Orange Pavona maldivensis

[seapug]

I picked up a really nice piece of this coral a couple days ago. I've been doing a little research and getting severely conflicting information about light requirements. DFS says it is a "deepwater low light" coral. Other sites say anything less than blazing metal halides will make them turn brown. There's really not a lot of info out there about this species.

I currently have it about 12 inches below a 150W 12K Reeflux, very lightly shaded by surrounding Acros. Seems to be doing fine so far but want to be careful I'm not going to bleach it. The store only had it a couple days so they were still keeping it low.

Please share any experience you've had with them, and some pics if you want. I need to get a shot of mine to post.

Thanks.

 

[Norm R]

I have one about 30" below a 400 watt radium on HQI. It is directly lit and has maintained its color (8 months). It seems to be a very slow grower, but growing. I love this coral so much, I just purchased a 2nd.

 

[seapug]

great. Thanks for the info! They are quite spectacular.

 

[Kreeger1]

it is truely a lower light sps coral.

I just picked up a encrusting pavona that i can't seem to id yet, it's encrusting with a purple base and nice bright green polyps....ever come across that? 20 years for me and reefs and this coral is a first for me. verons was no help in id'ing it either
Erik

 

[seapug]

ok...so we have two more somewhat contradictory light requirements. Anybody care to make a tie-breaker?

 

[ptownreefer]

I have an orange Pavona Maldivensis and a green Pavona Maldivensis. Both are at the bottom of a 20" deep tank under 400w radiums. These are found in fairly deep water compared to most sps but acclimate well to moderate light.

 

[seapug]

the obligatory photo.

 

[sassafrass]

Here is mine it looks quite different

 

[Airwolf75]

I've kept this coral for about 3 years now, and in my experience, it cannot stand bright light, it will start to bleach. So I keep it in a dark cave with only diffuse reflected light. Mine came from the wild, so it's pretty touchy. It does enjoy a good strong flow. It's a very easy coral to bleach, but it is strong about recovery.

My tank is a 180, with 250MH's

 

[epayrob]

Nice

 

[werdlone]

I've had mine for about a year, trying to find its "happy spot". I found that mine is thriving on the bottom of the tank in a high flow area. It is about 30" below a 250W 14k phoenix bulb. Still a somewhat slow grower but very happy.

 

[Underwaterparadise]

IME it all depends on the Individual colony. I have the orange and the neon green basking about 2" under the water and only 12" under a 400w MH. Like with a lot of SPS it's all about finding that sweet spot in your tank. They are collected from deeper waters that doesn't always equate to what light they will do best under in captivity.

 

[GianMaria]

that's mine

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