Indo-Pacific - Islands of the Indopacific including Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, and the Great Barrier Reef.

Medium to high lighting would serve this species well. Lobophyllia can be kept under high output fluorescent bulbs, but may benefit from more intense lighting. It will likely change its coloration depending on the lighting provided. Lobophyllia may require a longer acclimation period to intense lighting such as metal halides.

We recommend keeping the coral in a relatively low flow area of the reef display. Too much flow could cause this particular species to become stressed and not extend fully.

Like most coral, Lobophyllia rely to a large extent on the products of their zooxanthellae, however, in our experience, they also benefit from direct feeding. There are a variety of frozen fish foods available that make outstanding meals for Lobophyllia. We like to feed a mixture of meaty foods such as shrimp, fish, and squid with vitamin additives and highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA). The size of the food must be small enough that the polyp can fully ingest it.

Members of the genus Lobophyllia are generally hardy and easy to keep. They can exist in a wide variety of tank conditions, and are fairly common in the reef trade. They come in a variety of colors, the most common being green or brownish green. This coral is a good candidate for beginners getting into stony corals.

In terms of propagation, this genus has been successfully fragmented however asexual reproduction in this way is a slow process. While efforts to aquaculture Lobophyllia are to be praised, it has yet to be shown that they can be propagated cost effectively. Perhaps in time new methods of propagation or even sexual reproduction will be available. For now however, it is unlikely that they are a sustainable harvest in captivity.