Acanthophyllia - Acantho (Meat coral) - Warpaint appearance

Own the ultimate high-status centerpiece for your sandbed. The Acantho is a legendary, single-polyp LPS titan celebrated for its impossibly thick, velvety, and inflated fleshy mantle. This premium Indonesian export acts as a living canvas, displaying intricate, circular patterns of deep crimson, metallic teal, neon green, and gold striping. When fully expanded, a mature Acantho swells to multiple times its skeletal size, creating a breathtaking focal point that commands the room.

While they are highly sought-after luxury corals, actual husbandry is pleasantly straightforward due to their bulletproof hardiness and massive appetite.

The undisputed holy grail of fleshy corals. Its massive, puffy mantle moves gently with the current, displaying magnificent texture and intense, glowing fluorescence under actinic LED lighting networks.

Naturally adapted to deeper, low-energy reef slopes. High PAR will quickly cause the tissue to retract, bleach, or tear against its own sharp internal skeleton. Always place it deep on the sandbed under a soft, diffused blue spectrum.

Requires minimal, wrapping water movement. Powerful, direct powerhead blasts will prevent the polyp from inflating its magnificent mantle. The flow should just be strong enough to keep detritus from settling on its flesh.

Must be placed directly on a smooth sandbed. Hard rock edges can easily puncture its delicate inflated tissue. Keep it clear of aggressive sand-sifting gobies or wrasses that might bury it in substrate.

Possesses an enormous central mouth and a highly responsive feeding trigger. Offering it large meaty pieces like whole mysis shrimp, chopped krill, or specialized LPS pellets 1–2 times a week will dramatically increase its puffiness and color depth.