Bets corals to put right on the sand bed

[aaron1129]

What are the best corals to put right on the sand bed? I have seen acans, favias, plate corals, clams and others right on the sand bed. Are their any types that prefer being on the sand bed? Also if you want a acan or favia to grow into a nice ball shaped colony will it do so growing right on the sand or should it be placed on a relatively spherical shaped rock?

thanks

 

[kgeig001]

Bubbles, plate, brain. Leather corals look good if they are attached to a rock on the sand bed. I'm sure other people will chime in with more options.

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[aaron1129]

I had an amazing "brain coral" in my reef tank like 10+ years ago. I believe it was a favia sp. But I'm not sure. I bought it the size of a maybe a tennis ball for like 45 dollars. and 9 years later it was like the size of basketball and it was such an amazing coral, it would feed like crazy on foods of all sizes, it was an almost iridescent green color. It hosted a huge colony of micro fauna under it which you could watch because the coral had grown up against the glass in a corner of the tank so you could view the small area under it and in the corner. This area was teaming with copepods. It was my favorite coral I have every owned, and I want to have one like it again. I am just trying to figure out what made it grow into the spherical shape. Is that indicative of favia or acans, is this a known species I am describing, or was it just a lucky occurrence.

thanks for any tips.

 

[Gone Fishing]

Agree that plate corals look great down there. I've also taken a rock which covered with Xenia looks good, and they don't spread out of control.

 

[aaron1129]

Thanks for the tips guys my LFS has some incredible plate corals. on that is like neon orange and neon green and mixed together it really grabs your eye when you walk into the shop.

 

[kgeig001]

I had an amazing "brain coral" in my reef tank like 10+ years ago. I believe it was a favia sp. But I'm not sure. I bought it the size of a maybe a tennis ball for like 45 dollars. and 9 years later it was like the size of basketball and it was such an amazing coral, it would feed like crazy on foods of all sizes, it was an almost iridescent green color. It hosted a huge colony of micro fauna under it which you could watch because the coral had grown up against the glass in a corner of the tank so you could view the small area under it and in the corner. This area was teaming with copepods. It was my favorite coral I have every owned, and I want to have one like it again. I am just trying to figure out what made it grow into the spherical shape. Is that indicative of favia or acans, is this a known species I am describing, or was it just a lucky occurrence.

thanks for any tips.

So what happened to it? The suspense is killing me [emoji32]

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[Reef Frog]

The sand bed is often the lowest light environment so is ideal for many lower light LPS depending on the light fixture of corse. Examples could include candy cane, chalices, acans, lobed & open brains, favias etc.

But many of these corals are best mounted to a flat or low profile rock on the sand bed. It not only lets them grow outwards, it keeps the sand off the polyp tissue. Sometimes sand touching the coral directly can prove to be a vector for pests & disease. The extra height is also useful to keep the colonies from being buried in sand drifts when the pumps are turned on high.

 

[aaron1129]

Well, The story goes I have always loved keep fish, and so did my mom and dad. When I was 15/16 I decided to build a saltwater tank, so I got a job at a pet shop, saved my money and set up an awesome reef tank with the help of my mom and dad. My mom help me with some of the financing, and my dad helped me with the build; it was a 125gal. I learned a lot from some LFS's in my area, reefcentral, and just learned from making mistakes. One of the first corals i bought once the tank was well established was the brain coral. and i lost a lot of other hard corals along the way, but not this one it was a trooper lasted through all the toughest times. Well skip ahead to 18/19 I moved away to college less than 1 hour away so I came home a lot, and I still managed the tank, with mom and dad doing the daily feeding and dosing, which they enjoyed so it was all good. Four years go by and I graduate, and get a job really far away so it was time to turn over the management of the tank to them 100%. First month i am gone, my mom and sister go to the LFS and buy some xenia... Now i agree it is a beautiful coral, just grows so fast. No one continued to do water changes so nitrates and phosphates get a little high ( I am speculating, but I'm pretty sure I am right). The xenia literal takes over the 125 gallon in a course of like 4-6 months and the brain, which is huge at this point and has been in the tank for like 7+ years starts bleaching and dies... I assume it just lost out to the xenia somehow, they also bought a kenya tree. For the next few years the tank did pretty well, just mad xenia and kenya trees, like 10-15 types of zoanthids, and some mushrooms, plus a huge ball of frogspawn, like 50+ heads. One cool side note, my pair of clowns started getting comfy in the xenia, and actually used it as a host. they began to spawn in the xenia, which was pretty cool. the story ends a few months ago, when they finally broke down the tank. The guys who came to break it down said it was one of the most well established tanks they had ever seen. These guys were professional SPS breeders/online retailers. Had some awesome metal halide/CF lights and a huge custom built euroreef replica skimmer, and a 250 gallon trough as a sump.

TL;DR it died after xenia was introduced to the tank, and the maintenance schedule changed i.e. no water changes

 

[aaron1129]

The sand bed is often the lowest light environment so is ideal for many lower light LPS depending on the light fixture of corse. Examples could include candy cane, chalices, acans, lobed & open brains, favias etc.

But many of these corals are best mounted to a flat or low profile rock on the sand bed. It not only lets them grow outwards, it keeps the sand off the polyp tissue. Sometimes sand touching the coral directly can prove to be a vector for pests & disease. The extra height is also useful to keep the colonies from being buried in sand drifts when the pumps are turned on high.

So ideally it is a good idea to put most coral on a structure of some sort. I saved a lot of rubble from my pukani, from marble sized to tennis ball sized, Maybe these will come in handy when placing coral.

( It is amazing how light pukani is for its size)

 

[kgeig001]

That's a shame about that large brain. I've got a bubble coral that is at least 10 years old. I got it about four years ago and the guy that had before me had it for 7-8 years. It's huge...it's a branching bubble. I've fragged a big new section and gave it to a friend. I still have two huge pieces...I would hate to ever see anything like that happen to it.

 

[aaron1129]

That's a shame. I've got a bubble coral that is at least 10 years old. I got it about four years ago and the guy that had before me had it for 7-8 years. It's huge...it's a branching bubble. I've fragged a big new section and gave it to a friend. I still have two huge pieces...I would hate to ever see anything like that happen to it.

Yeah it's cool watch coral grow into a large colony and thrive, just makes you feel like you are succeeding in the hobby in some way, like you know you are doing something right.

 

[dbigfoot111]

acan, zoas. chalice. plates. scoly, meat corals