Heliofungia

Heliofungia are free-living plate corals closely related to Fungia but distinguished by their dramatically long, flowing tentacles that give them an anemone-like appearance. Place them on the sand bed under moderate PAR (75–150 PAR) with gentle flow. Like all free-living corals, they should never be glued to rockwork — they need to sit freely on the substrate and may reposition themselves over time.

Maintain stable reef parameters: alkalinity 7.5–9.0 dKH, calcium 400–450 ppm, magnesium 1300–1400 ppm, and temperature 25–26 °C. Heliofungia benefit from regular target feeding with meaty foods like mysis or brine shrimp once or twice weekly. Their long tentacles are effective food catchers, and the feeding response is impressive to watch. The tentacles can extend well beyond the skeleton, so factor this into your spacing calculations.

Heliofungia are semi-aggressive — their long tentacles can sting corals they reach, so provide adequate clearance on the sand bed. They cannot be fragged as they are solitary polyps, though they may occasionally bud daughter corals. These corals are found throughout the Indo-Pacific and are periodically available from Australian coral retailers. Their unique anemone-like appearance makes them a striking sand-bed feature, and clownfish will occasionally host in them.