Cupid's Heart Favia?

[chrisv]

Well, i'm not one that's big into "named" corals, but I decided t take a gamble on one of the purple and red favia frags that was available on divers den...


They bill it as "Cupid's Heart Favia".

I dont keep many LPS in my reef, but i couldn't resist this guy. It's a 90g-- I use two Mp40's for flow and I light my tank with 2x400W 14k hamilton metal halides with T5 actinic supplementation.

How much do i need to shade this one and how much do you think i need to protect it from high flow?

Is there any chance of it keeping these cool colors long term?

here is a pic: http://marine-engineers.org/wp-cont...185724706_32999209705_8620419_193731580_n.jpg

 

[LittleFish2012]

How much did you pay for it?

 

[chrisv]

80 bucks.

 

[MBIETZ]

Have you received this coral yet a lot of DD stuff does not look accurate to the pic they have on their site. I would assume that the purple on that coral will most likely look greyish in color but i could be wrong. Nice piece tho.

 

[seapug]

That's an interesting one. Favias can tolerate a wide range of lighting, but the colorful ones tend to look best in somewhat shaded conditions protected from strong currents. When placed in a high light areas the color contrast tends to fade.

 

[greech]

Completely agree with seapug. My favias all do really well on the bottom or slightly under a ledge. Nice favia BTW, I have eyeballed that one a few times myself.

 

[chrisv]

Even if its a bit more of a gray than a purple, I think it will be a nice contrast in my tank.

It will arrive tomorrow and when it does I will try and get a picture. my lights are no doubt less blue (i think they use 20K radiums) but I will be almost as happy with a red and gray coral as a red and purple one.

now to find a low-ish dark-ish spot in a 4 foot x 2 foot area that is lit by 1000 watts of light and has two vortechs and a high velocity return line...

 

[chrisv]

Well, this coral came in on friday. It is a nightmare to photograph (both because its at the very back of my tank and because fo the color contrast).

I am 100% satisfied with the coral. It is colored as pictured on the divers den website-- lavender and red. now if I can manage to keep those colors I will be thrilled.

I've got it placed partially shaded near the very bottom between two mounds of live rock. (there are MP40's on reef crest mode, 75% on either end of the tank so this was the only "low-ish" flow area.) It is directly between two 400W metal halides in lumenarc reflectors--- yes i know, so old school of me)

I doubt that I will be able to photograph it well, but I will make a few more attempts and update this thread regarding growth and color retention.