Soft corals ideas?

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Postyoa28

New member
Hi all,

I was looking for some recommendations to start putting some soft corals in my tank. The tank in question is a 55 gal. tank with a 10 gal. sump. At the moment tank contains about 40 lbs of live rock, 1 pair of false percula clownfish, 1 yellowtailed damsel, 1 green chromis, 1 yellow tang, several turbo snails, 1 pencil urchin, 2 emerald crabs, and a brittle star. The lighting is currently a single "broad spectrum" florescent light. At some point I would like to upgrade my lighting system, but for now I'm looking for ideas on softies that require low lighting levels. I've heard that the mushrooms (corallimorphs) do well in this type of situation and would like to begin with these. My main question is about zoanthids. Can zoanthids be kept in this situation, or do they require a high output lighting system?

Thanks for any input.
 
Zoanthids don't require high light levels. Mushrooms would work too. Other low light options would be green star polyps, xenia, and kenya tree.
 
For something a little different, you could try a pipe organ near the top. Technically they're a softy. Though they prefer more light, they'll grow slowly under low light conditions. There's also nps like the chili coral. But those need to be fed.
 
they will live in that but the color of them will be brown.save money on not buying livestock and spend it on lights then go forward.pluss if you gat them then add bright lighting you will shockem.look online in craiggs and in the papper im sure you can find a good light for a good price.mush and zoas can live in low lite conditions but they do not thrive or look good in them
 
Last edited:
Be careful with green star polyps & xenia, as they will take over a tank. Be sure you place them in an area with a natural break so thay cannnot jump to the next rock! Thay are great to start with cause they are fast growing...hence the problem.
 
So I just picked up a single green mushroom and a 2 inch square of some green star polyps. I checked in with my LFS and he suggested these two for starters under the low light situation. After their acclimation in the quarantine tank, I placed them in the main tank near the top of the tank. Also, I added another florescent bulb, slightly in the blue phase, that I had lying around to the lighting setup.

As of 24 hours after the introduction to the main tank, the mushroom has detached from its original perch and moved lower in the tank. The green star polyps though have not opened up since taking them from the LFS tank. They are currently in a medium flow area and high in the tank because of the low output lighting. Does anyone know how long it typically takes for these guys to become accustomed to their new environment?

My current parameters are as follows:

Temp: 73 degrees F
Sal: 1.028
pH: 8.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm

I would appreciate any input.
 
I have a 60g that is almost done cycling. I tested Nitrite last nightt and it came out to 0.1ppm. Currently, I have a couple green chromis. There is also a diatom bloom (some on my LR, substrate, and glass). My question is: should I introduce more fish to the tank after it has cycled BEFORE i add some softies?
 
lol once the gsp get comfy it will grow like wild fire you will learn to hate it ..so is the pulsing xenia i just traded a huge rock of it for a open brain..:)
 
I would wait until the bloom is under control and then add more fish. When in doubt in this hobby slow down and just watch.
 
I wasn't going to add anything more until the tank has fully cycled and then wait a couple more weeks. When should I start building a CUC?
 
Postyoa28 said:
So I just picked up a single green mushroom and a 2 inch square of some green star polyps. I checked in with my LFS and he suggested these two for starters under the low light situation. After their acclimation in the quarantine tank, I placed them in the main tank near the top of the tank. Also, I added another florescent bulb, slightly in the blue phase, that I had lying around to the lighting setup.

As of 24 hours after the introduction to the main tank, the mushroom has detached from its original perch and moved lower in the tank. The green star polyps though have not opened up since taking them from the LFS tank. They are currently in a medium flow area and high in the tank because of the low output lighting. Does anyone know how long it typically takes for these guys to become accustomed to their new environment?

My current parameters are as follows:

Temp: 73 degrees F
Sal: 1.028
pH: 8.4
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 5.0 ppm

I would appreciate any input.
Click to expand...


I didn't know mushrooms detached and moved. I have two and they have been on the same rock and same place since I've had them...3 weeks.
 
wow your salinity is to high it should be around 1.025 or 1.026 also raise the temp up to about 78 slowly i would do a water change to lower your nitrates
 
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