A Good First Coral

[ghuffer]

Finally I have bought better lights so I can have coral.

Now the question is what should I get. Things I would like.

Color, fairly easy to care for.

I have been looking and this is what I think I might want.
If I am looking to advanced let me know.

Pulsing xenia, colorful zoo's and another that you all help me pick.

I have seen so many beuatiful reef tanks. Now please help me get a start on mine with your good ideas.

 

[Burgman]

HI,

You could start off with Green or Brown star polyps,Green Sinularia,most of the Zoo's,mushrooms and then see how they survive before going to the next level. Most of these are fairly inexpensive and easy to get via RC or your local fish store.

Dave

 

[johndawg]

it would probably also be helpful to know what "better" lights are.

 

[ghuffer]

Oh sorry all I had was regular fluorescent and now I have PC 2x65 on a 29 gallon.

 

[ghuffer]

I know these are not the best lights I could have but it's a building process.

 

[Esquare]

Ricordia, Salty Critter has a bunch of nice ones. I have 4 different ones and they are pretty much no maintenance for me.

 

[anaelitz]

I've got some very nice purplish pink/silver pulsing xenia. I've got huge hunks I'll sell for $5 each.

 

[StanD]

My suggestion would be to attend the upcoming C-SEA frag workshop as most folks walk out with a lot more than $50 worth of frags for the $30 participation fee.

Also, unless you are a completely unlikeable person, there are many C-SEA members that frequently bring frags for sale/trade/free to meetings. Most of the easy keepers for newbies can be attained very reasonably as most are extremely prolific.

Good luck with the new lights

Stan D.

 

[brad]

I 2nd the frag swap, but would stay away from Acropora if you want low maintenance, and it won't grow unless your "better" light is really strong.

If you attend the frag swap I will bring you some star polyps and maybe a leather. Star polyps and xenia are not the best first coral IMO. If they do well, they are indestructible and fast growing. I have seen them not grow and eventually die even though everything else in my tank was doing well, so a beginner might wonder what they did wrong when they did everything right. With so many of us trying to give these away free so they don't get thrown away, I wouldn't feel bad about killing them.

Colorful zoos are good, but not cheap, and may brown out. If you have a larger tank, having only zoos or star polyps doesn't look great, since they stay small.

Leather corals, especially Sarcophyton, Lobophyton (toad stool) and Cladiella (colt, kenya tree) and Sinularia do well in just about any tank. They are low maintenance and won't limit your choice of fish much (yes a queen angel in a 55 would eat them faster than they grow, but for all practical purposes you can keep any fish). They can get big and fill a tank and look great. The only downside is chemical warfare with some of the more delicate stony corals, which don't belong an a low maintenance tank anyway.

 

[markviiisvt4]

I've got a few of the mentioned corals That i'm trying to get rid of very cheep. Prolly enough to fill your 29. I'd kind of beware of the xenia to. It seams to end up turning into more of a weed.

 

[serpentman]

For more details on the Frag-a-thon frag workshop, here is the thread:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1483272

Its a really nice event to kick off keeping corals. Educational and you get to take home several varieties.

 

[sohal1025]

I have some sinulara and zooanthids I will let go very cheap, just looking to thin out my tank, ya know?

 

[ghuffer]

Looks awsome I'm going to try and make it. living out here it will be a chanllenge to get there after work.