Favites sp.

Favites is a striking LPS coral whose individual corallites form a dense colony with shared walls. The growth pattern is often encrusting and gradually thickening or dome-shaped. The coloration varies strongly depending on the individual, and multiple colors and patterns can appear in the same coral.

Favites closely resembles Favia corals in appearance. The clearest difference is in the structure of the corallites: Favites corallites have shared walls, while Favia-type corals have separate walls for individual corallites. In small frags, distinguishing them can still be difficult.

Features

• LPS coral with large and clearly distinguishable corallites
• Corallites have shared walls
• Grows as an encrusting colony and often later thickens or becomes dome-shaped
• Available in numerous different colors and patterns
• Relatively easy to care for in a stable reef aquarium
• Can form long sweeper tentacles and sting nearby corals

Care

Light: Moderate, approximately 100–150 PAR. Favites can also adapt to stronger lighting, but a new coral should be acclimated to the light gradually.

Flow: Moderate and indirect. Water movement should keep the coral's surface clean without strong direct flow stressing the soft tissue.

Placement: Leave enough space around it. Favites can use sweeper tentacles, especially at night, which can harm nearby corals. A good starting point is at least about 8–10 cm distance from other corals, but more space may be needed depending on the individual.

Feeding: Obtains a large part of its energy from its tissues containing photosynthetic symbiotic algae and nutrients in the water. Separate feeding is not essential, but small protein-rich coral food, mysis, or other suitable zooplankton-like food can support growth.

Recommended water parameters

• Temperature: 24–26 °C
• Salinity: 34–35 ppt
• KH: 7–9 dKH
• Calcium: 400–450 mg/l
• Magnesium: 1250–1400 mg/l
• Nitrate: 2–15 mg/l
• Phosphate: 0.03–0.15 mg/l
• pH: 8.0–8.4

More important than precisely aiming for a single value is maintaining water parameters as stable as possible.

Additional information

• Scientific name: Favites sp.
• Coral type: LPS
• Origin: Indo-Pacific
• Difficulty: Easy–Moderate
• Light: Moderate, approximately 100–150 PAR
• Flow: Moderate, indirect
• Aggression: High