Favites sp.

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

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. However, distinguishing them can still be difficult in small frags.

Characteristics

• LPS coral with large and clearly distinguishable corallites
• Corallites have shared walls
• Grows as an encrusting and often later thick or dome-shaped growth
• Available in numerous different colors and patterns
• Moderately easy to care for in a stable reef aquarium
• Can form long sweeping 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 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 sweeping tentacles, especially during darkness, 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: Gets a large part of its energy from its photosynthesizing symbiotic algae-containing tissues and nutrients in the water. Separate feeding is not necessary, 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 achieving a single value is maintaining the water parameters as stable as possible.

Additional information

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