Coral at the Top?

[The Saltwater Kid]

Okay, I have a platform at the top of my rockwork that's about 3/4 of the way up my tank that is just beggin' for a coral but I'm not sure what to put there. It could be a fairly light loving corals as it would be closest to my lights, I'm running the Nanotuners 4.36 light mod so I have 144w of PC lighting and considering that the BC29's actual display portion probably holds around 25g of water if you divide that into the 144 I have about 5.75w per gallon. I would like a nice bright coral that isn't overly aggressive. What should/could I put there?

[The Saltwater Kid]

Forgot to add that I have PLENTY of flow...two 400gph Koralia Model 1's.

[seapug]

plating montiporas are hardy, fast growing and nice looking. Come in lots of cool colors, too.

[The Saltwater Kid]

bump

[adam82]

rainbow monti

[The Saltwater Kid]

what about a goniopora, would that do well up close to the top with plenty of flow? How big do they get? How aggressive are they?

[The Saltwater Kid]

I'm talking about the flower pot variety.

[GrandeGixxer]

Not a good choice IMO. They don't like a "lot" of flow and are one of the corals that are better left in the ocean. I also wouldn't do a plating coral like a monti because as it grows, it is going to shade all of the corals under it. I would find a nice Fiji yellow leather or something else in the leather family.

[The Saltwater Kid]

What's the overall opinion on Yellow Fiji Leather's? I've heard they have a less than dubious track record.

[OARrocks]

fiji leather would be good. likes light and flow. find a healthy one and..no worries. ordering online i havent heard too many good stories.

[The Saltwater Kid]

So would you say just about any ORA Yellow Fiji would be safe?

[The Saltwater Kid]

bump

[NanoReefWanabe]

Birdsnest, or a nice millie...

a leather will also shade your under corals....

[The Saltwater Kid]

I'm leaning towards a birdsnest right now...we'll see what I can find.

[The Saltwater Kid]

Does anyone know how many colormorphs a birdsnest comes in? Has anyone heard of a neon purple?

[NanoReefWanabe]

i just bought something this weekend, the guy told me it was a birdsnest...but a fluffy one...

grows similar to birdsnest but looks more like Pocillopora with big fluffy polyps..

it has a white to yellow base with polys tha go white to pink to green at the tips...it is really beautiful...

but anyway..i have a pink birdsnest with purple polyps...not sure but i am sure there has to be a purple one..

[The Saltwater Kid]

How about a Crocea or Maxxima clam...would that do well at the top?

[InLimbo87]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11234666#post11234666 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by The Saltwater Kid
How about a Crocea or Maxxima clam...would that do well at the top?

No, Croceas or Maxima's will not do well under PC lighting

[reefman13]

I wouldn't do ANY clam, or stray away from any SPS other than a Birdsnest or Monticap (maybe a Digipora). PC is a REAL stretch for any SPS and those are really your only options for light hungry corals.

[The Saltwater Kid]

I've seen both Croceas and Derasa's do well under PC lighting...no experience with a Maxxima though. A friend has a Crocea and for the first 6 months he had it under PC lighting and it was happy and healthy so it's hard for me to not think that one wouldn't do well near the top of a tank with almost 6w per gallon of lighting?

[InLimbo87]

Croceas can most definitely not do well under PC lighting. I had one in my previous tank under 150w halides, and even then it only seemed happy when it was near the top of the tank.

Watts/gallon is a unreliable measure of lighting strength. The PAR of power compact lighting will never be as high as T5's/Metal Halides, and that is what these creatures truly need to do well long-term.

[The Saltwater Kid]

Well, I know what I saw and my friends Crocea under 260w of PC lighting most definitely did do well! I will certainly take your advice under consideration as I don't want to purchase an animal and not be able to properly care for it as it's too unfair to the animal and they are the ones that will ultimately suffer but at the same time like I stated above...a Crocea will and has done perfectly fine under PC lighting as I've beared witness. I won't make a rash decision though and will ponder my options!