Good starter frag??

[falonchristie]

Hello,
I am very new to the hobby and have set up a 55gal tank with live rock and lace rock, live sand, 6 snails, 2 emrald crabs, 1 blue starfish, 1goby, 2 clownfish and 1 horseshoe crab. I am getting the t5 lights this week and now I think I am ready to get a coral/frag. I have not studied much about frags yet and was wondering what soft coral i should start with that is good for beginners?? Any advise would be great.
Thanks

 

[Fishboy9227]

Any cheap type of zoanthid or mushroom would great.

 

[Lytehouse]

what frag to get?

what frag to get?

and Welcome to COMAS. Please come and meet us all at the next meeting Feb 19 on the UCO campus. The info will go up on the link below soon:

http://www.mycomas.com/

As far as what coral.....

Beginner corals include leathers, star polyps, xenia, mushrooms, zoanthids and such.

Where do you shop?

 

[luvabunny]

Hi Falon!
Glad to see that you've found us. Hope the lace rock worked out well for you!

With T5 lights, you are pretty much unlimited in your coral selection as far as softies and LPS. SPS will depend on how many bulbs your light system has and how close to the lights you can get them.

Easy softies are pretty much any of them - mushrooms, leathers, colts, xenias, and they won't much care about the light. In fact, T5 may be too much for some of them. You'll want to place them low in the tank. Leathers and colts can get very big, very fast, so think about that when you add them.

My favorite corals are zoanthids and chalices. T5's will be great for them. With the clownfish, you might want to get them a host anemone, but definitely wait until the T5's come in for that.

Unfortunately, the blue starfish and horseshoe crab are pretty much doomed. Neither are great aquarium inhabitants, and especially not in brand new tanks. Enjoy them while they last. Keep in mind that many fish are coral and invert eaters, so you will want to begin paying attention to that as you stock your tank. Also, your clowns will probably pair. When they do, they will become very agressive towards other fish, so another thing to keep in mind.

Most of all, remember to go slow and do your research before adding anything to your tank. Getting a fish out is almost impossible, and it's much easier to make sure it will be a good fit before buying it.

There should be several items in the clubs frag program that would be wonderful starts for you. If you haven't already, go ahead and join the club ($25.00) and take advantage. That is what they are there for. Talk to Lynn (lytehouse) - he's the head of that program.

Welcome Falon! I know you will find lots of knowledgeable people here. Give me a shout. I've got some info you were looking for too!

 

[falonchristie]

Thanks for the advice everybody. I've been shopping at the reef store and also petco in edmond and norman.
Yeah April I plan on coming to the Feb meeting and joining with my husband. I was searching the blog and saw it might not be $25 for both of us. Someone said it was $25 for me and like $10 for my husband. I'm still not sure on this? either way we will join next month. It said on the webpage the topic was fragging. Is that correct?
I also found out later that the horseshoe crab was not good for my tank. Petco said it would be fine but after returning home and reading some forums I found out different. I really dont plan on adding any more fish for awhile. I want to slowly start frags and corals and learn as much as I can about them. I was trying to find a website that gave some information about different frags and how you put them in the tank and all of that stuff but I keep getting websites that sell corals rather than information. Anyways its good I found you in here and I hope to see you at the meeting.

 

[cjilge]

The club has a wealth of info. and yes it would be $25 for the first in the household and $10 for others that reside at the same address. once your joined check out a book from the library and enjoy. there is a lot of coral info on the club frag program as well just click on a coral type then pick one and it will open info about that particuler coral, you can always post questions and plenty of people will chime in on the forums here as well. Welcome and always looking forward in meeting new members!

Chris

 

[lauremf2002]

First off Welcome! I look forward to seeing you at the meeting! Second, if you go to the mycomas.com website as lynn mentioned and click on the frag donor program tab you will find all the information you need on the needs and care of the different corals. As everyone has mentioned, you really cant go wrong with a button polyp or mushroom. And frags of these are generally very cheap. Good luck! And give us some pics of your tank to admire!

 

[S13<3]

start with a mushroom, virtually indestructible

 

[mikencarol]

welcome:thumbsup:Welcome:thumbsup:WELCOME To RC and COMAS. You will love this websight and Really love COMAS. Lots of Good people, lots of Fish and Corals and TONS of information. If lighthouse doesn't have any mushrooms for the Feb meeting....LMK...I'll bring him some for the frag tank and you can get some from him. Glad to have you guys here!

 

[falonchristie]

how many people are usually at the COMAS meeting??

 

[kender]

I always have mushrooms to share; I bring Lynn an endless supply. ;-) I will bring some to the next meeting if you shoot me a reminder.

