Caring For Fungiidae

Class: Anthozoa, Order Scleractinia, Family Fungiidae, Genera Heliofungia, Fungia, and others

Care of Fungiidae - This care sheet will help you understand how to look after Fungiidae - you can find Fungiidae in the Large Polyp Stony Corals section of our Mail Order Corals.

Common names: disc coral, plate coral, tongue coral, fungia, mushroom coral

Naural origin: Indo-Pacific

Sensitivity (Level 1 to 3): Sensitivity depends on genus and species. Species from the genus Fungia are generally tolerant and tend to have excellent success rates among aquarists. Heliofungia species (often distinguished by their long tentacles) have a reputation for being much harder to care for and experience relatively poor success rates in aquaria.

Feeding: These corals have strong prey capture ability and can feed on meaty marine foods. The size of the food should easy fit the size of the coral's polyp mouth or mouths. When in doubt, feed smaller chunks. Slipper corals, Lithophyllon sp. and Polyphyllia sp. often appreciate chopped krill.

Lighting (Level 5 to 8): These corals can adapt to a range of lighting conditions, but most need at least moderate lighting for good health and growth. As always, proper acclimation to new lighting conditions is important.

Water flow: They do well in areas of moderate water flow.

Placement: These corals should be placed on a flat surface (sand beds are usually best, but gravel and bare bottoms will do). They can be a bit aggressive, so please give a little room.

General: These corals can be quite dynamic. They can move independently across flat surfaces (even up to several inches overnight) and can sometimes even flip themselves over after falling upside down. Tentacles usually come out at night, but in captivity they can come out during the day too (or instead). In healthy tanks, they can show remarkable recovery from injury or disease. They're also known for occasionally producing babies called "anthocauli" upon their death.