Recommend some easy to keep LPS

[airtime23]

I have a 20g reef, LR, 4 fish, various shrooms, zoos, colt, leather, and toadstool.

Thinking about adding one or two LPS corals.

I have PC lighting, a total of about 130W (I believe, I'm at work and cannot check).

Please recommend some LPS that would be easy to care for (wouldn't need feeding, would thrive with my current lighting, and would be hardy).

Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[AIMFish]

Frogspawn heads are usually easy to come by and would do well and perhaps an open brain(trach.) on the bottom. Not to sound discouraging but I'd leave it softy until you could move up to something a little larger. Once the ones you have grow up a little they will look great and there may not be room for more.

 

[waterfaller1]

Re: Recommend some easy to keep LPS

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9579533#post9579533 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by airtime23
I have PC lighting, a total of about 130W (I believe, I'm at work and cannot check).

Please recommend some LPS that would be easy to care for (wouldn't need feeding, would thrive with my current lighting, and would be hardy).

With that amount of light, not too much is going to thrive without being fed. Certainly not an open brain .

 

[airtime23]

thanks...

any other suggestions?

 

[loosecannon]

hi i have a simerler set up. a bubble frogspun and a canndycane. i put them up hi in the tank, and i do scurt them 1 a week with frozen food i feed my fish,and a-nam-anee!

 

[airtime23]

Is there anything to absolutely AVOID with my setup?

 

[IndyMatt]

I would avoid the following all together not just your setup:

Elegance Corals - The ones in the recent future (in the US) are not very hardy.

Long Tentacle Plate - Long Tentacle Plates are not very hardy either but some do survive.

Gorgonians / Flowerpot Coral - They don't live very long in captivity.

Some people have had good luck with the above corals while most have had bad luck. I have lost an Elegance and a Long Tentacle Plate and I had perfect water parameters. The long tentacle plate was damaged slightly when I bought it.

 

[dc_909]

Go with candies and put them up high.

 

[wheresalbany]

I have an identical set up and am having success with candy coral placed up very high.

 

[theop]

130W of PC on a 20g tank? That is plenty of light.

I agree with the 'avoid' list not because of light, but because those are very difficult to keep.

Candy canes are a good start.
Euphyllia (frogspawn, torch, hammer) are good but can get too big for a 20g, but you can always frag them.
Galaxia are easy to keep but put out long sweeper tentacles.
Favia, lobophyllia, platygyra, and favites are others you could probably keep without problems.

 

[airtime23]

Thank you all for your suggestions!

 

[killagoby]

Go for brains such as Favites.

 

[drummereef]

I have a frogspawn and candycanes in my 40g under 192 watts of pc lighting and they are thriving. And I don't direct feed. The thing to keep in mind is keeping up on your alkalinity and calcium supplimentation. I use Randy's 2-part for mine.

 

[scoutmaniak]

I had candy and an orange plate under 80 watts of PC light and they did great till I moved them to the 100g with the t-5's... Just feed them every week or two and you will get some good growth.

 

[GobyJohnKenobi]

Ditto on the Frogspawn and Trumpets.

I have three different color frogs and seven different trumps in my 15 under 80 W PCs. All doing so good I need to get out of nanos.

 

[Qckwzrd]

I have the same lights on my 15 gallon, would blastos do well in that setup as well?

 

[Piazzon12]

yes, blastos should be fine. I have 165W PC on a 37 gallon, and I have the blastos at the bottom

 

[dustin323]

130 watts on a 20g is plenty of light for a lot of LPS. Candy canes or some type of euphyllia are both good starts. I have 260 watts PC on a 55g, so that is less light per gallon than yours & I keep candy canes, trachy brain, blasto merletti, & a hammer. All doing fantastic I feed them everyonce in a while.

 

[killagoby]

Blastos will do great in a "lower light" set up like you have. Just make sure they are not getting direct flow. I recently switched over to 150w MH lights, but here are some shots of mine when I had 130W PC lighting. Their placement is at the bottom of the tank.

 

[SlavicSavage]

How, may I ask, is his setup a "lower light" setup? 130watts of PC lighting over a 20 gallon, ESPECIALLY a 20 long, is a crap ton of light.