Also known as a Heliofungia Plate or a Disc Coral, the Long Tentacle Plate Coral is a solitary LPS that grows as a single specimen and does not form colonies. It’s scientific name comes from the words Sun “helio” and Mushroom “fungia”. It is found in a variety of colours including red, green and tan. The tentacles sometimes also have contrasting white tips. With its tentacles extended it has the appearance of an anemone. It grows by slowly expanding the diameter of its stony skeleton, with the flesh growing over the new skeleton.
Long Tentacle Plate Corals are found throughout the Indo-Pacific region but the vast majority of specimens available for sale in the hobby are collected from Indonesia. They are generally not found on coral reefs themselves but on sandy reef slopes or lagoons at depths of up to 40 meters. In a home aquarium, they should always be placed on the substrate. In fact, if they are glued to the rockwork they will often die. It should be remembered that Long Tentacle Plate Corals are semi-aggressive and have stinging tentacles that extend well beyond its base, so it should be placed well away from other corals to prevent it from stinging them.
Plate Corals are fairly adaptable to a wide variety of lighting conditions and will do well anywhere on the sandbed except in very shaded areas. They prefer lower levels of flow so as not to damage their flesh or tentacles. It is generally considered to be a very hardy coral and can adapt to most conditions.
Long Tentacle Plate corals, like the vast majority of corals available for sale, are photosynthetic and are able to utilize the aquarium lighting to meet their energy needs. However, they definitely benefit from periodic feeding. Some hobbyists even believe that they require supplemental feeding in order to remain healthy long term. A food such as Vitalis LPS Pellets is a good choice for feeding Long Tentacle Plate Corals.
Long Tentacle Plate Corals do not branch or form colonies, which makes them very difficult to frag. In fact, most attempts to frag them usually end with the death of both the original coral and the new frag. It is probably best to just enjoy this beautiful coral rather than trying to propagate it.
