When my reef aquarium journey began around 16 years ago, little did I know that my first ‘hitchhiker’ coral would eventually become one of my favorites in the hobby and workplace. I’m drawn to the oddball species of coral that don’t seem to attract much attention in the hobby, the type of corals that make people point and ask “what is that?”
ThePsammocoragenus covers around 9 species which can be found growing in a variety of ways including: encrusting, branching, columnar & sometimes forming thin plates. In Australia, these corals are relatively common on the reef but aren’t always easy to obtain in LFS.
在较大的帆人群像美国和欧洲e I haven’t seen these corals showcased much either. Could this be due to the genus being skipped over on CITES applications when importing corals? Or perhaps it hasn’t been highlighted as a coral with aquarium potential?
My best moment withPsammocorataught me the importance of fragging corals and sharing them with other hobbyists. One day my 15-year old ‘hitchhiker’ colony ofPsammocora profundacellaspontaneously died. Thankfully, I was able to get the colony back twice over from the fellow hobbyists I had shared with!
The strain was later dubbed ‘Danger’sPsammocora’. The next time I saw this strain was at ReefStock, Denver 2019 – I spotted a Frag sitting at theLegendary Coralsbooth and it was great to unexpectedly see ‘Danger’sPsammocora(although not called DangersPsammocorain the states). This got me talking to some vendors aboutPsammocoraand a couple of them told me that they usually find them as hitchhikers on other corals, just like I did. They don’t see them available at wholesalers or on import lists very often.
ShouldPsammocorabecome more common and you start your ownPsammocoracollection, you’ll be pleased to know that they are generally an easy to keep SPS that thrives under LED and can usually handle water quality fluctuations that other SPS would fail in.