Help wit corals

[Madman05705]

Hey guys I'm going to start adding corals in my tank for the 1 st time n I want to know wats the best coral to start off wit for 1 st timers I was intrested in polyps n some mushrooms. Plz help me out Thanks also if u can tell me the requirements for the coral I have a 150 gallon tank about 300 pounds of live rock live sand n a hang on five wit miracle mud and coral life lights 10k n antics

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[TRIGGERMAN]

perfect.. mushrooms and other soft corals are what you start with lighting sounds good too

 

[FrostyNYC]

Green star polyps, xenia, shrooms, and most palys and zoas are great starter corals. Plus most grow quickly and won't break the bank.


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[daisy]

+1 on mushrooms, green star polyps and xenia, thought many zoanthids are a little tricky - I would keep it to mushrooms and gsp and xenia for now, though I would also say, do you have an idea of what you want to grow into? because green star polyps and xenia will spread like mad, will cover and choke out other corals, and are VERY difficult to remove later. Mushrooms are the same way.

That said, there will be a lot of these starter corals at the frag swap this weekend at Pratt. Are you coming? You should totally come, and you'll be able to pick up these starter corals for very little money - and you will know that they can grow in tanks because they will have come from tanks!

You will need to dose two-part to support coral growth.

 

[Madman05705]

Thanks, yea I am coming to the swap looking foward to it. .. So for corals is a calcium reactor a needed? N also I do I need to add any solutions to the water ??


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[Madman05705]

???


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[motortrendz]

depends on your depletion from the corals absorbing it.. you will have to test it and see.. but for all softies i wouldnt worry i would get a good 2 part solution.. like REEF-A REEF-B its a calcium/alkalinity additve...but if you do frequent water changes with good salt you other additives will be minimal...

 

[Madman05705]

Thanks I spoke to a guy at fishtown today n he said my coral life lights ain't strong enough to support coral now I'm confused cas I got the lights from them n now I feel like I wasted my money. My lights r 96 watts each n there's 4 10k bulbs can any 1 explain to me about the lights please thanks


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[anthony27]

you have a 150 gallon tank so rule of them from what I have been told on this site is that it is usually 5 gallons per watts. If you have 95 watts each then let me ask you, how many lighting fixtures do you have over the tank.

Pc lights are not going to cut it, I have 6 t5 ho's at 39watts each and power brights 8 atinics total. On a 40 breeder. The lighting is the most important part of having the reef.

If you wanted to do a fowlr then the lighting you have now is the best.

 

[crxin]

if you are going to the swap I can bring you some frags to start with for free, let me know, send me a pm

 

[Dre]

I'm confused!You do not need a Calcium Reactor unless you have corals that require constant dosing of Cal/Alk .For example a tank dominated with SPS corals ,that you don't have yet .PC's are good for Starter Corals/Beginner Corals (Soft corals) mushrooms
,leathers,colt coral ,yellow polyp ,GSP and some LPS's .These coral will need Cal/Alk and PH within range though.Before T5's people used MH,Regular Flourescent ,HO,VHO
and PC's .Your light fixture is good for now but you will need to upgrade if you decide to add corals that require more light.Corals are found at differen depths in the ocean/seas from a few inches to 100' or more.

 

[Madman05705]

Thanks guys posting up picks n plz let me no if the corals I got today at the swap r to much 4 me n if I'm ova my head


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[Madman05705]

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[Madman05705]

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[Madman05705]

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[Madman05705]

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[Madman05705]

Any 1 ? R these corals that I got r hard to maintain ???


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[motortrendz]

everything is easy.. but the clam.. how are your lights and flow??

 

[Madman05705]

My lights r from coral life it's has 4 10,000 k bulbs eat bulb at 96 watts n it has 4 blue bulbs. I have 3 fans 2. 850 gph n 1 1400 gph fan


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[SevTT]

Unlike many others, I'll heartily recommend certain SPS for beginners. So long as your parameters are OK, there's no reason not to pick up some cheap reef-crest acros and montipora caps or montipora digitatas. These tend to be pretty fast-growing, tolerant of noobs, and pretty cheap if you're not buying LE stuff. If you put 'em up high they'll even grow under PC lights. Any kind of coral which has a strong feeding response -- acans and duncans spring to mind, along with many closed-brain type corals -- tend to be easier to keep, because minor shortfalls in lighting can be compensated for through feeding.

Don't be afraid to snag some cheap coral frags and try them out. Go for frags from someone's tank if at all possible; it's cheaper, it's a coral that's proven to grow in tank conditions, and if you kill it you know just who to go back to for more.