Green Pipe Organ Coral

Tubipora musica

The Pipe Organ Coral is a soft coral but is often referred to as a hard coral because it produces an external calcareous skeleton that is red in coloration. Common names for the Pipe Organ Coral may include Organ Pipe Coral, Mat Polyp, or Daisy Coral. When its polyps are open, the Pipe Organ Coral is often easily confused with Star Polyp Corals or Clove Polyp Corals because of their similar appearance. However, unlike the aforementioned doppelgangers, the Pipe Organ Coral has a tight “well behaved” growth habit and will not spread aggressively across the rocks and potentially crowd neighboring corals.

The ideal environment for the Pipe Organ Coral is an established reef aquarium with coral-friendly fish and invertebrates. The Pipe Organ Coral is safe to place near other peaceful corals as it lacks sweeper tentacles that can potentially damage other corals with which it may come into contact. Once established, the Pipe Organ Coral provides a fantastic living tapestry of colour and movement ideal for softening the rough edges of rock work or filling empty reef aquarium landscapes.

Along with proper lighting and water quality, the Pipe Organ Coral will thrive when provided medium, intermittent water flow within the aquarium. This can be easily achieved with the addition of powerheads, wavemakers, or water circulation pumps. Proper water movement is especially important for the Pipe Organ Coral as it plays a vital role in preventing detritus and nuisance algae from settling and overwhelming the coral. Keep in mind that the Pipe Organ Coral is fragile so be sure to avoid locating the coral in direct currents where it could be displaced and damaged.

Though the Pipe Organ Coral hosts symbiotic photosynthetic zooxanthellae algae to help satisfy a major portion of its nutritional requirements, the Pipe Organ Coral will benefit from supplemental weekly feedings of micro-plankton and other foods designed for filter-feeding invertebrates especially when housed in reef aquariums that do not contain fishes. For continued good health, the Pipe Organ Coral will also require the addition of iodine, strontium, and other trace elements to the water.