War Coral

Favites sp.

Care Level	Moderate
Lighting	Low to moderate
Water Flow	Low to moderate
Placement	Low to mid rock
Aggression	Aggressive — strong sweeper tentacles
Coloration	Fiery red, green, and orange rainbow "war" patterns

Overview

The War Coral is a favorite trade name for brightly colored Favites brain corals — colonies whose tightly packed polyps blaze with clashing reds, greens, and oranges, like a battlefield map (hence “war” coral). It is very closely related to Favia, cared for identically, and prized for those intense rainbow morphs. See also our Favia Brain Coral page for the closely related type.

Care & Placement

Give low-to-moderate light and low-to-moderate flow. Place low-to-mid on rock with several inches of clearance from other corals, because War/Favites corals extend long, aggressive sweeper tentacles at night. Colors are richest under blue-heavy reef lighting.

Feeding

Photosynthetic and responds well to feeding — target-feed meaty foods (mysis, chopped seafood) once or twice a week in the evening, when the feeder tentacles emerge, to boost growth and intensify the colors.

Propagation

Frag by cutting through the skeleton between polyp groups with a band saw or bone cutter, similar to Favia.

Full step-by-step: How to Frag Acans, Favia and Other Rock-Skeleton LPS

Cautions

AGGRESSIVE — long sweeper tentacles can sting and kill neighboring corals overnight; give it plenty of room. Otherwise hardy and long-lived. Do not confuse the “war coral” trade name for a distinct species — it is simply a colorful Favites/Favia brain coral.