This guide is structured for reef keepers who want the husbandry targets first, then the inventory. Use it to decide whether the coral fits your system before you buy or move it.
What this coral wants
Plate corals do best when reefkeepers understand they need a stable landing zone, gentle indirect flow, and enough room for the tissue to fully expand. They do not like being blasted, buried, or wedged into hard rock contact.
At a glance
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Coral Type: LPS
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Scientific Name: Diaseris spp. / Fungia spp. / Heliofungia spp.
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Care Level: Moderate
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Light: 70 to 140 PAR
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Flow: Low to moderate, indirect flow
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Placement: Sandbed or open lower rock with no tissue abrasion
Target water chemistry
These are Lunar Tide Aquatics holding targets for stability, then cross-checked against peer-reviewed coral physiology literature on flow, calcification, feeding, and nutrient stress.
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Temperature: 77 to 78.5 F
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Salinity: 1.025 to 1.026 specific gravity
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Alkalinity: 8.0 to 9.0 dKH
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Calcium: 420 to 460 ppm
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Magnesium: 1280 to 1380 ppm
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Nitrate: 5 to 15 ppm
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Phosphate: 0.03 to 0.10 ppm
Light, flow, and placement
Light: 70 to 140 PAR. Flow: Low to moderate, indirect flow. Placement: Sandbed or open lower rock with no tissue abrasion.
Place plate corals where the tissue can inflate evenly without rubbing against substrate or rock edges. A stable sandbed or broad low ledge usually beats a narrow shelf, especially during the first weeks after shipping.
Keep light changes conservative and feed after lights down if you want to support tissue mass. Sudden increases in flow or PAR show up quickly as retraction, abrasion, or a coral that never fully settles.
Feeding and acclimation
Feeding: Target feed meaty foods 1 to 2 times weekly.
Acclimation: Begin on the sandbed or a stable low perch and move only after inflation stays consistent.
What to watch
Stability target: Keep nutrients measurable and avoid sudden light jumps.
Watch for: Sand abrasion, overturned skeleton, and nearby sweepers.
How Lunar Tide uses this guide
We use these ranges as decision support, not as random numbers to chase. Stable chemistry, predictable placement, and consistent observation usually outperform aggressive adjustments after a coral lands.
If you are ready to compare this husbandry target against what is currently available, browse the current LPS Corals. There are currently 83 pieces in that group.
Scientific references
- Jokiel PL (1978), Effects of water motion on reef corals
- Anthony KRN and Fabricius KE (2000), Shifting roles of heterotrophy and autotrophy in coral energetics under varying turbidity
- Houlbrèque F and Ferrier-Pagès C (2009), Heterotrophy in tropical scleractinian corals
- Holcomb M, Tambutté E, Allemand D and Tambutté S (2014), Light enhanced calcification in Stylophora pistillata
- Jokiel PL (2013), Coral reef calcification: carbonate, bicarbonate and proton flux under conditions of increasing ocean acidification
- Page TM, D'Angelo C, Wiedenmann J and Foster GL (2025), Changes in host gene expression patterns underpin responses of the coral Stylophora pistillata to nutrient stress
Current availability
Use this guide against live inventory
The care guidance lives here. When you're ready to compare it against the corals currently available from Lunar Tide, jump straight into the matching collection.
