Why is placement so important in a tank?

[kilofey]

I mean, u have corals that live 20-30 meters down... Why would a foot or so in an aquarium make such a huge difference? Just seems wierd to me... I meam whenever I get a new coral, I put it in a place that looks good and has proper flow, as long as it fits in the right category for lighting (i only get medium/low light requireing corals).... Upper, mid level & lower seems silly... My corals are doing great & they just go wherever they are visually appealing

 

[michaeltx]

If corals are used to being in a lower light they adapt to that light while growing once they are transplanted to another tank with higher light it can bun them because they are used to the lower light.
Its also the same in reverse it can have some bad effects that way to.
some corals do better in lower light but can handle the higher light schemes.
also there is some corals that if giving higher light can rapidly take over a tank placing them in lower light will cause them to not grow as fast and keep them more manageable.
HTH
Mike

 

[kilofey]

Which ones are for lower light areas? I have a cave thats just asking to house a coral

 

[michaeltx]

If its an area that gets NO light at all then a non-photo coral is about the only thing that go there. things like carnation corals *not recommended hard to keep alive).. Chilli corals, sun polyps.
If there is light but its not as bright as the rest of the tank the ones that are on the top of my head is mushrooms, tree corals, leathers, colt corals those types of corals are good. If its a large enough leather it was be placed in the cave area with the head area coming out of the cave.
Mike