The Finger Leather Coral,
Capnella sp., comes in many different varieties. This particular specimen is "hairy" meaning it has small hair like bristles on the end of the branches. Finger Leather corals are quite hardy in the home aquarium making them particularly good corals for beginner aquarists. Most Finger Leather corals come from the Indian and Pacific Oceans and their colors vary from pink, brown, green, gray, and yellow. In addition to their relative hardiness, Finger Leather corals are non-aggressive towards other coral, invertebrate, or fish species making them a wonderful tank mate in any tank. Finger Leather corals reproduce through fission, meaning they can be successfully fragged and colonized in the home aquarium.
In order to have your Finger Leather thrive in your tank, it is necessary to follow these guidelines:
- Tanks should have medium to high lighting, a pH between 8.1 and 8.4, medium to strong waterflow, and a temperature between 72 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Finger Leather corals feed photosynthetically through zooxanthellae but will benefit from supplemental feeding of most prepared aquarium foods.