Dipping My Toe into Corals...

kjaye21

New member
Good afternoon everyone!

I'm not new to the hobby per se' but over the years I have kept FOWLR tanks and now I am looking to take a step to add some coral to beautify my tank..

I have just white LED lights now and I know I will need new lights with more blue in them.. so I have 2 questions

1. Is there a lighting system someone can suggest that I can switch from Blue to White? (I want to be able to look at the natural color of the fish sometime and not just in blue)

2. What is a good starter coral/frag.. etc.


Thanks!!
 
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just get and add a t5 fixture n keep ur leds too.

strart with LPS corals and softies

and zoanthids are great starters n glow with moonlights =)
 
How crafty are you?

Size of the system?

Typically fowlr tanks are higher in nutrients. What is the tank testing out at? Tossing a bunch of light on the tank could create algae issues.
 
Thanks for all the input.. all of this is helpful.. I have 125 gallon with a ton of live rock.. i've been running this particular tank for a year with no issues.. I have a deep sandbed. I'll have to look at my other tests but Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites are all at just about 0. These lights are pretty bright and I haven't had any algae problems since months ago when the tank was cycling. I appreciate all of your help!
 
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What do your white leds look like, can you post some pics. My first thought is add two ati blue+ t5 but you could also add some blue strips to your white leds.
 
Here is a pic of what I have.. actually I was experimenting with the blues on the ends to have my rock scapes there and add corals on the two sides.. but I found that these lights are cheap.. cheap in price as well. When they got wet some of my LED's went out.. These would probably work well if one has a glass top but my tank is open. So with that being said, I have these whites now but I'm going to have to replace all of them as they are one by one going out. :)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd...._=1433212388_658b64d926026c2acee32673eed97f68
 
I would suggest a coral that doesn't spread like the plague. I started with a Scolymia, some Ricordia Florida and Yuma mushrooms.
 
Most important thing to keep in mind with the switch to reefs is knowing your chemistry

It is extremely critical that you understand the balance between Ca/DkH/Mg. Keeping phosphate at barely detectable levels is also of great importance.

Having blue lights is a change you should make since it promotoes photosynthesis. I use a 4 bulb T5 fixture with all ATI bulbs. These are some of the best bulbs you can buy.

I run a mixed reef with large SPS maricultured colonies, aquacultured SPS, large sand dwelling LPS, Derasa clam and an array of zoas and other soft corals along with two gorgonians (one photosynthetic, one NPS)

The easiest corals to keep are soft corals like mushrooms and zoanthids. most mushrooms could survive the nuclear holocaust. zoas are addictive like crack so be careful =)

2nd easiest are "most" LPS....i say most because not all are conducive to a beginner. Great beginner choices are Duncans (almost 99% photosynthetic and grow very well). they pick up any left over food in the water column so spot feeding them is pretty much pointless. larger LPS like acanthrophyllia have to be spot fed weekly otherwise they deteriorate quickly. My acanthrophyllia is my favorite specimen.

newbies love euphyllias (LPS) like hammers, torch's and frogspawn because they are easy and require basically no feeding, but keep in mind these are very agressive and will kill any coral that touches it.

2nd hardest to keep are SPS because they require very consistent water params and high lighting (people obsess over zero phosphate in SPS tanks, however they need phosphate to survive) I've had alot of success with maricultured SPS colonies. People like to whine about them, but you get a huge colony for less $ and they are very healthy for the most part.

the hardest for almost anyone are non photosynthetic corals which have to be spot fed every day. any neglect will kill them (NPS gorgonians in particular)


The best way to learn your chemistry is to hand dose your tank with two part and magnesium. once you fully understand it, then i would switch to kalkwasser in an auto top off.
 
kjaye21, are you using RO/DI water in the tank? If not that is usually a must in order to keep corals.
 
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