Flower Pot Corals

74 flower pot corals for sale, including Goniopora and Alveopora frags
Shop aquacultured flower pot corals for sale, covering both Goniopora and Alveopora. Flower pots grow as a ball of skeleton studded with long, daisy-like polyps that sway constantly, giving more visible movement than almost any other stony coral. Wild-colle... Read more Show less

Shop aquacultured flower pot corals for sale, covering both Goniopora and Alveopora. Flower pots grow as a ball of skeleton studded with long, daisy-like polyps that sway constantly, giving more visible movement than almost any other stony coral. Wild-collected flower pots earned a difficult reputation decades ago, but aquacultured stock is vastly hardier and now succeeds in ordinary mixed reefs. These are striking, feedable LPS corals, and every frag ships with a live arrival guarantee.

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  • TSA Plasma Goniopora Coral
    50% OFF

    TSA Plasma Goniopora Coral

    TSA Plasma Goniopora Coral
    $99.99 $199.99

    Signature Coral

    Care Level Difficult
    Lighting Moderate
    Flow Moderate
    Placement Low–Mid
  • TSA Head 2 Head Goniopora Coral
    14% OFF

    TSA Head 2 Head Goniopora Coral

    TSA Head 2 Head Goniopora Coral
    $279.99 $324.99

    Signature Coral

    Care Level Difficult
    Lighting Moderate
    Flow Moderate
    Placement Low–Mid
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Compare Flower Pot Corals

Compare our most popular live corals by care level, lighting, flow, growth, placement, and temperament — from beginner-friendly softies to advanced SPS.

Answers

Flower Pot Coral Care FAQ

What is the difference between Goniopora and Alveopora?
Count the tentacles on a single polyp. Goniopora carries 24 tentacles around each mouth, while Alveopora carries 12, and that is the only reliable field difference between the two. Alveopora polyps tend to look softer and more feathery as a result, and the genus is often slightly more forgiving. Care requirements are close enough that the same placement and feeding routine works for both.

Are flower pot corals hard to keep?
They used to be. Wild-collected Goniopora had a reputation for slowly wasting away over several months no matter what keepers did, and that history still colors the advice you will find. Aquacultured flower pots grown in captivity for multiple generations are a different animal: they adapt readily to moderate light and flow, feed enthusiastically, and hold up well in a normal mixed reef. Buy captive-grown stock and the old reputation largely does not apply.

Where should I place a flower pot coral?
Low to middle rockwork or the sand bed, under moderate light and moderate, indirect flow. The goal is enough current to keep the long polyps drifting and waving without folding them flat. Flower pots need space, because a fully extended colony is several times the diameter of its skeleton and the polyps will contact anything nearby. Leave four to six inches of clearance in every direction.

Do flower pot corals need to be fed?
Feeding makes a real difference. Flower pots are photosynthetic but do noticeably better with regular small feedings of fine particulate food, such as powdered coral foods, rotifers, or finely chopped seafood. Broadcast a small amount into the flow above the colony a few times a week while the polyps are extended. Consistent feeding is one of the main reasons modern aquacultured Goniopora succeed where wild collected ones historically failed.

Why is my flower pot coral not extending?
Short-term retraction after shipping, a water change, or a move is normal and usually resolves within a week or two. Persistent closure generally points to flow that is too strong or too direct, light that is too intense, irritation from a neighboring coral, or unstable alkalinity. Work through those in order, and resist repositioning the colony repeatedly, since each move restarts the adjustment. A flower pot that stays closed for weeks while the tissue recedes needs a change in placement rather than patience.

Live coral buying guide

What are flower pot corals?

Flower pot coral is the hobby name for two closely related genera, Goniopora and Alveopora, both of which grow as a rounded stony skeleton covered in long, individually stalked polyps tipped with a ring of tentacles. Fully extended, a colony looks like a bouquet of small daisies in constant motion, and it can expand to several times the size of the bare skeleton. They offer more visible movement than any other LPS corals in the hobby.

Telling Goniopora and Alveopora apart

The two genera are sold side by side and often confused, but one detail separates them cleanly:

  • Goniopora — 24 tentacles per polyp. Longer, more substantial stalks and generally the bolder colors, including the reds, pinks, and neon greens most collectors want.
  • Alveopora — 12 tentacles per polyp. A softer, feathery look, often in pastel tones, and widely considered the more forgiving of the two for a first attempt.

Beyond tentacle count the two behave almost identically in a reef tank, so a keeper comfortable with one will have no trouble with the other.

Flower pot coral care: light, flow, and feeding

Moderate light and moderate, indirect flow suit flower pots best. Too much current keeps the polyps folded and defeats the point of the coral; too little lets detritus settle into the skeleton. Compare your reef lighting and keep alkalinity and calcium stable with dependable water testing equipment, since the colony is laying down skeleton continuously. Feed fine particulate foods a few times a week while the polyps are open, and expect visibly better extension within a month of starting a routine.

Why aquacultured flower pots succeed

The difficult reputation attached to Goniopora comes almost entirely from wild-collected imports, which frequently declined over three to six months for reasons never fully identified. Captive-grown stock behaves very differently: it has already adapted to aquarium lighting, flow patterns, and prepared foods before it reaches you, and it arrives without the collection and shipping stress that wild pieces carried. If you have read that flower pots cannot be kept, that guidance predates the aquacultured stock now available.

Placing flower pots in a mixed reef

Give a flower pot room for its fully extended footprint rather than its skeleton, which usually means four to six inches of open space. They are not especially aggressive but the long polyps will contact neighbors, and repeated contact damages both. The lower rockwork and sand bed suit them, alongside other moderate-light LPS. Compare closely related long-polyp options in goniopora corals, browse all live corals for sale, or look through established pieces in coral colonies.