Great beginner corals

[Gotzegot28]

I have a 50 gallon tank that is about 7 months old and I am looking for some new corals to keep. Currently I have 1 large colony of Kenya tree and that is it. I have 1300 gph of flow and a powerful protein skimmer. I also have a Kleini butterfly, an azure damsel and a royal gramma. I use h2ocean pro reef salt and have 20,000k LED lights. My substrate is sand and I have around 20 lbs of live rock. I have the ability to dose calcium and magnesium and strontium if need be. What corals could I get that are within a 30 dollar budget?

Thanks for your time and consideration,

A 14 year old recently bitten by the reef bug :fish1::lolspin:

 

[shifty51008]

Look up any softy, zoas, leathers, and alot of lps corals.

No need to strontium, but would be a good idea to keep and eye on calcium, alklinity, and magnesisum and keep them stable, especially if you wanna keep lps and sps corals.

 

[shifty51008]

Also the butterfly may eat corals so keep an eye on it.

 

[Gotzegot28]

Shifty, could you specify what corals I could get?

 

[pyithar]

mushrooms, zoanthids, toadstool, green star polyps, xenia, hammer, frogspawn, torch, brain, favia all are easy to keep ime. keep xenia and gsp on separate islands though.

 

[thegrun]

Here is a couple of good websites showing several easy to keep corals, but be careful as some of the easy to grow corals can be invasive.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/coralcare/ig/15-Easy-Corals/index.htm
http://successfulreefkeeping.com/learn/about-corals/best-beginner-coral-choices/
Here is another website that lists many of the common corals kept in the hobby and their lighting and water flow needs along with how difficult they are to care for:
https://sites.google.com/a/asira.org/www2/caresheets

 

[Gotzegot28]

Hi guys!

I got a some whammin watermelon zoas, which opened up on the first day at my aquarium. (thank god)
My problem is, i got a torch coral head from a guy i trust on Saturday, and its not opening fully. Its currently avout 1/2" and at the guy's place, it was more than 4"

Thanks for your opinion

 

[thegrun]

What are your water parameters and equipment, particularly lighting.

 

[leviburns89]

What are your water parameters and equipment, particularly lighting.

His original post has all that info.

I want to know, how did you acclimate them? Did you do a dip? Are they in a high flow/low flow area? Is your butterfly picking at them?


Correction, he did not state his params.

 

[Gotzegot28]

The butterfly moved on a month ago

I drip acclimate, but since i know the person who i get the coral from, i do not dip. Also, i dont have the $$$

Nit 0
Pho 0
Sal 1.023
Ph 8.3 to 8.4
Amm 0

Also, the fish died because of a power outage a month back, so i only have a sailfin tang 1". He is in here temporarily, so dont worry

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Since you now have corals you will need to get 3 more test kits. They're known as the Big Three. Mg, Alk and Ca. These are all very important to keep stable for your corals to grow and thrive in your tank. Then the other two important tests for corals are Nitrate and Phosphate. PH, ammonia and Nitrites aren't as important as the Big Three.

 

[MadCnty]

Since you now have corals you will need to get 3 more test kits. They're known as the Big Three. Mg, Alk and Ca. These are all very important to keep stable for your corals to grow and thrive in your tank. Then the other two important tests for corals are Nitrate and Phosphate. PH, ammonia and Nitrites aren't as important as the Big Three.

You might also look into some chemicals to help balance these...

 

[Gotzegot28]

Hi!

I have a calcium test at home, but i moved the torch up to the flow, and hes slowlu opening up more.

 

[Violator]

Anyone tell me what kind of coral this is? Was thinking it is frogspawn.

 

[Nick92515]

I would also think about adding some more live rock, maybe not necessary but 20# might be light for a 55. Also how many watts per led, or total watts are you lighting. Also why did your fish die? This maybe an indication of something bad.

 

[SLOreefer805]

Vialator, yes I would say that is indeed a frogspawn.