SPS in sand

[Klag]

I just got my first ever whole acro colony (from local fish store for $60). Is it okay if I put a large colony in the sand? The base of it nestled in?

 

[Lavey29]

I just got my first ever whole acro colony (from local fish store for $60). Is it okay if I put a large colony in the sand? The base of it nestled in?

Not if it is an encrusting acro plus do you have high par on your sandbed?

 

[Klag]

I’ve never done a PAR test in my tank, but I have a few small acro frags that have grown well in that same area

 

[Dburr1014]

I just got my first ever whole acro colony (from local fish store for $60). Is it okay if I put a large colony in the sand? The base of it nestled in?

What if it tips over?
Not a good idea.

 

[Lavey29]

I’ve never done a PAR test in my tank, but I have a few small acro frags that have grown well in that same area

You will probably find that SPS colonies are much more difficult to acclimate to a new environment versus small frags. They like stability and moving into a new system means their stability is changed. Check with the vendor you got the corals from. See what par and alk he runs his system and then ask about sand placement. Unless you are at least 200 par or more on the sand I'm guessing it will not do well there assuming it's not an encruster.

 

[Klag]

The par was about 150-175 at the store, it was at the bottom of their tank. I have a friend who recently got a par meter, but because of the flu we can’t test my tank yet

 

[Lavey29]

The par was about 150-175 at the store, it was at the bottom of their tank. I have a friend who recently got a par meter, but because of the flu we can’t test my tank yet

Are you thinking of gluing it to a base plate for the sand? You can try this and see how things go.