LPS at low light

I just read a little thing on LPS corals getting too much light in our tanks. The guy said that, he guessed that the corals are maybe getting 20 par at 130 feet down. Since LPS is found at the bottom in low light, well some, I'm curious as to how low of light can one put them at. I'm very tempted to put a small LPS in my LED lit FOWLR. I used to keep LPS in my nano years ago under fluorescent lights. Since I want my new tank LPS and soft dominant, it would be cool to get away with simple LED's. If, IF it worked, I wouldn't bother with SPS.

Don't worry, I'm not going to go out and buy a ton of coral. Just one and that's a big maybe. But sometimes one must try. I also won't hold my breath.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath. There are some pieces, I'm sure, that would make it but you aren't going to get a whole lot of color out of them. If you notice, most of the LPS as well as other corals found in the ocean, are generally pretty brown in color. This is because we do typically give them more light than they receive in the wild and the color is their defense mechanism to that over abundance of light.

 

Some of my LPS get around 30-50 par. Some chalices, favias, plates. Bigger issue with the fowlr will be water quality, especially phosphates. Get in line for the par meter and see where youre at!

 

Totally agree.

Everyone talks about how bright the sun is at high noon. What they fail to realize is that it's not high noon 10 to 14 hours per day. Couple that with the fact that the steeper the angle of the sun, the more light gets reflected back off the water's surface.

I was only 16 when I started my first SW tank- a 20g with all the latest technology... an airstone driven UGF, HOB "power filter" and standard fluorescent hood. One of the inhabitants was an Atlantic Condy nem. In the 7 years I owned that tank, not only did the nem thrive with such low flow and lighting, but it also never once moved from where I placed it. Today we put them in high-energy reef tanks, then wonder why they're all over the place.

Just something else to think about.

 

I say FOWLR because I only have 2 fish in my 75 and no reef lights.