Rainbow Favia (Dipsastraea) Coral Care Guide
Rainbow Favia is a photosynthetic Dipsastraea brain-coral morph with concentric multicolour rings; an LPS coral for the home reef.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Rainbow Favia is a designer colour morph of Dipsastraea, a genus of colonial stony coral in the family Merulinidae. It is zooxanthellate (photosynthetic) and forms a closed brain coral with rounded corallites; the 'Rainbow' shows multicolour concentric rings on each polyp. In the aquarium trade these corals are still widely called 'Favia'.
Taxonomy
- Order: Scleractinia
- Family: Merulinidae
- Genus: Dipsastraea (established by Blainville, 1830)
- Scientific name: Dipsastraea sp. 'Rainbow'
- Taxonomic note: most Indo-Pacific corals formerly called Favia are now placed in Dipsastraea
- Common names: Rainbow Favia, Master Favia
Habitat
Dipsastraea is native to the Indo-Pacific, occurring in tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The reclassification moved most former Favia species into Dipsastraea, Favites, Goniastrea and related Merulinidae genera; only the Caribbean species Favia fragum and Favia gravida remain in Favia.
Tank requirements
- Salinity: 1.024–1.026 SG
- Temperature: 24–26 °C (75–79 °F)
- pH: 8.1–8.4
- dKH (alkalinity): 8–11
- Calcium: 400–450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1280–1350 ppm
- Nitrate: below 5 ppm; phosphate below 0.03 ppm
- Lighting: medium (about 75–175 PAR)
- Flow: medium
- Minimum tank age: about 3 months
Feeding
It obtains much of its energy from photosynthesis via its zooxanthellae, and benefits from supplemental feeding for growth and colour. Suitable foods include mysis and reef-roids offered to the polyps, especially in the evening when feeder tentacles extend.
Compatibility
Rainbow Favia is moderately aggressive and has stinging sweeper tentacles, so it should be spaced away from other corals. With adequate spacing it is reef-, shrimp- and fish-safe and is considered an intermediate-level LPS coral.
Rainbow Favia (Dipsastraea sp.): Propagation Guide
Overview
The aquarium 'Favia' brain corals of the Indo-Pacific now belong to the genus Dipsastraea in the family Merulinidae, established by Blainville in 1830 and absorbing several former genera. These are zooxanthellate corals native to the Indo-Pacific. The 'Rainbow' designation refers to high-color morphs prized for the concentric rings around each corallite.
Reproductive Mode
Dipsastraea are reef-building stony corals carrying symbiotic zooxanthellae in their tissues. As with most reef-building corals, sexual reproduction is by gamete release into the water; in the aquarium the practical method is asexual division of the colony. Each polyp sits in its own corallite, which makes the colony straightforward to cut between heads.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Because each polyp has a separate corallite wall, the colony is fragged by cutting between the heads so every frag keeps one or more complete, undamaged corallites with live tissue. A band saw gives the cleanest cut on the dense skeleton; cut frags are dipped, dried, glued to plugs, and returned to gentle conditions to heal.
Conditions for Propagation
Healing frags do best under the parent's preferred medium light and moderate flow strong enough to keep detritus off the cut surface but gentle enough that the polyps stay open. Stable alkalinity and calcium support re-encrustation over the exposed skeleton.
Common Challenges
Exposed cut edges can be invaded by algae or recede if conditions swing, so a clean cut and a coral dip reduce infection risk. Designer color morphs may pale under unstable lighting, and brain corals generally re-cover sawn skeleton slowly.