Corals for shaded areas

[Fringe09]

Hi Guys,

I have an area in the mid-section of my tank that is shaded. Are there any corals that do well in a shaded area?

 

[keepLearning]

Chalices, quite a few Montis like beach bum kind..some favias...my fascination favias looks great under shaded area but turns green under light

 

[Fringe09]

Chalices, quite a few Montis like beach bum kind..some favias...my fascination favias looks great under shaded area but turns green under light

Great, thank you.

 

[solitude127]

Acans as well.

 

[ilyad]

You can also look into NPS type corals, but those require direct feeding. A cool one that's easy to feed is a Dendrophyllia.

Here is my fat head dendro.

 

[Fringe09]

I didn't know there are so many variations of corals that can be placed in a shaded area.

Yes, I do spot feed my corals twice a week using a mixture of Reef-Roids and Oyster-Feast.

 

[keepLearning]

All the NPS corals of course can be kept in the shaded or even dark areas . They won't live without being fed though

 

[Fringe09]

All the NPS corals of course can be kept in the shaded or even dark areas . They won't live without being fed though

Is twice a week feeding enough?


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[keepLearning]

It depends on the corals and how you feed also. Hard to say. You have to do it and observe how they behave/respond to your feeding schedule. I need to feed my acans once in a while (a t least once a week) or they look ****ed. Rik claims he never feed his corals and his Acans are ok....case by case I guess

 

[ilyad]

Is twice a week feeding enough?


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Usually Non-Photosynthetic corals that have tentacles and mouths (like the dendro) will be just fine on 2x a week feedings, those that can eat food bits. The ones that are more like fans (filter feeders) require almost constant feeding in the water column and typically wither unless the tank is set up specifically for those types of coral.

As to feeding photosynthetic coral, they typically should be able to live and thrive without any feeding at all, if the water quality and light sources are good. However, spot feeding them sometimes allows them to get extra nutrients and possibly make up what they don't already get regularly.

 

[Fringe09]

It depends on the corals and how you feed also. Hard to say. You have to do it and observe how they behave/respond to your feeding schedule. I need to feed my acans once in a while (a t least once a week) or they look ****ed. Rik claims he never feed his corals and his Acans are ok....case by case I guess

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[Fringe09]

Usually Non-Photosynthetic corals that have tentacles and mouths (like the dendro) will be just fine on 2x a week feedings, those that can eat food bits. The ones that are more like fans (filter feeders) require almost constant feeding in the water column and typically wither unless the tank is set up specifically for those types of coral.

As to feeding photosynthetic coral, they typically should be able to live and thrive without any feeding at all, if the water quality and light sources are good. However, spot feeding them sometimes allows them to get extra nutrients and possibly make up what they don't already get regularly.

I'm actually starting to re-think my twice a week feeding.

My PO4 has been rising lately so I started to feed the fish less food.

I wonder if I should feed my corals just once a week rather than cut the food for the fish.

 

[ilyad]

I'm actually starting to re-think my twice a week feeding.



My PO4 has been rising lately so I started to feed the fish less food.



I wonder if I should feed my corals just once a week rather than cut the food for the fish.

Personally, your fish should be the priority when it comes to food as they definitely require it to survive. Likewise, fish poop does create a food source for coral in closed systems. This way both fish and coral benefit. If you ask around, you'll find plenty of people that do almost no feeding of coral at all and still have amazing looking reefs.

Feeding does increase speed of growth in coral, but it can have a negative effects where water quality deteriorates, which may make it worse than better.

 

[Fringe09]

Personally, your fish should be the priority when it comes to food as they definitely require it to survive. Likewise, fish poop does create a food source for coral in closed systems. This way both fish and coral benefit. If you ask around, you'll find plenty of people that do almost no feeding of coral at all and still have amazing looking reefs.

Feeding does increase speed of growth in coral, but it can have a negative effects where water quality deteriorates, which may make it worse than better.

Good point.

 

[five.five-six]

zoas.

 

[Rakie]

Chalices, Zoas, Leathers, LPS like favia, some torches and hammers seem to do okay in lower light/flow areas (and contrarily, a select few love more light/flow than the average ones do).

Some Montipora also do okay in lower light zones.

 

[pga7602]

Fungias and Plates!

 

[Fringe09]

I see I have a lot of choices. Looking at the lighting requirements from other websites is what through me off.

 

[dodgerblew]

It depends on the corals and how you feed also. Hard to say. You have to do it and observe how they behave/respond to your feeding schedule. I need to feed my acans once in a while (a t least once a week) or they look ****ed. Rik claims he never feed his corals and his Acans are ok....case by case I guess

I like to direct feed my acans, I like watching them eat, but the fish steal it so I basically don't, Vu's right. The acans are eating something however. As Ilyad said there's nutrition in the water. They probably get pods and I feed LRS and when it melts there's pieces of food and the juice has plenty of nutrients as well. They don't look to be starving. All corals mentioned are good choices.