Mr. Saltwater Tank

Terrible Advice Tuesdays (T.A.Tues): Your Corals Can’t Handle The Pressure


Terrible Advice Tuesdays: The first step in acclimating new coral to your tank is to put them towards the top of your tank so that they get used to the pressure.

The rest of the story: Wait…wait…I have to wipe my monitor screen down because I just spit sweet tea all over it from laughing so hard.

I’ll make this really easy: The pressure in your tank is virtually non-existent or negligible at best so you don’t have to worry about acclimating corals to this pressure. (I’m referring to the pressure of the water pressing down on the corals)

Even if you wanted to worry about pressure, most corals in your tank are collected in water much deeper than 18-36″ which is the depth of nearly all saltwater tanks. Therefore, your tank’s pressure is much lower than what they are used to. And, there is no way to pressurize your tank such that you take the corals back to the pressure they are used to, then acclimate them back to your tank’s lower pressure.

Don’t worry about pressure acclimation for your corals, it’s a complete waste of time.

(Thanks to Shannon for passing this one on to me.)

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Comments for this article (5)

  • James says:

    HAHAHAAA……this one tops them all !! The fact that you’re already above sea level and trying to ‘acclimate’ them to a 2-foot tank depth, yet still above sea level, is hilarious. Not even taking into consideration that a lot of the corals bought nowadays are tank fragged and raised. BTW Mark, change the subject title to “your corals” to avoid heckling. :o) Have a salty week!

  • Adam baggett says:

    I think putting coral at the top of the tank is in fact one of the worst things you can do, or if you are trying to cook the coral go right ahead. They have more likely been without the light they are used to rather than the water pressure. Putting them on the sand bed then moving them up slowly is the best option. That way you do not shock them with the strong light and you can find out where they would like to live.

    Just my thoughts.

  • tinzac says:

    hmmm, the only pressure you have to worry about is from the spouse for buying a new coral or from the wallet. LOL.

  • andrew says:

    being above sea level has absolutely nothing to do with it, its the weight of the amount of water, ie: how far below the water surface you are.

  • Phillip says:

    I don’t normally comment but all I can say is WOW…..

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