Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris
Looking for a blazing, high-contrast encrusting coral to light up the lower sections of your aquascape? The Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris is an absolute legend in the reefing community, offering one of the most recognizable and highly sought-after colour combinations in the entire hobby.
Living up perfectly to its namesake, this coral features a brilliant, pumpkin-orange base that is completely heavily speckled with intensely fluorescent, neon-green "eyes" (mouths). As it grows, it tightly encrusts over the rockwork, conforming to the shape of your aquascape, and will eventually begin to scroll and plate outwards at the edges. Under blue actinic lighting, the stark contrast between the fiery orange flesh and the toxic green eyes is absolutely mind-bending.
At UKReef Hampshire, we love the Jack-O-Lantern Lepto because it is the ultimate "problem solver" coral. It is a stony coral that actually prefers the dimmer, shaded areas of your reef where most other SPS would quickly brown out and die, making it the perfect showpiece for those tricky low-light spots!
Quick Care Guide:
Care Level: Easy to Moderate. It is an incredibly hardy and forgiving Small Polyp Stony (SPS) coral, but it still requires a stable, mature tank with consistent Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium levels to lay down its dense skeleton.
Temperament: Peaceful. It does not have sweeping stinger tentacles. However, it is an aggressive encruster and will slowly grow over any other encrusting corals in its direct path, so give it a dedicated piece of rockwork to claim.
Placement: Bottom to Middle. Secure the frag to a lower rock ledge. It looks especially spectacular when placed on an isolated rock on the sandbed, allowing it to fully encase the rock like a glowing orange boulder.
Lighting: Low to Moderate. This is the secret to a stunning Lepto! They absolutely hate intense, direct light. If blasted with high-end LEDs, they will quickly bleach and pale out. Keep them low down or partially shaded to maintain that deep, rich pumpkin orange.
Water Flow: Moderate. They require a steady, indirect current to keep their smooth, encrusting surface completely free of sand and settling detritus.
Feeding: Not Required. They are highly photosynthetic and will thrive in lower light. However, their neon-green mouths are fully functional, and broadcasting small particulate foods like reef roids or micro-plankton into the water column will encourage a thicker base and much faster encrusting growth.