Saxamo!

The Christmas Favia Coral is a large polyp stony (LPS) corals often referred to as Moon, Pineapple, Brain, Closed Brain, Star, Worm, or Honeycomb Coral. They are the most common and prolific coral in the world, and are very similar to the genus Favia, sharing many of the same common names, and sometimes being very difficult to differentiate. Favites Corals are found in various color forms and polyp shapes. “Pineapple Coral” is the name commonly given to those that have smaller circular patterns.

The Favite Corals are aggressive, expanding their sweeper tentacles at night well beyond the base. It is important to leave space between them and neighbors in the reef aquarium. Maintenance for the Favite Corals is relatively easy, making them excellent choices for the beginner to expert hobbyist. They require moderate lighting combined with moderate water movement within the aquarium. For continued good health, calcium, strontium, and other trace elements should be added to the water. It will also benefit from the addition of supplemental food in the form of micro-plankton or brine shrimp, fed twice per week in the evening while its tentacles are visible.

Euphylla Ancora, also known as Hammer Coral, Ridge Coral, Hammerhead or Anchor Coral, is a large polyp stony (LPS) coral. Its common names are derived from the appearance of its hammerhead or anchor-shaped tentacles. Its polyps are visible throughout both day and night and hide its skeletal base. They breed via fission, which is a form of asexual reproduction and each resulting fragment produced is capable of growing into an individual.

Hammer corals may be green, tan or brown in color, with lime green or yellow tips on the ends of its tentacles, which glow under actinic lighting. Some varieties of hammer coral may be branched, which makes them look similar to Torch Coral. They can appear semi-transparent when well expanded. Hammer coral colonies may form continuous cover over the substrate many meters across, although individual colonies are seldom over one meter across. Large colonies are usually found in shallow environments exposed to moderate wave action. Hammer coral does well within a range of at least 75 to 84 degrees and prefer moderate light. (A good example of moderate light is a 65 watt light over a 25 gallon aquarium).

Keeping Hammer coral in a saltwater aquarium is not recommended for those new to the hobby. This is mostly because their delicate nature makes them rough shippers. Hammer corals have sharp skeletons that are covered in extremely thin tissue, which is inevitably easily scuffed by shipping. All Euphyllia should be given plenty of room to expand in an aquarium setting. Sweeper tentacles extend several inches at night and can sting other corals.

Hammer Coral Aggressiveness and Feeding
Hammer coral can expand considerably from its skeleton and has sweeper tentacles that are up to 2″ longer than normal tentacles that can sting its neighbors. Hammer corals grow fairly quickly and to a large size. It is photosynthetic and does not need to be directly fed, but will take small meaty foods if offered. Hammer coral is aggressive toward the other marine aquarium invertebrates.