Which corals serve as good bio-indicators?

[Zionas]

I’m looking into some corals that will serve as good bio-indicators for how my tank is doing. I’d appreciate suggestions for both soft corals and LPS. Basically beauty with a purpose.

 

[brandon429]

regarding free ammonia, all of them. No coral will open or act normal in dangerous level free ammonia water, and no fanworm will open up/closed up tight. fish will pant and hover at the top when free ammonia is truly bad or uncontrolled


there arent many other params we can bioindicate with them, maybe really bad/low pH they wouldnt open but free ammonia is the one our whole tanks will bioindicate, without having to test. temps too, when my heater was out in the winter and didnt know it, or bother to hook up a thermometer, they shriveled up and bleached.

 

[rob s.]

not sure if i'll get any backlash from this but....My Candy Cane corals are my indicator that i'm due a water change. I have stopped the daily testing regiment about 2 months ago and only test randomly now. I know when my parameters are getting off when my Candy Canes start to stop opening fully and its time to do a water change and change out the filter sock. I'm sure I'm not the only person that does this and i'm sure many will say i'm flirting with problems but so far its worked great for me. All my corals are thriving and growing and the colors are as vivid as the day i got them.

 

[Arricefe]

Monti Cap

 

[brandon429]

coral bioindication was used to disprove the accuracy of api .25 claims long, long before seneye was invented to give us decent readings or before any developed human being would ever distrust an entry level reef test kit. if the kit said it, you took it as undebated gold accurate

I bet if searched it was mentioned at reefcentral long around 06 or so, that in no way was .25 a real reading for half a million reefs.

in no way would corals ever, ever, be open in tenths ppm

and guess what rumor still persists today

nice thread. it works.