Low-Light LPS?

[andiesreef]

Hello! What are your favorite low-light LPS, and if so what PAR would you recommend keeping them at? Just curious about what the light limits are on LPS in general and would love some input.

 

[KingTideCorals]

Hello! What are your favorite low-light LPS, and if so what PAR would you recommend keeping them at? Just curious about what the light limits are on LPS in general and would love some input.

Honestly most LPS are lower light! This is a great video by Reef Builders that shows off exactly that, and some of the PAR its sitting at!

 

[thamnasteroid]

I like acans

 

[nanonøkk]

chalices, acans, blastos, frogspawn, leptospirosis, cyphastra and hammers but a lot of lps can handle low light.

 

[vanpire]

The only ones I know that likes high light are micromussa amakusensis. But even these can handle low light just fine with feeding.

 

[Alexopora]

chalices, acans, blastos, frogspawn, leptospirosis, cyphastra and hammers but a lot of lps can handle low light.

Leptoseris* Agreed, that leptoseris and cyphastrea generally do well under lower light. However, they are actually more commonly grouped as sps due to the fact that they prefer higher flow than lps. I would also suggest Leptastrea as another low light lps.

 

[thamnasteroid]

chalices, acans, blastos, frogspawn, leptospirosis, cyphastra and hammers but a lot of lps can handle low light.

leptoseris are actually sps because they are in the same family as pavona.

 

[nanonøkk]

leptoseris are actually sps because they are in the same family as pavona.

oh ok i normally just bunch them in with lps because that’s normally what a lot of people do and that’s cool i never knew that they were in the same family

 

[Alexopora]

oh ok i normally just bunch them in with lps because that’s normally what a lot of people do and that’s cool i never knew that they were in the same family

It’s just a term or grouping hobbyist use for stony corals. SPS and LPS aren’t really used in science as what defines a sps or lps can be quite blurred. Like how small is small or how large is large. Rather we just use these terms to determine the care requirements (lighting, flow, nutrient needs etc.). Pavona and Leptoseris are generally considered sps due to many hobbyist deeming their polyp size as being small, preferring medium to high flow and having higher growth rate in comparison to most lps. At the end of the day, this just a way for hobbyist to attempt to understand and cater to the corals’ needs.

Take Goniopora and Porites. One is normally regarded as lps and the other a sps. However both are related and are under the family Poritidae.