around the eyes. Start low even when the tank runs bright elsewhere.

Medium flow should arrive indirectly. The current needs to lift waste off the surface and out of the ridges without pressing tissue down or driving sand across the colony. Still corners let detritus settle on the flesh, and a covered patch can recede under the waste. A broad, indirect pattern that keeps the surface clean without a direct jet is the balance to aim for, with flow lowered briefly if food is offered.

Feeding supports color and recovery in this coral. Chalice mouths open, often after lights dim or when food reaches the water, and will take fine meaty foods and small LPS offerings placed near a mouth. Occasional feeding once a week or so, spread across mouths, is enough alongside light. Heavy meals left uneaten on the surface foul the tissue they rest on, so clear leftovers and keep offerings small.

Aggression is listed as moderate. Chalices extend sweeper tentacles at night that reach beyond the visible margin and can sting a neighbor in the dark. Give the colony clear space on all sides, judged by nighttime reach rather than the daytime footprint, and keep other LPS out of that ring. Protect the chalice in return, because tissue that loses a contact fight or takes a sting heals slowly in this group.

Growth is listed as moderate, which for a chalice means steady when settled. The margin advances over rock, new mouths form near the edge, and the crust thickens over months. Stable alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium support that growth. Tissue pulling back at one edge, eyes fading across the colony, or a margin receding after a bright week usually trace back to light, a sting received overnight, or a chemistry swing.

Common pitfalls include placing the frag in medium or high light in pursuit of brighter eyes, setting it where sand and detritus collect on the surface, and crowding it against corals within sweeper reach. Start low and shaded, keep the surface clean with indirect flow, and give the margin room to advance.

Field notes — what keepers report

- Color reports split by light level. Keepers in low, blue-leaning light describe bright eyes held against full, rich body tissue, while keepers who placed a chalice higher describe paler, thinner tissue that recovered slowly after a move down. Both sides treat patience as central, because chalice color answers a change over weeks.

- Sweeper reports are a recurring warning. Keepers describe a neighbor damaged overnight at a distance that looked safe by day, and other keepers report no trouble at all once a generous clear ring was left. Spacing for the nighttime reach is the shared practice across both kinds of report.

- Recovery reports divide on speed. Some keepers describe a settled chalice sealing a damaged edge and resuming growth with little fuss, while others describe recession creeping from an injured margin for weeks. Reports agree that stable conditions and an early move away from the cause give the best outcome.