is my lighting good enough for any corals?

[gauma369]

Ok so Im thinking of trying my skill aat some corals. My question is is my lighting good enough to house corals?

I have a 75 gal tank with 4 x 65 watt power compact light....http://www.aquatraders.com/aquarium...260w-power-compact-light-fixture-advance.html

If my lighting is good for some corals what corals are they and what are some farley easy/ beginner corals to try out?

 

[BuddhaKiss]

In a nutshell, yes. U should be able to keep mushrooms, leather corals, xenia, gsp...and probaby most zoanthids. I know i did when i had PCs. Be forwarned about the xenias and gsp...they can get out of hand, but usually with higher intensity lighting. You might even get away with some LPS, if you put them higher in the tank. I've never used the lighting fixtures from aquatraders but I heard they can be subpar. Again , just what I heard as I don't have any firs hand experience with them.

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

+1 on Buddha's post. Softies can be gorgeous, and with generous random flow are hypnotizing. I had the same setup as you did many years ago (75g FOWLR, 4X65W PC) and that's how I really got hooked -- softies and lps.

Beware, $50 color crayons on plugs are in your long term plans.

 

[gauma369]

Awesome!!!! Im pretty excited about trying corals. Im sorry Alaskan Reefer but your comment seems to went over my head?!?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14702163#post14702163 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Alaskan Reefer

Beware, $50 color crayons on plugs are in your long term plans.

 

[gauma369]

oo and I wanted to add what is good rough estimate on flow? Right now I have about 12 times turn over rate but once I get my maxi-jet upgrade kit it should be around 25-30. Is 25-30 good for softies?

 

[redfishsc]

Alaskan Reefer is talking about colorful SPS, I believe (which means you'd need to upgrade your lights to something with more testosterone than what you currently have).


As for water flow, sounds like you have it covered with the Maxijets. Just know that with a soft coral tank, things will likely not happen the way you plan them to.

Some corals will get blasted harder than you expected and others will barely move. In other words, just plan on tinkering with things as you set up the tank.

As a side note, you would probably like the Koralia 2 or maybe a 3, in various places--- they put out a more random turbulent flow rather than the direct, linear flow from the Maxijets. It's not a big deal but the Koralias are IMO very cool water movers.

 

[gauma369]

ahh ok. Yea I really love the Koralias so I will be upgrading in very near future but as of right now the upgrade kit is a short term fix to increase the flow.

How do I feed these softies? And What? Are they only light dependent? I have been searching around and found some people feed them while other dont so Im not sure what to do.

 

[CoRPS]

Most soft corals don't need to be fed. There are some corals that will benefit from it but it's usually not required. Cyclopeeze and/or mysis is what most people feed their corals.

 

[BuddhaKiss]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14702163#post14702163 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Alaskan Reefer
Beware, $50 color crayons on plugs are in your long term plans.

ain't that the truth...when i first started keeping corals, I was completely happy with softies, and never liked sps...as alaskan reefer stated "color crayons" didn't interested me. Two years later, I love em....and upgraded my lighting. Its almost inevitable you will share the same fate.

 

[Jova]

I had the same type of pc lighting that you have over my 75 for a few months, while I was getting my current mh/pc setup built, and it actually worked fine. At that time, I had lots of xenia, mushrooms, leathers, gsp, long tent anemone, devil's hand, toadstool, parazooanthids, and a big chunk of frogspawn, and everything seemed to do alright. You'll definately notice more growth with better lighting, but you could most definately sustain about any softie and many lps with that lighting... I'd just plan an upgrade at some point to a nice mh setup.

 

[gauma369]

O trust me Im already looking at ungrading lighting Im looking into a nice MH with T5 setup, this way its real easy plug and play and I dont need to deal with the hassle of hanging MH and such. Upgrade wont happen for atleast 3-4 months but its always fun to look around and just imagine and also helps get better info and advice before actually buying

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

The planning is one of the best parts of the hobby. And yeah, I meant SPS, it hits you about the point where you realize that the fish are the decoration, it's a coral tank. Start fantasizing about a Vortech now as well, it takes months to actually take that plunge.

 

[gauma369]

yea that seems really far down the line for me. Being a college student living on minimal income and loans does not lead to quick or multi upgrades. Bout they are really cool I love how they can create a wave just like the real reef.