Fungia plate coral

[sassyonmane]

Was wondering if a fungia plate coral will grow / inflate long big tentacles? or is it a different type of fungia?
Saw a fungia plate coral that was huge and had long fat tentacles like a torch coral at lfs, i got a smaller one that had short small tentacles though, will it grow to have those tentacles like the larger one or will it stay short?

 

[braaap]

Not likely. You likely saw a long tentacle plate.

 

[VintageReefer]

The plates with long tentacles are their own thing called heliofungai

A typical plate has small short nubs or very short tentacles

Btw heliofungai has a dismal survival rate in home reefs. While there are some with success, most don’t last a year even in pristine conditions, regular feeding, etc. they just don’t survive well for most people

 

[Hp1836]

I have a heliofungia I have had for about 8 months now and still seems to be doing well and I don’t feed it at all. The tentacles are always fully extended and it it very vibrant. It doesn’t always inflate fully in diameter but I think it goes through cycles with that every few days. My theory is heliofungia actually need a little more light then we usually associate with fungia. My short tentacled ones often move in and out of the shadows on their own where as this one is always dead center under bright light. All plates can also take more flow then we credit them with. My tank is high flow and they are all fine. Just don’t blast them directly with a power head.

I may be way off base though because I went through 2 others I lost quickly before this one so it also could be they just don’t transport or adapt well