Plate Coral Care Guide
Plate Coral (Fungia repanda) is a LPS coral. Care covers 75-175 PAR, low flow, reef parameters and feeding; intermediate level.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Plate Coral (Fungia repanda) is a LPS coral in the family Fungiidae. Free-living solitary plate coral that sits on sandbed. Single central mouth with radiating septa.
Taxonomy
- Family: Fungiidae
- Genus: Fungia
- Scientific name: Fungia repanda
- Common synonyms: Disc Coral, Mushroom Plate
Habitat
In the wild, Fungia repanda is reported from Indo-Pacific, where it occupies mid to lower reef slopes and lagoons (typically 5-30 m). The species adopts a plating growth form on hard substrate within zooxanthellate reef communities.
Tank requirements
- Salinity (specific gravity): 1.024-1.026
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Carbonate hardness (dKH): 8-11
- Calcium: 400-450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1280-1350 ppm
- Phosphate (max): 0.03 ppm
- Nitrate (max): 5 ppm
- Minimum system age: 3 months
Placement and lighting
- PAR (placement zone): 75-175 PAR
- Water flow: low
As a free-living plate coral, place this specimen directly on the sand bed rather than on rock; it can inflate, shift position, and right itself if toppled. Keep flow gentle and indirect — strong jets tear the expanded tissue — and avoid letting it slide against rock or other corals, where abrasion invites infection.
Feeding
Fungia repanda hosts symbiotic zooxanthellae and derives most of its energy through photosynthesis. Supplemental target feeding accelerates growth and supports colouration; commonly accepted items include mysis, brine, reef-roids. Feed once or twice per week after lights-out, when polyps are extended.
Compatibility
This coral is passive toward neighbours. Reef-safe with most fish and invertebrates.
Care notes
Difficulty level: intermediate. Reported skeletal growth in well-tuned reef tanks is approximately 0.1-0.3 cm/month. Propagation by fragmentation is straightforward for plating colonies — separate branches or polyps with a bone cutter, glue to plug, allow 1-2 weeks for healing. Maintain stable alkalinity (avoid swings above ±0.5 dKH per day) to preserve tissue health.
Fungia repanda (Plate Coral) Propagation Guide
Overview
Fungia repanda is a solitary, free-living plate coral in the family Fungiidae. Unlike colonial brain corals, it is a single large polyp sitting on the substrate, with a central mouth ringed by tentacles inside one calcareous disc. Because there is only one polyp, it is not propagated by cutting it into multiple heads like colonial corals; instead it relies on a distinctive regeneration process.
Reproductive Mode
Fungiids begin life as a small attached juvenile on a stalk, then detach to become free-living discs; an adult Fungia even bears a scar showing where it was once attached. Asexual reproduction occurs through anthocauli: daughter polyps that bud from skeletal tissue and later detach. Fungia repanda is also among the fungiids able to change sex, and the genus reproduces sexually as well.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Rather than slicing a single polyp, propagation exploits anthocauli regeneration. If the disc is damaged or the polyp dies back, new daughter polyps (also called anthoblasts) bud from the tissue remnants and sprout from the skeleton or stalk. Hobbyists encourage this by leaving even a damaged or apparently dead skeleton in the tank, where tiny new polyps can regrow, then detach once large enough to live as independent discs.
Conditions for Propagation
- Soft sandbed or smooth surface where the free-living disc can rest without abrasion.
- Low to moderate flow, since these corals inhabit calmer settings on the bottom.
- Stable parameters and good water quality so a stressed disc can regenerate rather than rot.
- Patience: keep a damaged skeleton in place, as daughter polyps may appear over weeks to months.
Sexual Reproduction
Fungiids also reproduce sexually, releasing gametes for external fertilisation and producing free-swimming larvae that settle and begin the attached anthocaulus stage. Captive sexual reproduction is uncommon and not a practical home method.
Common Challenges
As a single polyp, a Fungia has no spare heads: serious tissue damage can kill the whole animal before anthocauli form. Deliberately fragging a healthy plate is risky. Anthocauli budding is most reliable as a response to stress or partial death, not as a routine on-demand technique.