Where should I place corals at

DEE’S reef · Mar 10, 2026

So I’m considering getting mushrooms and some zoa for my first corals where can I place them at.
Also do you think this rock circles in red could be a zoa garden or save the room for a different coral.

Then here’s some more pictures of my tank.

slythy · Mar 10, 2026

what lights do you have? Up top like that might be way too much light. You might need to turn lights down or drop them lower.

Also what size tank is that? Not to be the tang police because I should also be in jail, but those Vlamingii Tangs get HUGE. Hopefully you have a really large tank in the works in the near future or a contingency plan. I

IceNein · Mar 10, 2026

In my opinion you built your aquascape too high for effective coral placement. You're really limited to like a couple of inches of growth there. Zoa can grow like weeds, once they settle in, so I would be worried that it would be a constant battle trying to trim them back if you place them up there.

In your defense, it IS a pretty cool looking aquascape though. I do like the caves, and your clown seems to like it.

Euphyllia97 · Mar 10, 2026

I would put the zoas and mushrooms on the bottom and keep the higher parts for more demanding and eyecatching corals. That circled spot would look great with some nice acropora colonies and maybe a plating montipora on the right side! Would also put a big toadstool somewhere at the bottom (left side)

DEE’S reef · Mar 10, 2026

Euphyllia97 said:
I would put the zoas and mushrooms on the bottom and keep the higher parts for more demanding and eyecatching corals. That circled spot would look great with some nice acropora colonies and maybe a plating montipora on the right side! Would also put a big toadstool somewhere at the bottom (left side)

That circle spot I want to put a nice clam there in the center and some cool corals for that arches circle don’t know what yet.

DEE’S reef · Mar 10, 2026

slythy said:
what lights do you have? Up top like that might be way too much light. You might need to turn lights down or drop them lower.

Also what size tank is that? Not to be the tang police because I should also be in jail, but those Vlamingii Tangs get HUGE. Hopefully you have a really large tank in the works in the near future or a contingency plan. I

The lights are so 32 and I have two of them and there 18 inches above the tank.
Also the tank is a 80 gallon 4ft by 2ft by 16 inches.
And for the tang I’ve been looking at a bigger tank for him to upgrade to give a better home I was given him when I started up my tank I was also given the larger clown.

slythy · Mar 10, 2026

DEE’S reef said:
The lights are so 32 and I have two of them and there 18 inches above the tank.
Also the tank is a 80 gallon 4ft by 2ft by 16 inches.
And for the tang I’ve been looking at a bigger tank for him to upgrade to give a better home I was given him when I started up my tank I was also given the larger clown.

Like I said I'm not one to judge because I have too many Tangs in my system but that one just gets so crazy large.

Are they the Hydra 32's? What percent?

Its really beneficial to rent a Par meter to tune your lights. Its one of those things you rent/borrow for a day, map out all your pars and then you know exactly where you should put the corals you want.

mbuxton · Mar 10, 2026

Take a look at the Tidal Gardens website / search YouTube for their videos on the coral you want to purchase. Their videos have lots of good information on recommended Lighting intensity, flow requirements etc. for all the different corals you can purchase and helped me re placement.

DEE’S reef · Mar 10, 2026

slythy said:
Like I said I'm not one to judge because I have too many Tangs in my system but that one just gets so crazy large.

Are they the Hydra 32's? What percent?

Its really beneficial to rent a Par meter to tune your lights. Its one of those things you rent/borrow for a day, map out all your pars and then you know exactly where you should put the corals you want.

Yeah they are ai hydra 32 I have taken par readings.

slythy · Mar 10, 2026

DEE’S reef said:
Yeah they are ai hydra 32 I have taken par readings.

Do you know what par is all over your tank? like whats it read at the top of the rock you want to place them?

DEE’S reef · Mar 10, 2026

I don’t know my par I need to rent a tester to test it

DEE’S reef · Mar 10, 2026

slythy said:
Do you know what par is all over your tank? like whats it read at the top of the rock you want to place them?

I ment to say I haven’t taken the par readings yet

DEE’S reef · Mar 10, 2026

I don’t know if this really matter but I have the light on tv mount so I can raise and lower the thighs.

DEE’S reef · Mar 11, 2026

I’ve found the par slightly I know roughly what it could be.

DEE’S reef · Mar 11, 2026

slythy said:
Like I said I'm not one to judge because I have too many Tangs in my system but that one just gets so crazy large.

Are they the Hydra 32's? What percent?

Its really beneficial to rent a Par meter to tune your lights. Its one of those things you rent/borrow for a day, map out all your pars and then you know exactly where you should put the corals you want.

So I found the rough estimate of par was from a AI Overview of the hydra 32 and it was 300-400 par at 6 inches in the water top and 200 at the middle like 10 inches and the bottom was 100-150 par at 18 to 24 inches basically bottom. And the average distance from the tank to the light was 14 inches.

But my tank is 16 inches tall and my lights are 18 inches from the tanks surface. I also saw a video from BRS about the hydra 32s and they had a similar set up to mine.