Exposing SPS during water change

[Reef Pilot]

I have a new SPS (Purple Cross) coral that I placed on top of my highest live rock, in order to maximize its lighting intensity. However, I noticed that during a water change, part of it is exposed for a period of time (about 15 minutes) until I can refill the tank with the new water.

Is this a problem? Will the coral suffer? One option is to bath the exposed coral manually with water every few minutes while it is exposed.

[Zoaelite]

Most SPS will do just fine as they are exposed for many hours during low tide, that being said there are countless SPS species out there and many of them are regarded as deep water species so this might not be true.

Make sure you don't have a window open (at least during the winter) while doing this, I did it once and ended up having a dead coraline line all the way around my tank!

[dreef]

No problems at all..i had dozens half exposed for at least a 1/2 hour one time,zero problems.Look what happens in nature

[Aquattro]

When I transport larger colonies, I leave them fully exposed in rubber maid tubs. One large stag was out of water for an hour, no problems. The purple cross is fine, although I do have one colony that gets a bit ticked off being exposed. No damage, just lots of slime. Make sure you don't have a hot light directly over it.

[marie]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

........ Make sure you don't have a hot light directly over it.

I did this once and cooked a volunteer pocillipora colony

[Reef Pilot]

Thanks, everyone for the responses. I have Radions, so the light shouldn't be too hot, plus I have a plexi cover. I knew the occasional exposure would be OK, but wasn't sure about regular exposure with each water change. Sounds like I needn't worry, though.

Now I just need work on getting this Purple Cross to turn purple, instead of plain brown...

[rhody605]

That's a wicked pic. Did you take it?


Mike

[daniella3d]

I always wait until my MH is off before doing my water change which take around 40 to 50 minutes. My SPS always slime a bit but they are fine.