Matching salinity to where corals originate?

[MysterioMask]

I'm new to all this and just ordered a galaxea coral frag. From supposedly the Indo-pacific region.

My question is should we be trying to match the salinity of our water to where corals are found naturally. It seems most suggest having it at around 34-36. But I am just wondering wouldn't it be better if a coral comes from an area with a 32 salinity or 38 or above wouldn't it be better to match that?

Also I was just wondering for the people that grow corals regularly do they or is it better to have corals from the red sea all in one tank and corals from the carribean in another tank with each tank close to the natural habitat or is it okay to mix and match and I'm just over thinking everything.

I know Ron Shimek suggests corals live in warmer water temperatures closely resembling their natural habitat but I am unsure of salinity.

 

[Gweeds1980]

Great idea in principle, but not many of us (me included) have a biotope tank... if you've got corals and fish from indo, GBR, Caribbean and red sea then you can't match SG to all areas in one tank, which is why most of us run at a generic 1.025 ish.

 

[MysterioMask]

Great idea in principle, but not many of us (me included) have a biotope tank... if you've got corals and fish from indo, GBR, Caribbean and red sea then you can't match SG to all areas in one tank, which is why most of us run at a generic 1.025 ish.

I am sure I'm getting ahead of myself here since I don't even have fish in my tank yet. Just a couple almost microscopic hitchhikers from live rock. I planned on somewhat mixing in this tank. I'm trying to make it easy enough for myself at first I plan to have a few different fishes that don't attack each other an emerald crab some shrimp maybe etc. But if all goes well I may want to try larger tanks and maybe area specific animals I don't really know yet.

Mostly I am asking this question because I'll be getting a galaxea soon. And since it seems corals are harder to keep alive than fish it seems from what I read I wanted to ensure its best survival, and I got to thinking that if mimicking temperature for where the animals are best found leads to best survival according to shimek I wondered the same about salinity .

 

[Tristren]

I agree that it's an interesting thought. I'm new as well so just following along to see what others have to say.

What is the swing in salinity from region to region?

Are there minor seasonal shifts as well (rainy season inserting more freshwater runoff etc)?

 

[easternreefer]

Great idea in principle, but not many of us (me included) have a biotope tank... if you've got corals and fish from indo, GBR, Caribbean and red sea then you can't match SG to all areas in one tank, which is why most of us run at a generic 1.025 ish.

this is the main reason biotope.. but the other issue is that in order for that to work all of your tank would need to be wild caught and shipped directly to you to maintain the salinity levels of the area. This would include rock/sand/and algea that would be placed in a refugium if you were to have one.
Many of our corals/fish while originally from a particular location, are thankfully raised in a tank environment matching what we do as a general rule in the hobby. JMHO

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

I think you're also assuming a lot of species are endemic, when in reality they're widespread. As in, your particular galaxea may be from the indo pacific, but galaxea in general is likely found throughout the pacific and also possibly Indian Ocean and Red Sea, all of which have slightly different conditions.

If you are going to worry about matching original conditions, there are a lot of things I'd worry about before salinity. Alkalinity, nitrate/phosphate, light intensity and duration, flow pattern characteristics... all of those wild likely matter more than salinity.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm new to all this and just ordered a galaxea coral frag. From supposedly the Indo-pacific region.

My question is should we be trying to match the salinity of our water to where corals are found naturally. It seems most suggest having it at around 34-36. But I am just wondering wouldn't it be better if a coral comes from an area with a 32 salinity or 38 or above wouldn't it be better to match that?
.

Unless you have corals from the Red Sea, I doubt they are from a location where the salinity is substantially outside 34-36 ppt.

 

[Gweeds1980]

this is the main reason biotope.. but the other issue is that in order for that to work all of your tank would need to be wild caught and shipped directly to you to maintain the salinity levels of the area. This would include rock/sand/and algea that would be placed in a refugium if you were to have one.
Many of our corals/fish while originally from a particular location, are thankfully raised in a tank environment matching what we do as a general rule in the hobby. JMHO

Yes... agree completely! We really want to improve on the tank bred fish selection and cultured corals. They are generally more hardy than wild specimens, accept aquarium foods more readily and have no impact on the wild reefs.

In this hobby you will struggle to have a true biotope tank. You may research all you like but the majority of species we keep have vast ranges and you will struggle to source all your fish, corals, cuc, algae etc from, say the red sea, or the GBR. Generally truly endemic species shouldn't be collected for the hobby imo because by definition they will have a smaller wild population and no satellite populations to replenish from.

May I ask if the OP has a FW background? When I left that hobby a few years ago, biotope aquariums were very fashionable... My 320g was set up as a southern Amazonian biotope, right down to the snails and sand...

 

[MysterioMask]

I had a freshwater aquarium when I was a kid but it wasn't something I was really interested in at the time. So I don't know if that counts as a freshwater background or not.

Also here's a couple salinity maps for the world .