First Coral Choice?

[Mike 1911A1]

I have a 90g FOWLR with the following fish:
2 perc clowns
1 Goby
1 yellow tang
1 Coral Beauty
1 Valentini Puffer

I currently have 60# LR and am curing another 50#. Once the lr is cured and added to the tank and everything is stable I would like to add some coral. What would be a good first coral to start with? Any suggestions or insights are appreciated.

Mike

 

[scrmbld33]

zoo s are good

 

[Mike 1911A1]

I have read that the are some of the easiest corals. Do you think and of my fish bother them?

 

[Aadler]

i would start with ricordea mushrooms or a green star polyp, both are hard to kill and very colorful/pleasing to look at imo.

 

[firefish2020]

Hmm Puffer and coral beauty....I would be careful with putting to much coral in that system you will likely loose a good bit in time.
It really depends on what kind of lighting you are running on your system but typically I would start with some mushrooms and when/if you try zoanthids or palythoa be sure to observe the two fish I mentioned above.

 

[Fast Fred]

Kenya Tree is a good easy one...

 

[Mike 1911A1]

The valentiny is the one I'm concerned about but he does seem to be very mild mannered. I have many snails and hermits in my tank and he hasn't seemed to bother them (yet). I will however be very careful with both the cb and puffer. Plan B will be to return them to the lfs.

Mike

 

[Agu]

What's your lighting ? What's your flow ? Is there a particular coral that you eventually want to have ?


Plan the tank around what you want, not around a "beginner coral". Often those beginner corals become a major problem when you try to do what you really want to do.


just my rant ,

 

[Mike 1911A1]

The lighting is a Coralife 4x65 PC. Currently I have my main return pump and 2 MaxiJet 1200 powerheads. I understand that my lighting will not support hard corals but would like to get some zoos, an anenome, hammer and maybe some frogspawn.

Mike

 

[firefish2020]

The only problem I see is the depth of the tank. However, if you place your high light coral in the upper reef zone you "should" have no problems. Some LPS such as a hammer or frogspawn should be ok as long as you provide proper food for them. I personally would get a halide system be it a DE or SE model, your growth will be far better and placement would be no issue IMO.
Aside from that Im more concerned with you only having 590 GPH of flow in your system. I would work on providing more flow and more lighting and do some research on what you would like to keep.

 

[Mike 1911A1]

How did you calc 590gph? The maxijets are rated at 1200 and I have 2. Not sure what my return pump is rated.

 

[Mike 1911A1]

Sorry, just read the specs on the MaxiJet 1200...They are rated at 295. What flow should I have?

 

[firefish2020]

I would suggest about 900 GPH to start with, then as you add livestock add more if you need it. You want good flow through the system with few dead spots. Get that surface rolling

 

[Mike 1911A1]

Are you calculating gph in the tank as only the power heads? Does the return count? Now I have the 2 maxijets near the top (getting good surface movement). When I add more power heads, where should they be positioned?? What pattern of flow in the tank is considered best? This has been a question I have not been able to answer from the beginning. BTW, thanks for your help.

Mike

 

[mystikdragon7]

Here is a head loss calculator for you to figure out just how much flow you have going through your power heads.

 

[nemo g]

if you really want some corals, do some reading on the soft. try a leather, it resembles a stoney (a plate) and is a lot easier to keep than many.

good luck

 

[Mike 1911A1]

Thanks for the reccomendations mystikdragon7. Fire, what about flow pattern? What is the best flow pattern for a tank 48"x18"x24"?

 

[PatMayo]

mwa1007
I have 2 Mj 1200 in my tank and 2 ea. Seio 1100 which are rated at 1100 gph. mj 295 * 2 = 590 gph, 2 ea. seio 1100 = 2200 gph plus I runniing about 500 gph from my return. Add all this up and I am at about 3290 gph or roughly 36 times.
I think I calculated that correctly.

The powerheads should be pumping what they are rated at. there in the tank and you are not pumping the water up or down. Your return pump could use the head loss calculator. The pump should have come with that rating.

anyway you look at it you need more flow.

I am contemplating going to Tunze once I upgrade my lights to 250 watt MH instead of 150 watt.

You can see how mine how positioned by looking here

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=780206

I have very good flow as you can see and the water even flows behind the rock very well.

Regards,

Pat

 

[Mike 1911A1]

Pat, you have the exact same tank as I stand and all. 90g AllGlass with overflow and clear maple stand. Great idea with the magfloats (why can't I come up with neat stuff like that?) You have alot of rock. You mentioned that you are getting 36 times flow. What is the taget? 36 times? Or is less ok too?

 

[Mike 1911A1]

Here is a pic of my tank:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=155409

Will look alot more like yours once I add my additional 60# LR.