Coral Placement Help

[azureus]

Hello all. Recently placed this arch in my tank and wondering what kind of corals will do well up on top near the light? I’ve googled and got many different results so I’d figure I’d ask some experienced reefers lol. 

[LazyFish]

I like the look of the arch. Telling us what kind of lights and tank howmuch flow could help. How long has your tank been running? I see your tank has some signs that it may be newly cycled. You may have difficulty with that nem in a newer set up they need lots of meety foods aswell.

[Merthynia]

9 minutes ago, LazyFish said:

I like the look of the arch. Telling us what kind of lights and tank howmuch flow could help. How long has your tank been running? I see your tank has some signs that it may be newly cycled. You may have difficulty with that nem in a newer set up they need lots of meety foods aswell.

I second the question about what lights and flow.

[azureus]

12 minutes ago, LazyFish said:

I like the look of the arch. Telling us what kind of lights and tank howmuch flow could help. How long has your tank been running? I see your tank has some signs that it may be newly cycled. You may have difficulty with that nem in a newer set up they need lots of meety foods aswell.

It’s a biocube 16. 185gph (700l/h) PAR 38 and peak PAR of 61 at 12” 

 

Yes I was worried about the nem after hearing that. Is it likely to fail or regular feedings will help? 

[LazyFish]

Flow is ok for lps and softies but you may end up upgrading that pump later. Is that the light it came with? That's not very strong. If it's not the original what brand is it.

Regular feedings will help but that's prety low light for a bta nem prefer 150-300 par I think is recommended some get by lower with higher feedings but that will also foul the water quickly in a small tank. They like chunks of silver sides or shrimp some people feed them other things.

A more mature tank is also generally recomended for anemones. 

I would recommend returning it.

Clowns are not obligate anemone hosters. THey will host anything I have a pair that host a toadstool and another pair hosts a derasa clam. They will host rocks and equipment too.

With that light you may be limited to soft corals. Various Mushrooms, zoas, palys, leathers star polyp.

[azureus]

I heard about the lighting issue with these tanks and I was planning on upgrading with a Steve’s LED kit which should be suitable for everything. 
 

As far as the nem goes, the more I hear the more I want to take it out, but we’ll see how it goes. I was going to return it but they don’t offer them, so I’m gonna just do my best and see what happens. I’ve ordered other corals for them to host as well. 
 

I’ll upgrade the light. Just was wondering if any corals being that high will bleach/die, especially if I upgrade 4x

[Merthynia]

You will want to slowly acclimate anything that you place up there after you switch your lights. Slowly raise them up in the tank over the course of a week or so to let the coral adjust. I have some zoas, hammers, and a few sps up that high in my tank. But I slowly moved the coral around to make sure they were happy before attaching them permanently. My clown loves hosting a big colony of palys/zoas. Nems will also move around the tank if they are unhappy. They can sting things along the way, but I have also seen where they are fairly peaceful to some neighbors.

[azureus]

9 minutes ago, Merthynia said:

You will want to slowly acclimate anything that you place up there after you switch your lights. Slowly raise them up in the tank over the course of a week or so to let the coral adjust. I have some zoas, hammers, and a few sps up that high in my tank. But I slowly moved the coral around to make sure they were happy before attaching them permanently. My clown loves hosting a big colony of palys/zoas. Nems will also move around the tank if they are unhappy. They can sting things along the way, but I have also seen where they are fairly peaceful to some neighbors.

Good to know about acclimating with light. That’s mostly why I got the nem as my first coral/animal in the tank. Wanted to make sure he found HIS spot first and give him space. Such a fascinating creature. Hopefully it goes well with the light upgrade!