Corals for cooler water?

Fishfreak2009

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What corals do well at cooler temperatures (70F)? I'm looking for different things to add to my seahorse aquarium. Various Atlantic gorgonians, sponges, and macroalgae are thriving, but the GSP I tried adding never opened and literally melted away to nothing.

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20221104_203304.jpg
 
70F is a bit of an awkward temp to find things for (too cold for tropical species, too warm for truly coldwater species, and possibly a bit high to keep for a lot of temperate species), but here's a list I compiled awhile ago for 64-67F, most of which would probably work for 70F:
The corals listed below should be able to handle the temps you list, but they might do better with different temps, or with some variation in temp (some temperate corals do better with seasonal temp changes).

Gulf Specimen Marine Laboratories, Inc. carries (as listed on their site):
Encrusting Hard Corals:
Star Coral (Astrangia asteriaformes - the accepted name is currently Astrangia poculata) - can handle the temps listed.
Rose Bud Coral (Phyllangia americana) - can handle the temps, but is Non-photosynthetic, so more difficult to keep
Red Shell Coral (Cladocora arbuscula) - prefers higher temps than listed.

Soft Corals:
Sea Pansy (Renilla mulleri) - can handle the temps listed, bioluminescent when touched, might light up if hit by flow, I'm not sure.
Sea Whip (Leptogorgia virgulata/ Psudoleptogorgia sp.) - can handle the temps listed.
Sea Fan (Lophogorgia hebes) - can handle the temps listed.
Horny Sea Whip - they don't list a genus/species here, so no idea, but it can probably handle the temps.
Some zoas that grow symbiotically with sponges - no genus/species, and keeping the sponges may be difficult, but can probably handle the temps.
Brown Zoanthids - again, no genus/species, but can probably handle the temps. A lot of less colorful zoas tend to be pretty invasive, so you might want to be cautious with this one.

From Matsu Collections (as mentioned above), there are two you can get that don't require a permit (according to their list that I downloaded late last year - I don't know how often they update it):
Red Gorgonian (Lophogorgia chilensis) - can handle the temps listed.
Sea Pansy (Renilla koellikeri) - can handle the temps listed, bioluminescent when touched, might light up if hit by flow, I'm not sure.
 
Some wilsoni corals(generally the bright and most colorful ones) should have 70 as about the highest temp they get. However I am guessing they would not be good for a seahorse tank?
 
Some wilsoni corals(generally the bright and most colorful ones) should have 70 as about the highest temp they get. However I am guessing they would not be good for a seahorse tank?
Correct, not a good option with ponies. I think I'm going to just stick with gorgonians, sponges, and macroalgae, all from Florida, as they should handle the temps ok.
 
To update this, I'm maintaining the tank at 68-69 F, and have added and retried a few corals now.

These are what I've tried so far:
Various leathers - do great
Kenya tree - does great
Purple Plume Photosynthetic Gorgonian - does great
Purple Sea Fan - does great
GSP - grows slow, but is still growing on 2nd attempt
Red people eater zoas - grow great
Pulsing Xenia - completely melted
Fire Red rhodactis shroom - growing slowly
Green fuzzy mushroom - grows great
Captain Jerk Paly - grows great

I will be retrying the pulsing xenia, as a local reefer has a bunch growing at 65-67 F, so I'll get some from them.

I also plan on trying per what is growing in their tank:
Blue Ridge coral
Plating monti cap
Red digi monti
 
I have a blue ridge but my tank is 78. It’s a cool coral. Have tons of columns coming off of it. I don’t see many people with it but I enjoy it
 
I have a blue ridge but my tank is 78. It’s a cool coral. Have tons of columns coming off of it. I don’t see many people with it but I enjoy it
I have it in my 75 gallon at around 77 F and it grows well. I have a few small frags I've taken from it on frag plugs, so gonna try it in the seahorse tank with the cooler water.
 
Plesiastrea versipora come from subtropical/temperate Australia, so they would probably prefer cooler waters. Not to be confused with P. peroni, which come from tropical waters.
 

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