AKA - Cauliflower Soft Coral, Nephthea, or Nephthya

Looking for first coral?

The Kenya Tree is one of the most hardy soft corals that will thrive in a wide range of tank condition.

It is very low light tolerant and will do well in a wide range of flow rates.

It is very sensitive to adverse water conditions...when mine start to shrivel or fail to fully open, I know a water change is in order.  Need to do no more the 10-15% once water conditions are stable.  Almost immediately after change the corals blossom out once again.

Soooo, if you don't care to spend hundreds, or even thousands $$$ on various testors, sensors, probes and other expensive "gizmos" to let you know when water conditions are going sideways....Just add some of this coral, then keep a close eye on it.

The only trouble I ever had introducing to a tank is when I had allot of xenia in it.  When I had a small forest of xenia's in tank, I had a heck of a time getting kenya trees to survive.  They would just wilt away and never come back.

After an overtemp disaster, which wiped all my xenia's out, The Kenya tree's I added shortly thereafter, exploaded in growth and quickly started to spread all over tank.

Now can't get a xenia to survive in tank at all.  Have made several attempts at adding...all failed.

This coral is certainly known to play the chemical warfare game.  Generally will not do well or cause other corals to not do well if cohabitating tank with hard corals...

Soooo, if you are keeping hard corals, may ought to avoid this one.

If tank has a heavy concentration of soft corals Kenya Trees may be adversely affected as toxins build up, or other corals may be.

Use of carbon, water changes and close observation a must.

"Kenya Tree Corals have small arborescent headed colonies, with polyps that are non-retractile." 

It is not normally considered a threat to hard corals, but may itself be disturbed by their presence. The Kenya Tree Coral relies less on the symbiotic algae within it, and depends more on obtaining outside food. Microplankton, marine snow, and dissolved materials should make up the bulk of its diet.

Kenya Tree Coral is also known to many as Cauliflower Soft Coral. If you are starting to set up a saltwater tank and you want to place coral in your tank but you want it to stay alive than I would suggest purchasing a type of soft coral known as Kenya Tree Coral. The coral looks just like the names says, it looks like a bushy tree. The coral is easy to take care of if you purchase the right supplements for the coral. It will require more supplements than you average polyp will and each bottle of supplements that you place into the water will cost you around $6.00 or so. Button Polyps will require Iodine and Trace Elements and the Kenya Tree Coral will require Iodine, Trace Elements and Strontium. You can purchase these supplements from your local pet store or you can purchase them online.

Most types of soft coral and polyps will require the same temperature and salinity. The salinity with soft coral and polyps will need to be lower than the salinity level you need with each fish. Most fish will require a salinity of 1.021 to 1.026. The Kenya Tree Coral will require a salinity of 1.020 to 1.024. You will most likely want to keep the salinity at about 1.022 or 1.023. Temperature requirements will be the same however, at roughly 72 to 76 degrees. You can place the Kenya Tree Coral with and fish that are reef compatible. You don't want to purchase fish that are destructive towards soft coral.

You will most likely have a cannister filter on your saltwater tank, which works well for all types of coral. With the Kenya Tree Coral, it requires as much water movement as possible. You will want to position the Tree Coral where the water from the filter will shoot out and hit the coral. You can try placing the coral in all different parts of the tank to see where the best current is located. The Kenya Tree Coral can be placed anywhere in the aquarium as long as you have a good lighting system. Soft corals do not require as much light as your traditional hard corals and this is usually why people choose to purchase the Kenya Tree Coral. It looks exactly like hard coral would look but it's not as demanding as your average hard coral.

Of Special Note - The Kenya Tree Coral is one of the easiest corals to keep in a home aquarium. It is also one of the fastest growing and it can easily be propagated or "fragged" by cutting a branch off and attaching it to a rock. Unlike some other corals, this one gets most of its energy from planktonic feeding and its diet should be supplemented with foods like marine snow or phytoplankton.

The Kenya Tree Coral prefers moderate lighting and medium water flow, but will adapt to a variety of conditions. It can be placed at any level in the tank, but you should take care that it does not overrun your aquarium. It is semi-aggressive and may attack other corals if they are placed too close.

(Kenya Trees in 125 Gallon Main)

(Kenya Trees in 12 Gallon Nano)

(Kenya Trees in 5 Gal "Pico")

References:

Liveaquaria.com

Freeinfosociety.com

Soft Corals of the Family Nephtheidae  (Webmedia)