Litophyton ("Green tree")

Green Litophyton tree

Our soft corals will actively be growing onto the frag plug or rock rubble of their own accord, not simply glued onto plugs once cut. We leave all our softies 8 weeks to fully attached their stems to substrate before selling.

Description:

It is hard to believe these only started showing up in the hobby 3 or 4 years ago. With the advent of being able to successfully keep stony corals 20 years back it seems the price we paid was a lack of soft corals entering the hobby as everyone scrambled for the latest sps/Lps coral to hit the market. Which is a shame as some stunning softies exist, without the heartache and stress associated with keeping them thriving. These trees tick all the boxes for a low maintenance softie or mixed aquarium. Bright, as in VERY bright lime green, great structure, interesting delicate polyps and pretty much bombproof to keep in a variety if flow and lighting conditions!

A quick note on the whole myth that seems to have perpetuated around trees being invasive. In our opinion this is simply incorrect! These corals propogate, when adults by inflating a branch, detaching it, causing it to float off and settle elsewhere. This branch then takes 1-2 weeks to attach were it settles and grow. Even our large trees only maybe drop one branch every couple of months. We don't really see how this constitutes an 'invasive' coral. If a branch falls where you don't want a new coral, simply remove it before it attaches! Once attached simply holding at the base and giving a gentle pull will remove a tree from rockwork...its not invasive, it's part of regular tank maintenance!! To expect a pristine reef without having to get your hands in and do some tidying every few months is as unrealistic as expecting a manicured garden without pruning, weeding and fertilising!

Size

Expanded frags are around 8cm, be aware as with most soft corals, after shipping they can close and deflate to look little more than a large blob of jelly. Capable of reducing their size by ten times.

Care

Undemanding. Happiest and best expansion seen under moderate to high light and high indirect flow.

Growth

Moderate to fast

Minimum polyp count per frag

Not applicable