Fungia

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Photo Credit: Brian Kramer - 120 Gallons Podcast http://www.120gallons.com

Introduction

The plate coral is a LPS coral that is easy to care for. It is a good beginner coral.

Common Names

Plate Coral, short tentacle plate coral

Scientific Names

Phylum-Cnidaria

Class-Anthozoa
 Subclass-Hexacorallia
  Order-Scleratinia
   Family-Fungiidae
    Genus-Fungia

Examples: Fungia danai, F. repanda, F. fungites, F. horrida, F. paumotensis, F. scutaria

Hardiness

Easy

Flow

Low to medium flow is ok for this coral

Lighting

Medium lighting is best, but will still thrive in other lighting conditions, including metal halide.

Placement

It varies. It will do fine placed nearly anywhere, but seems to fare best when it is on the substrate, especially since the coral has the ability to move and can fall if placed elsewhere. Don't place it too close to another coral because the plate coral often inflates itself with water and becomes much larger, so the tentacles may be able to reach further than you would first think.

Feeding

This coral uses photosynthesis, but you can also feed it pellets, brine shrimp, frozen foods and zooplankton (best done when the tentacles are out).

Propagation

Propagation of this coral can be done by fragmenting or cutting it into a couple of pieces. Keep in mind that this coral is slow growing, so it will not immediately bounce back from the propagation.

Aggression

Low to medium. This coral can extend its tentacles, but typically the tentacles cannot reach too far.

Availability

The plate coral is commonly available, although the orange, purple and red variety is the hardest to find.

Other Issues

Don't be surprised to see this coral take a walk.

Fungiids are known for their ability to move across the substrate. While a fascinating behavior, this can be problematic in your reef tank. The fungia may move around and encounter other corals or anemones, causing damage either to the fungia itself or the to the critter whose path it has crossed.

This is also one good reason to keep your fungia on the substrate- a fall from the rockwork can be damaging or fatal.