Lighting
70-160 PAR is a starting range; fleshy tissue should expand without paling, stretching, or pulling against skeleton.
LPSIntermediateCare score 5/10
Favites
Favites spp.
Use this Favites profile to compare shared corallite walls with Favia and Brain Coral, plan conservative spacing, and watch for shared-wall tissue recession under moderate flow.
Compare shared corallite walls, care range, and nearby lookalikes while checking an ID.
Snapshot
Quick Care Snapshot
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Care score
- 5/10
- Placement
- Low
- PAR range
- 70-160 PAR
- Flow
- Moderate
- Aggression
- Moderate
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Minimum tank age
- 4 months
- Minimum tank size
- 20 gallons
Care note
This entry has low confidence or is marked for expert review. Treat the ranges as conservative starting points and compare them with your own system.
- Verify taxonomy before species-level SEO or care claims.
Images
Reference Photos
Photos are shown only when a source includes reusable license metadata. Always verify appearance against the coral in your own lighting and flow.
Primary reference: Philippe Bourjon
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Philippe Bourjon
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Josuevg
Source: Wikimedia Commons. License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Ranges
Water Parameters
These ranges are approximate starting points from the coral database and should be adjusted to the stability and history of your system.
- Temperature
- 76-80 F / 24.4-26.7 C
- Salinity
- 1.024-1.026
- Alkalinity
- 8-9.5 dKH
- Calcium
- 400-460 ppm
- Magnesium
- 1250-1400 ppm
- Nitrate
- 2-20 ppm
- Phosphate
- 0.03-0.12 ppm
Care
Care Notes
Flow
moderate indirect flow should move tissue gently without folding it into sharp skeleton or neighbors.
Stability
For Favites, verify salinity and alkalinity trends before changing placement; repeated moves and direct corrective swings can irritate fleshy tissue.
Variability
Favites requirements vary by specimen, aquaculture history, shipping stress, and tank maturity; use these ranges as starting points, not guarantees.
Feeding
Feeding
- Benefits from feeding
- Yes
- Food types
- small meaty foods, LPS pellets
- Frequency
- weekly when feeder tentacles are visible
ID
Identification
Key features
- shared corallite walls
- maze or honeycomb texture
- encrusting dome growth
Common colors
- Green
- Red
- Orange
- Brown
Similar coral references
How to tell apart
Favites commonly shares walls between corallites, unlike many Favia colonies with separate walls. Favites is best separated from Favia and Brain Coral by weighing shared corallite walls, maze or honeycomb texture, and encrusting dome growth. Look at corallite walls, polyp shape, tissue inflation, and where recession begins; then compare that structure with where the coral expands, retracts, or shows early recession. Do not rely only on color under blue lighting. Because trade photos can exaggerate color, skeleton shape, polyp layout, and expansion pattern are stronger clues than color alone.
Placement
Compatibility
Compatibility depends on specimen size, flow, growth, aggression, and spacing. Use these references conservatively and watch for contact over time.
Usually compatible with spacing
Use caution near
Avoid close placement with
Spacing recommendation: keep about 4 inches of clearance, then adjust based on extension and neighboring coral response.
Troubleshooting
Common Problems
Use these as troubleshooting checks, not a diagnosis. Symptoms may point to more than one issue.
Favites shared-wall tissue recessionOpen for symptoms, likely causes to check, and practical next steps.
Symptoms that may indicate it
- connected corallite walls pale or neighboring mouths shrink together
- Favites shows less normal extension, inflation, or feeding response than its recent baseline
- changes are localized rather than a confirmed single-cause condition
Likely causes to check
- border aggression, alkalinity instability, or debris on shared walls
- recent placement, lighting, flow, or chemistry changes affecting Favites
- possible irritation from neighbors, pests, detritus, or handling depending on the coral group
Quick checks
- check Favites alkalinity trend and look for nearby stinging contact
- reduce direct flow if tissue is pressed against skeleton
- increase spacing and observe the coral under white light and after lights out
Checklist
Common Mistakes
- separate Favites from true Favia by shared walls, not color morph names
- placing Favites before confirming shared corallite walls and its spacing needs
- using Favites color or trade name alone instead of comparing it with Favia
- changing light, flow, and chemistry together when Favites looks irritated
- ignoring fleshy tissue protection from direct flow when keeping Favites
Compare
Similar Corals
Neighbors
Compatible Corals
These corals are usually compatible with spacing, observation, and stable conditions. This is not a guarantee.
Usually compatible with spacing
Candy Cane Coral
Caulastrea furcata
- Category
- LPS
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Aggression
- Low
Usually compatible with spacing
Acan Coral
Micromussa lordhowensis
- Category
- LPS
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Aggression
- Moderate
Usually compatible with spacing
Blastomussa
Blastomussa wellsi / Blastomussa merleti
- Category
- LPS
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Aggression
- Low
FAQs
FAQs
Is Favites beginner friendly?
Favites is better treated as intermediate because placement, flow, feeding response, or aggression can vary by specimen.
Where should Favites be placed?
Start Favites low in the tank or on the sand/low rockwork when its tissue form allows it. Use 70-160 PAR and moderate flow as a starting point, then adjust from tissue extension, color, and nearby coral response.
Should I target feed Favites?
Favites may benefit from careful target feeding with small meaty foods and LPS pellets. Use the listed frequency as a starting point: weekly when feeder tentacles are visible. Feed only when the coral accepts food and avoid forcing food into stressed tissue.
Can Favites touch other corals?
Give Favites about 4 inches of clearance as a starting point. Its database aggression level is Moderate. Use caution near Favia, Brain Coral, and Chalice Coral. Avoid close placement with Torch Coral and Elegance Coral. Compatibility is not a guarantee, so check contact points as colonies expand.
What should I check if Favites looks stressed?
Use this as a troubleshooting check. For Favites, connected corallite walls pale or neighboring mouths shrink together and Favites shows less normal extension, inflation, or feeding response than its recent baseline can indicate Favites shared-wall tissue recession. Likely causes to check include border aggression, alkalinity instability, or debris on shared walls and recent placement, lighting, flow, or chemistry changes affecting Favites. Start with these database checks: check Favites alkalinity trend and look for nearby stinging contact and reduce direct flow if tissue is pressed against skeleton.
What stability issue matters most for Favites?
For Favites, verify salinity and alkalinity trends before changing placement; repeated moves and direct corrective swings can irritate fleshy tissue. The database lists 4 months as the minimum tank age and 20 gallons as the minimum tank size. For LPS-style care, protect fleshy tissue from repeated moves, direct flow, and abrupt chemistry corrections.
Coral Identifier
Identify Favites.
Compare likely matches.
Use the app to compare photos, lookalikes, and key visual clues when you want a second pass on an ID.
Compare shared corallite walls, care range, and nearby lookalikes while checking an ID.
Photo-based coral IDReference photosLikely matches
