About Blue-grey Pulse Coral
Tall, swaying soft coral that adds constant motion to the tank. Beginner-easy but spreads aggressively across rockwork — best on an isolated frag plug or peninsula away from corals you'd hate to see overgrown.
Anthelia glauca, the giant anthelia, is a species of soft coral in the family Xeniidae. It is a colonial species and is found in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific region.
Notes from the editors
What it looks like. Tall, slender soft coral with long stalks topped by feathery polyps. Polyps don't pulse like Xenia — they sway with flow but stay open continuously. Color is a soft blue-grey, occasionally with green or pink undertones.
In your tank. Spreads by overgrowing the substrate from its base. Less aggressive than Xenia in pulsing displays but every bit as invasive in growth pattern. Will colonize plumbing, glass, and the bases of other corals if not contained.
Placement and care. Beginner-easy under nearly any reef parameters. Mount on an isolated frag plug or peripheral rock. Moderate-to-high flow keeps the polyps standing upright; low flow causes them to droop. Periodic pruning is necessary to keep colonies in check.
Sourcing and feeding. Captive-propagated frags widely available at low cost. Photosynthetic; no target feeding needed, though improved nutrient levels (slightly elevated nitrate and phosphate) often correlate with better growth and color.
Care info is a starting point, not a guarantee. Individual specimens, water chemistry, and tankmate dynamics vary. Verify against multiple sources and adjust to what you observe. See our terms & disclaimers.
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Sources & attribution
- Taxonomy and accepted name from the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS AphiaID 209999).
- Description content adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo: no rights reserved · CC0 (via iNaturalist or Wikimedia Commons).