Yellow lambo chalice

Yellow Lambo is a named chalice in the Echinophyllia family, grown for a saturated yellow-gold body that chalices rarely produce. Eyes dot the surface in a slightly deeper tone, and the growing rim carries the brightest color. It grows as an encrusting plate hugging the rock beneath it, throwing folds as it gets larger — a settled colony looks like poured gold over stone.

Keep it low. Medium light at the bottom of the tank is the target, and yellow chalices wash out faster than most under too much light, so shade a new frag at first and acclimate any move over weeks. Flow should be low and indirect; a direct jet on the rim lifts tissue and exposes skeleton. Chalices generally care more about steady alkalinity than about hitting an exact figure — hold 8–10 dKH without swings, because rim recession is how this family reports instability.

Give it room on every side. Echinophyllia put out sweeper tentacles at night that can sting anything in reach, and the reach is longer than the daytime silhouette suggests. A few inches of clearance now, more as the plate spreads. It feeds at night: target-feed small meaty coral food or fine pellets once or twice a week, watch the eyes swell to take it, and expect the rim to advance faster than an unfed colony.

Growth is slow, in line with other chalices — measured in rim gain and new eyes across months. Once a colony settles in one spot it tends to accelerate, and moving it is the surest way to stall it. Fragging means sawing through the skeleton; pieces heal over the cut edge when kept low, shaded, and in gentle flow.

Field notes — what keepers report

- Yellow and gold chalices get the strongest light warnings in keeper threads: multiple keepers describe yellow pieces bleaching or going khaki within weeks under bright fixtures, then recovering color slowly after a move to the sand bed or a shaded ledge. Blue-heavy light at low intensity is the combination most often credited with keeping the gold saturated.

- The nighttime-sweeper lesson repeats across chalice reports: keepers have found stung neighbors inches beyond the plate's edge and advise a flashlight check after lights-out before trusting a tight placement. Some keepers with wide spacing report never witnessing a sweeper at all.

- Feeding divides keepers into camps with this family. Chalice growers who target-feed at night report visibly faster rim growth and more new eyes; keepers who rely on light alone describe colonies that hold color and size for long stretches. Both keep the coral alive — feeding changes the pace, and keepers treat it as optional but worthwhile.