Coral ID-- acan, favia or none of the above

[bday1335]

Its a favia, the mayan sun variety.
Lobo is easily ruled out because they'll usually have a "spikier" structure below the flesh than a favia would(they also do not come in this coloration in the 10 yrs of wholesale exp I've had)
Acan maxima are generally never this small either but leaving that behind, also do not come in this pattern

Pattern is what was throwing me off as well. It just seems too fleshy for favia, but the pattern is correct. You could be 100% right here. Was just hard to tell from pictures. But a single thriving head of favia would be correct, would love to see the growth after 6 months. I'll agree with you on this one!!

 

[nereefpat]

Lots of favia/goniastrea will extend quite a bit under the correct parameters. If very "happy" they can get pretty huge. Not so much favites though

I have never seen Favia anywhere near 1.5" per polyp. 1/2" is more typical of what I see. But I don't deal in high-end stuff. I'll be curious to see how it grows.

 

[Dkmoo]

I have never seen Favia anywhere near 1.5" per polyp. 1/2" is more typical of what I see. But I don't deal in high-end stuff. I'll be curious to see how it grows.

Didn't want to stick a metal ruler in there but the big one is about 1.5 inches

 

[REEFTIDE]

I have never seen Favia anywhere near 1.5" per polyp. 1/2" is more typical of what I see. But I don't deal in high-end stuff. I'll be curious to see how it grows.

I don't think its a high-end item quality but if you look at, for example, WWC's farm pics you can see some huge favias in there. TSA had some too in some videos from a while back and I think even Reef Lounge had some as well.
IMO its a feeding, light and balanced nutrient thing(not common by any means as its super hard to achieve) but sometimes the ones I have in my personal tank also look extra happy

 

[Biokabe]

I don't think its a high-end item quality but if you look at, for example, WWC's farm pics you can see some huge favias in there. TSA had some too in some videos from a while back and I think even Reef Lounge had some as well.
IMO its a feeding, light and balanced nutrient thing(not common by any means as its super hard to achieve) but sometimes the ones I have in my personal tank also look extra happy

I can confirm, I used to have a goniastrea that had a very similar growth pattern to OP's coral - just a single, huge head that constantly begged for food. I think it might have been down to how it had been positioned on its frag plug - it didn't really have anything to 'anchor' itself onto for extra heads, so it just kept extending its single head.

 

[jimc40]

Didn't want to stick a metal ruler in there but the big one is about 1.5 inches

Could be a bowerbanki. The size is right

 

[jimc40]

Could be a bowerbanki. The size is right

This is my 24k bowerbanki

 

[DeniseAndy]

I was thinking a favia. I have one with four heads and the heads have been only growing bigger in the few years I have had it. Very large polyps. Easily 1" or more when fleshy.

Bowerbanki is a possibility except the skeleton did not look right. Goneastrea would also be a good guess based on the structure of the skeleton.

These are just my thoughts from my experience. I am no expert in this stuff. I can tell it is a fleshy LPS and needs lower flow and lower light.

 

[FishNerd4Ever]

I can confirm, I used to have a goniastrea that had a very similar growth pattern to OP's coral - just a single, huge head that constantly begged for food. I think it might have been down to how it had been positioned on its frag plug - it didn't really have anything to 'anchor' itself onto for extra heads, so it just kept extending its single head.

I wondered about the mounting as well. It might be higher off of the plug than what is usually done. If this is the case, should I remove it from the plug? It seems happy, so I hate to mess with it.

 

[Dkmoo]

Could be a bowerbanki. The size is right

As much as I want this to be a acan bowerbanki (cuz you know, they are a lot more valuable ), I'm pretty sure mine are just the common $20/head dragon soul favias lol

The tentacles do not "flare out" like acans

 

[FishNerd4Ever]

Just wanted to post this picture again of the mystery frag when the tank lights were off. The lighting was only that from the ceiling light. As soon as I turned on the tank

lights to take a picture, it started closing. I didn't know if this information would be helpful to anyone. Thanks for all the input. At least I am in the same boat of inability to 100% identify it. It was cheap and looked really cool, so I bought it.

 

[FishNerd4Ever]

PS room lighting makes the whole tank look ugly.

 

[Stuartmercer]

Just wanted to post this picture again of the mystery frag when the tank lights were off. The lighting was only that from the ceiling light. As soon as I turned on the tank

lights to take a picture, it started closing. I didn't know if this information would be helpful to anyone. Thanks for all the input. At least I am in the same boat of inability to 100% identify it. It was cheap and looked really cool, so I bought it.

I'm not large into brain corals of any sort, but that looks like a feeding display that one would show off. This coral is very unique, idk what it is. Its almost as if it's a combo of corals put in one lol.

 

[Dkmoo]

Just wanted to post this picture again of the mystery frag when the tank lights were off. The lighting was only that from the ceiling light. As soon as I turned on the tank

lights to take a picture, it started closing. I didn't know if this information would be helpful to anyone. Thanks for all the input. At least I am in the same boat of inability to 100% identify it. It was cheap and looked really cool, so I bought it.

not sure about others but that kind of feeding tentacle expansion is very similar to acans. based on size probably another vote for acan bowerbanki.

 

[FishNerd4Ever]

I'm not large into brain corals of any sort, but that looks like a feeding display that one would show off. This coral is very unique, idk what it is. Its almost as if it's a combo of corals put in one lol.

I totally agree. It has me stumped! I guess what I like about it is that it does have features of several different corals. Thanks for the input. I hope all will continue to chime in. Maybe eventually it will grow a new head or something, and that might be the deciding factor.