Are Palythoa corals dangerous to keep?

Yes, if handled improperly. Many Palythoa species contain palytoxin, an extremely dangerous marine toxin. While they are safe when left undisturbed in the aquarium, handling, cutting, or stressing them without gloves and eye protection can cause severe reactions. Never expose them to hot water or boiling, as the airborne toxin can be fatal.

How do I safely frag a Palythoa colony?

You must wear thick, well-fitting protective gloves, safety goggles, and ideally a face mask. Work in a highly ventilated area, separate from living spaces. Use sharp, dedicated bone cutters to cut the rock beneath the coral rather than slicing directly through the fleshy tissue, which minimises toxin release.

Why are my Palythoa polyps staying closed?

Polyps often close in response to direct physical disturbance, shifting water parameters (especially sudden alkalinity swings), or overly intense lighting. Check the colony closely at night for pests like zoanthid-eating nudibranchs or sundial snails, which irritate the coral.

Where is the best placement for Palythoa in my reef tank?

Place them in the lower to middle sections of your rockwork under moderate lighting and moderate, indirect flow. To prevent them from rapidly overgrowing your main aquascape, it is highly recommended to place them on an isolated 'island' rock.

Do I need to feed my Palythoa?

While they are photosynthetic and can survive entirely on light and dissolved nutrients, they thrive when fed. Target feeding them with appropriately sized meaty foods like mysis shrimp or specialised coral powders once a week will drastically increase their growth rate.

MarineCoralsIntermediate

Palythoa

Palythoa spp.

Palythoa are incredibly hardy, fast-growing colonial corals known for their earthy tones, but they must be handled with extreme care due to their potent palytoxin.

List this species for sale Find Palythoa near me

Ideal Conditions

Temperature: 23 – 26 °C
pH range: 8.1 – 8.4
Hardness: 8 – 12 dGH
Salinity: 1.023 – 1.026 SG
Adult size: 1 – 5 cm
Nano reef minimum: 30 litres+
Lifespan: 10 – 50 years
Diet: Photosynthetic and carnivorous
Water flow: Moderate
Preferred setup: Stable reef environment with ample live rock for encrusting.

About the Palythoa

Palythoa are colonial zoantharians renowned for their rapid growth, remarkable hardiness, and broad, umbrella-like polyps. They are enormously popular in the marine hobby for quickly filling out bare rockwork with their textured, earthy-toned mats. However, they command immense respect because many species carry palytoxin, one of the most potent non-protein marine toxins discovered. They spread by creating a shared fleshy tissue mat called a coenenchyme, from which new individual polyps constantly emerge. Unlike many other corals, Palythoa frequently incorporate sand and detritus directly into their structural tissue.

Find Palythoa

Search current listings in your chosen area. If none are available, save an alert and we’ll let you know when a match is listed.

Find locally Check compatibility Add to a Setup

Availability alerts only use public sale listings. Adding this species to a Setup updates your private records.

Is it right for your tank?

Check Palythoa against a habitat you already keep. We compare water type, temperature, pH, adult size, group needs and everything living there.

Where Palythoa comes from

Native range

Indo-Pacific, Caribbean, Red Sea

Countries / regions

Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Bahamas

Habitat

Found across tropical coral reefs, particularly on reef slopes, lagoons, and back-reef environments where they encrust rocks and hard substrates.

Circumtropical distribution, forming dense colonial mats in both shallow and moderately deep reef zones.

Similar species

Zoanthus
Zoanthus spp.
Green Star Polyps
Pachyclavularia violacea
Mushroom Coral
Discosoma spp.

We’re adding more full species guides as the catalogue grows.

Compatible tank mates

Reviewed guidance based on this species' recorded traits.

View all compatibility

Ocellaris Clownfish
Amphiprion ocellaris
Peaceful reef fish that do not pick at corals and are unaffected by Palythoa toxins.
Great
Yellow Tang
Zebrasoma flavescens
Excellent herbivores that will graze around the coral colony without harming the polyps.
Great
Other Zoanthids
Zoanthus spp.
Palythoa grow very quickly and may aggressively outcompete or overgrow smaller zoanthid colonies.
Compatible with caution
Peppermint Shrimp
Lysmata wurdemanni
Often employed to eat Aiptasia anemones, but they are known to occasionally turn on fleshy polyps like Palythoa.
Not recommended
Bristletail Filefish
Acreichthys tomentosus
A noted consumer of nuisance anemones that will routinely nip and consume zoanthids and palys.
Not recommended

Current marketplace listings

Checking the marketplace…

See all Palythoa listings

Public Wanted requests

No open requests for Palythoa in this market yet.

Looking for Palythoa?

Search current listings near you, or post a wanted request so local sellers know what you’re looking for.

Search Palythoa listings Post a wanted request