Corals for underside of rock? Overhangs?

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Im looking for suggestions for corals that do well on the underside of the rock or cliff hangs. Over hangs. Swim throughs. Ect.
Not dendros please. They are non photosynthetic and i dont target feed often.
I was thinking acan echinatas. Acan lords cuz ive had success with them in lower lighting like the bottom of the aquarium.
Ty!
D

 

[Pistondog]

Cyphastrea love shade

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

That is good to know. I did not know that actually and have never had good luck with cyphestrea. Ty. I wonder how the branching kind would grow on the underside? Lol. Would it branch out to the light most likely?
D

 

[Pistondog]

Someone was posting about cyphastrea slowing when it emerged from shade
Post in thread 'Cyphastrea problem' https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cyphastrea-problem.824496/post-8868244

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Cyphestria and sun polyps. Sun polyps require meaty foods though

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Im sorry thats what i meant when i said dendros. No sun polyps. Yellow or black. Lol
D

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Oh sorry, I glossed right over that part. I was being lazy

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

All good. Lol

 

[Breadman03]

Maybe some sponges or coco worms, if you're not necessarily stuck on coral.

 

[Dkmoo]

Whats the par in the shade? Depending on how much your light diffuses and bounces off the glass, "in the shade"can still reach 50 - 100 par.

For ex i have leptoseris growing completely under the shadow of my monti caps and I actually have leptastrea starting to encrust the underside of the monti cap itself.

I also have Discosomas and blastomussas growing in the shade.

Many things can grow in the shade, it really just depends on what par is there

Also, there is a difference between "just growing" vs "growing in the right color". If the water is nutrient-rich, corals would need less light, but that also means it won't need as much zoox or color proteins. For ex, the piece of my leptastrea thats encrusted to the underside of the monti cap probably receives 5 - 10 PARs. Yet its still encrusting further and further into the shade. I'm guessing its due to it getting part of the nutrient from the main colony thats in the light, but also its getting food from water - the portion on the back side of the monti is completely transparent,, but long tentacles are always out.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Yes i am looking for corals that will grow in the shade. The frags i can "color up" if i need to but they will probably be good. Lol
I run an 8 bulb tek light with giessman bulbs. 48" 54w bulbs. Tank is 24" deep. No par readings sorry.
D

 

[Alexopora]

That is good to know. I did not know that actually and have never had good luck with cyphestrea. Ty. I wonder how the branching kind would grow on the underside? Lol. Would it branch out to the light most likely?
D

Cyphastreas in my opinion need a lot of flow. They may not love light as much as other sps but they definitely love alot of flow. So you can place them under rocks or overhangs but you need to make sure there’s alot of flow passing through or they just wont do well.

 

[Dkmoo]

Yes i am looking for corals that will grow in the shade. The frags i can "color up" if i need to but they will probably be good. Lol
I run an 8 bulb tek light with giessman bulbs. 48" 54w bulbs. Tank is 24" deep. No par readings sorry.
D

i mean.. you are already spending 200 a year on those 8 bulb replacements. might as well drop another 200 for a seneye and it'll take all the guesswork out of "is this enough light in the shade". or even just rent the BRSTV one for 50 bux for a week.

with those 8 T5s if i had to guess i'd think there should be a decent amount of light bouncing into the shade.

All the below can grow in sub 50Par environment as long as other params, flow, and nutrient are stable. some may change colors, however. As you can see - except for some specific SPS, most are of the LPS/softies varieity. This is not a complete list i'm sure others can come up with more corals.

Leptoseris
Blastomussa
some Euphyllia (check your specific sub-type before buying)
Zoas
GSP (warning, may take over everything)
Discosoma
Cyphastrea
Fungia Plate
Duncan

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Good corals ty!
D