WYSIWYG Tricolor Fungia Plate Coral

Description

• Scientific Name: Fungia spp. (includes species like Fungia repanda, Fungia scutaria, etc.)

• Common Names: Fungia Coral, Plate Coral, Disk Coral, Mushroom Coral (not to be confused with mushroom soft corals)

• Family: Fungiidae

• Origin: Indo-Pacific—Red Sea, Australia, Indonesia, and surrounding areas

• Appearance:

  • Solitary, free-living coral (not attached to rock)

  • Circular or oval in shape with radial ridges and a central mouth

  • Can inflate with water and sometimes even "walk" or flip itself over

  • Comes in a wide variety of colors: orange, green, purple, pink, and even striped or fluorescent varieties

Care Requirements

Lighting

• Moderate to High PAR (100–250)

• Can adapt to a wide range of lighting, but intense light should be introduced slowly

• Coloration tends to improve under brighter lighting (but watch for bleaching)

Water Flow

• Low to Moderate flow

• Too much flow can cause the coral to move or damage its soft tissue

• Needs just enough flow to keep detritus from settling on its surface

Feeding

• Fungia corals are aggressive feeders and will often inflate dramatically when food is nearby

• Feed 2–3 times per week with:

  • Mysis shrimp

  • Brine shrimp

  • Reef Roids or small LPS pellets

• Place food near the mouth when tentacles are extended, often at night or during low-light periods

Placement

• Best placed on the sand bed, directly on the substrate (not on rockwork)

• Needs plenty of open space around it—can expand several inches and may sting nearby corals

• Since it’s mobile, make sure it won’t fall into crevices or get stuck

Maintenance & Behavior

• Keep substrate clean to avoid bacterial infections if sand gets trapped under the coral

• They are prone to inflating and even self-propelling slightly in the tank

• Can recover from injuries quite well, even regenerate from fragments in some cases

Cool Facts

• One of the few motile (moving) stony corals

• Some species can reproduce asexually by budding baby corals (called anthocauli) from their skeleton

• Sometimes misclassified as dead if tissue recedes, but they can regenerate from tiny tissue spots

Tips

• Don’t place directly under aggressive lighting from the start—acclimate slowly.

• Use coral tongs or gloves to handle gently—though tough, the tissue is delicate.

• If your Fungia isn’t inflating, check for poor water quality, lack of flow, or too much detritus on it.