 

[falonchristie]

awsome!! Thank you!

 

[Mylilreef]

i gotta say mushrooms are probably the easiest to keep alive and multiply. when i firs started out i had 2- 40watt flourecents over my 55g and bought a rock with6 watermelon shrooms on it. even with that low light, no protein skimmer, and an undergravel filter(oops!), i had literally over 100 within a year.

 

[Triple_B]

Welcome! Everyone posted great ideas for starter corals, so I'll just refer you to the mycomas.com forums again...

I hope to have all of the books and descriptions up on the library forums next weekend, so if you join at the meeting, not only could you take home coral from the donor program, but a book from the library!

Paul W. told me when I joined that my membership fee was "the best investment I could make in my tank." and that was 100% true.

Look forward to meeting you, and once again, welcome.

 

[Lytehouse]

I just re read all the posts....

You might get the idea,
if you weren't careful,
that we like our club :bounce2: :bounce1:

 

[Oklahomareefer]

:lol2:you guys have sold me on joining:lol2: me and my hubby are making plans to be at the feb meeting and can't wait

 

[Glazner]

Welcome! If you shop in Edmond, you should go see Leighanne and Tyler at Aquariums 1702 N Kelley. Leighanne won't "sell" you anything your tank is not ready for, even if you want it... You will get the best advice from her and she will check your water parameters for free. If you will listen and take her advice you will save yourself a lot of headaches( buying things your tank is not ready for, fish that will eat your corals, water parameters out of line that can kill your fish or corals) As far as beginner coral, don't buy it. Get it for free from the frag program!!

 

[falonchristie]

Hi Falon!
Glad to see that you've found us. Hope the lace rock worked out well for you!

With T5 lights, you are pretty much unlimited in your coral selection as far as softies and LPS. SPS will depend on how many bulbs your light system has and how close to the lights you can get them.

Easy softies are pretty much any of them - mushrooms, leathers, colts, xenias, and they won't much care about the light. In fact, T5 may be too much for some of them. You'll want to place them low in the tank. Leathers and colts can get very big, very fast, so think about that when you add them.

My favorite corals are zoanthids and chalices. T5's will be great for them. With the clownfish, you might want to get them a host anemone, but definitely wait until the T5's come in for that.
Unfortunately, the blue starfish and horseshoe crab are pretty much doomed. Neither are great aquarium inhabitants, and especially not in brand new tanks. Enjoy them while they last. Keep in mind that many fish are coral and invert eaters, so you will want to begin paying attention to that as you stock your tank. Also, your clowns will probably pair. When they do, they will become very agressive towards other fish, so another thing to keep in mind.

Most of all, remember to go slow and do your research before adding anything to your tank. Getting a fish out is almost impossible, and it's much easier to make sure it will be a good fit before buying it.

There should be several items in the clubs frag program that would be wonderful starts for you. If you haven't already, go ahead and join the club ($25.00) and take advantage. That is what they are there for. Talk to Lynn (lytehouse) - he's the head of that program.
Welcome Falon! I know you will find lots of knowledgeable people here. Give me a shout. I've got some info you were looking for too!]

I was reading in the rc forums and I thought I would not be able to mix corals with an anemone? Hopefully I'm wrong. I really like the carpet anemone as well. I checked out the frags available and I found some I really liked.(Green and Purple Zoanthids) I'm excited about the meeting coming up..I wish it was sooner. It sound really helpful and fun!

 

[falonchristie]

Welcome! If you shop in Edmond, you should go see Leighanne and Tyler at Aquariums 1702 N Kelley. Leighanne won't "sell" you anything your tank is not ready for, even if you want it... You will get the best advice from her and she will check your water parameters for free. If you will listen and take her advice you will save yourself a lot of headaches( buying things your tank is not ready for, fish that will eat your corals, water parameters out of line that can kill your fish or corals) As far as beginner coral, don't buy it. Get it for free from the frag program!!

Thanks! Its good to have a good dealer that wont tell you it is okay to buy anything you want. I've already experienced this problem with the horseshoe crab.

 

[falonchristie]

Welcome! Everyone posted great ideas for starter corals, so I'll just refer you to the mycomas.com forums again...

I hope to have all of the books and descriptions up on the library forums next weekend, so if you join at the meeting, not only could you take home coral from the donor program, but a book from the library!

Paul W. told me when I joined that my membership fee was "the best investment I could make in my tank." and that was 100% true.

Look forward to meeting you, and once again, welcome.

Thanks! Looking forward to meeting you too