REEF OUT OF WATER! Check out this video! Big deal or nah?

[P-Dub]

It is really no big deal. I spent 7 months in Tonga and got to witness whole reefs fully exposed to air and the blazing tropical sun during low tide for almost an hour or more depending on the season. Corals just excrete a protective slime during this period of exposure. So long as your colonies are healthy and your water parameters approximate NSW and are stable they can handle it.

 

[Fragologist]

I agree with that air exposure is not a huge deal for SPS. You just need to be mindful of the lighting intensity (UV), temperature, and how long the expose will last. There are reefs in the ocean where tidal effects expose coral to open air. Tidal surge keeps them cool and wet. All is well. No big deal at all!

 

[carpetlover]

I live near a reef and lps can survive high and dry for 2 hours or so no problem. Far away from 0.1m Low tide.

 

[phillybean]

I'm safe with my aquascape, I never really felt good leaving them exposed during water changes, so never have. That said, when I upgraded, I did leave them out while I was transferring water. The two corals left out of water the most took a pretty bad hit, bleached badly. Both big Green Acro colonies. Too big to put in a bucket. Luckily after about a month they both recovered. I'll never do that again...

 

[Shaina Carey]

My corals are still on the plugs. I just move them to the floor of my tank when I do water changes, lol

 

[RobMcC]

I voted other - yes, many of my acros are out of the water at every water change for up to an hour. It's no big deal. Does absolutely zero harm to acros to be out of the water...

Here are some photos I took of a reef in Indonesia at low tide. These corals and anemones were out of the water in the baking equatorial sun for hours with no harm.

.

 

[Marc2952]

I just drained my tank for 1 hour to try and catch my last 2 fish for a fallow period and it created havoc on my tank, lost a casio pia frag i had plus a small colony of WD. I reduced the alk dosing by half because i knew the corals where stressed and will stop consuming it for a couple of days. Turns out i was right and by next day even by cutting the alk dosage by half it still creeped up a bit.

 

[davilahope]

Here's my comment: a couple of years ago my wwc yellow tips would stick out of water every time I turned my return pump off.. I accidentally left it off for an hourish and burned it atleast twice but always recovered fairly quick

 

[Andreas' Reef]

I'd say corals are good out of water for 5-10 minutes

 

[Turkey head]

My SPS would be exposed for 20 minutes or so when I do a water change. I did plant to prevent it but the corals grew and grew! It never seemed to bother them since it was that way for a few years and they kept doing well.