Favia Corals

What are Favia corals?

Favia are encrusting large polyp stony corals that grow as low domes or plates covered in tightly packed corallites, each a separate polyp ringed with contrasting color. The hobby name covers both Favia and the closely related Favites, and older references group them as moon or brain corals. What collectors buy them for is color contrast: the best morphs pair a bright rim against a completely different center, repeated across dozens of polyps. They sit among the hardiest collector LPS corals.

Favia and Favites morphs

Favia are traded by named color lineage rather than species:

• War coral — the classic Favia morph, typically green corallites against a red or orange body, and one of the most recognizable LPS in the hobby.
• Rainbow and multicolor morphs — lineages carrying three or more colors across the colony, priced at the top of the group.
• Dragon Soul and named collector lines — established lineages from specific farms, selected for extreme contrast and reliable color retention.
• Favites morphs — honeycomb corallites sharing common walls, often with stronger geometric patterning than true Favia.

Favia coral care: light, flow, and feeding

Favia want less light than most reefers give them. Low to moderate intensity on the lower rockwork or sand bed holds color best, while high light bleaches the tissue and washes out the contrast that makes the coral worth keeping. Flow should be gentle and indirect. Keep alkalinity and calcium steady with dependable water testing equipment and check your reef lighting coverage before placing a frag. Target feed mysis or prepared LPS food once or twice a week in the evening once the feeding tentacles appear.

Managing Favia aggression

Favia are well armed. Their sweeper tentacles extend several inches at night, and because the colony looks completely static during the day the reach is easy to underestimate. Leave four to six inches of clearance from other corals, and be aware that a Favia will generally win an extended border war with acans, blastomussa, and most softies. Pair them at a distance with other aggressive LPS rather than tucking them into a crowded shelf, and observe the tank after lights out before committing to a final placement.

Building a low-light LPS shelf

Favia belong on the same shelf as the other low-light, calm-water collector LPS, where the whole group can be viewed as a mosaic of contrasting color. Compare acan corals, chalice corals, and blastomussa corals for the same zone, or browse the full range of live corals for sale.