Christmas Tree Favia Colony

We primarily keep Favia in low to medium light intensity here at Two Corals Aquatics which is around 50 to 100 PAR. We have kept them in higher lighting but they did not appear to appreciate it and were always at risk of bleaching. If you have a colony of Favia and want to experiment with higher light, remember that it is easy to over-do it, so be prepared to move the coral into a shadier region of the tank at the first signs of trouble. A coral can live for a long time in dim lighting, but they will not tolerate lighting conditions that are too bright.

As for how the lighting spectrum affects their coloration, most Favia stay pretty consistent and are not likely to change color dramatically with changes in lighting spectrum. You may see a subtle change comparing a specimen grown primarily under daylight vs blues however it won’t completely swap out an entire color palate like some corals are capable of. Because there are so many corals under this collective Favia umbrella, some may be very fluorescent which is a joy to look at under full actinic light.

There are some that consider water flow more important to coral health than any other parameter. It may be true in some cases, but I think that it is less of a factor in Favia health compared to other corals. Favia are tolerant to a wide range of flow patterns and adjusting flow specifically for Favia may be fruitless. I like to try and provide a very middle-of-the-road low to medium flow. Too little flow and you run the risk of allowing detritus to settle on the colonies which creates dead spots. Too much flow and you run the risk of damaging the coral. You will know if you are overdoing it if the flow is slamming one side of the coral and it is drawn tight to the skeleton all the time.

For feeding purposes I like being able to shut off all the flow for about 20-30 min to allow the colony to react to the food and consume it. Even a small amount of flow during spot feeding sessions can waste a lot of food.

Like most coral, Favia 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 Favia. 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. Favites typically have smaller mouths than Favia.

Proper acclimation is extremely important considering the stress imposed on the animals by the shipping process.

Favites are one of the corals that extends long sweeper tentacles. In fact, Favites may have more aggressive behavior than the larger Favias. Sweeper tentacles are often used as a means of defense against other encroaching coral colonies. Their white tips contain a concentration of nematcysts that can damage more delicate tank mates. Most of the time, this is not a major problem but to be safe, we recommend placing it in a location far from other corals initially.