LPS Coral placement suggestions

[cnreef]

Hello,
I'm looking for some suggestions on the placement of my LPS corals in my 29g tank. The lighting is a reefbreeders LED value fixture and it is currently 6 inches above the water line with whites around 50% and blues around 40%. As for flow, I have an AC70 and two koralia 240s, but in a few days I'll be taking off the koralias and adding a vortech mp10.

Full tank shot:

Left side close up:

Right side close up:

The two corals in particular that I'm not sure about placement are the candy cane coral and the favia (unsure if this is exact ID). The candy cane has been in for about a month now and hasn't grown too much. I feel like it's not expanding to its full potential. The favia seems to be fine but not sure if it would be better anywhere else in particular. I'm assuming the suggestion will be to play around with the candy cane and feel it out.

Close up of candy cane and favia:

Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks!

 

[caelanc5]

do you target feed your lps?

 

[cnreef]

Yes, usually once a week

 

[Reef Frog]

Well, your rock work is low profile so it looks like final placememt optioms will be dictated by that.

Mid tank to bottom is where most LPS do best with T5 & especially MH lighting. But with the wide range of intensities available with LED lighting anything is possible since you are in control of the intensity. I imagine 100% could bleach things quickly if you are using 3w LEDs. My guess is 30%-40% intensity will prove about right for placement in the bottom half of the tank. But experimentation will be needed. Starting conservatively at first, not making radical changes and observing carefully is probably the best course of action IMO.

An idea that could be quite valuable in the future is to engineer some shady or partially shaded areas. It can be a good place for light stressed corals to recover & you may be surprised that some LPS do better in partial shade.

 

[cnreef]

Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely take it into consideration when aquascaping in the future.