Coral placement

[AquariumDani]

Hi, I need some advice on where to place my corals? I've been reading about it and watching youtube videos, but I think low flow and medium lighting is very different for me and the people on youtube. My corals seem happy where they are, but I know they won't be forever.

 

[Flowering Reef LLC]

I would move them around and just test places out to see if they become happy.. If you have zoanthids you can usually place them anywheree. if you have LPS like to put them places where i can visually see them sway but not sway too hard and sps i like to place near the top depending on the species they require more flow and higher lights... there is a method to placing things but i find you learn by testing and doing it for yourself

 

[LilElroyJetson]

What lights are you running and how high off the tank? Also, we typically shoot for 30x turnover (at the lowest end) all the way up to 100x turnover in our tanks. So you can calculate your powerheads (and return if you have one) gph divided by your total actual water volume to gauge your flow, then for each specific coral, you can look up what type of flow/lighting they like and generally guess where in the tank the lower and higher flow spots are (based on deadspots, movement, rockwork, etc.), and eyeball the light intensity if you can’t get your hands on a PAR meter, and place the corals accordingly, leave them for a while, and see if they look like they’re getting blasted by too much flow or not moving at all when they should be and thus not getting enough flow, or if they respond positively or negatively to the light. Mind you once you move them it may take a day or two for them to acclimate and get happy again. Most of what I can see from the photo would probably do better low to mid height in a tank, but I’d definitely keep that chalice in lower light.

 

[dbjonesjr]

Second what people above said. I'd recommend putting the Duncan low and in between some rocks such as the left and middle (mine do not like high flow as it just blasts them). Zoanthids can be put pretty much anywhere so I would use them as a filler for the weird places that get high light and low flow or vice versa (as each condition is unsuitable for many SPS and LPS corals). Could you give us some more details on the corals you would like to keep, as well as flow and light details for your tank (along with tank size etc.)?

 

[AquariumDani]

Sure, so I have two micromussas, a favia, duncan, 1 paly, two zoas, a blasto, and two chalice. 2 Turbelle Nanostream (475 GPH each). I have an AI prime HD. The light is probably 6" off the tank.

 

[LilElroyJetson]

It might be pretty intense right at the top center but hard for me to say because I use the Hydras. If you can borrow a PAR meter from a LFS or local reef club that would be ideal but considering you’re not keeping SPS or placing corals directly at the top yet you’ll probably be fine with general placement of those corals. Just pay close attention over the first few days and if anything looks unhappy move it to a lower intensity area.