Joanne I did a little searching for you...
it is a member of the Faviidae family...
Characters: Colonies are submassive or encrusting, with an irregular surface. Corallites are small and often crowded. Septa are in two unequal orders of 12 each, the first being exsert and irregularly toothed. Coenosteum spinules are prominent. ‘Groove and tubercle’ formations are often present. Colonies are often infested with parasitic barnacles.
Colour: Mottled cream or yellowish-green, sometimes mottled grey.
Similar species: Cyphastrea chalcidicum, which has strongly alternating costae. See also
C. ocellina.
Habitat: Shallow exposed reef environments.
This leads me to think strong light is needed.
Abundance: Usually uncommon.
one from reef farmers...
This Cyphastrea species is the only one within its genus that has a branching or arborescent form. It also has acropora-like axial corallites which are basically polyps that occur at the tip of each branch. The specimen that reeffarmers.com is growing out is the first one that Steve Tyree (who operates reeffarmers.com systems) has seen in captivity after working with stony corals for more then 10 years. Not only is this a rare species but it also has a very exotic coloration. The pictures here simply do not do the color much justice. The corallites are bright pink/orange while the main branch stems are dark pink/orange with a blue hue to them. In Verons Corals of the World books the coral is identified as Cyphastrea decadia while in his earlier Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific, it is identified as Cyphastrea japonica. We believe that this coral specimen originated from Jakarta. The Southern California Reeffarmer Julian Edwards actually found this coral in a local reef shops display tank. The reef dealer assumed it was an Acropora. Julian distributed a small colony to reeffarmers.com in a coral trade. Steve Tyree is maintaining this coral for reeffarmers.com in one of his 125 gallon naturally filtered Tri-Zonal EG Reef Aquariums. In Steve's captive reef the coral is positoned at about 16 inches from a 400 watt 20,000 K Radium Metal Halide. Water current is moderate.
The piece you are talking about - from vivid aquariums
says at the midway to bottom of a halide lit tank
thread on rc...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1290921
