Beginer corals

M

mana0581

Reefing newb
I just switched a fish only tank to a reef tank. 56 # of live rock, 2 clown fish, 1 dwarf angel fish, 1 coral branded shrimp and 5-6 crabs. I just added a Cladiella recommended by a local pet store owner. anyone else have recommendation for beginner corals. I would like to also add one last fish to the tank and I am open to suggestions.

Tank 50 gal. 38 gal living space/ 12 gal filtration/heater etc via overflow
 
As already stated, mushrooms, but you could also look into zooanthids, palythoas, some of the brain corals, and leather corals.

You'll also see Kenya Tree listed as a good starter coral - but stay away from it, that weed will take over your tank, and pulling it is not fun (ask me how I know)
 
What do you have for lighting? If you have decent lighting then I'd recommend adding some LPS (like a trumpet, frogspawn, duncan, etc) and maybe a birdsnest - they all tend to be pretty easy. As for a final fish, what about a midas or starry blenny, or a small wrasse? Also, watch out for that coral banded shrimp - they aren't reef safe, though some people have kept them without any trouble!
 
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I'm new (about 4 months with a reef tank) and I volt for mushrooms.. I find I can keep them best at this point as I continue to learn.

I haven't had much luck so far with zoah's, and even find kenya trees not so happy with me.

...but.. mushrooms love me... so.. I love them back.
 
I run carbon all the time but I change it out weekly. I dont want anything to become a nitrate factory in my tank.
 
no I have the compact flourcent I was using for the fish only tank. 1 white 65watt 10,000 and a 65 watt actin/ putple light. Is this ok for a soft coral tank.
 
PC lighting needs to be replaced at the very least, once a year, but recommended, 9 months. 130W of PC will grow mushrooms and zoanthids, but it is a very inefficient type of lighting, and growth will be very slow. You also will not get good color at all with having the white in the 10000K range.
 
The lights you have will be fine for low light corals, but you may have a hard time keeping anything more than that. You should look into getting new lights. PCs are not commonly used in the hobby anymore because they aren't very good compared to the other types of lighting out there -- LEDs, metal halide and T5s are the most commonly used. Check out this article:

https://www.livingreefs.com/lighting-101-a-t41427.html
 
I used to have the same lighting on a 20 gallon tank and I had good luck with mushrooms, zoanthids, green star polyps and xenia. All are pretty easy to keep and are usually less expensive.
 
I read Lighting 101. So should I scrap the 4 T12's that came with my 30 gallon tank. Its time to repalce the bulbs before I put coaral in, Would a 4-6 bulb T5 fixture be sufficient or break the bank for a MH 2 bulbT5 setup.
 
n2b8u said:
I read Lighting 101. So should I scrap the 4 T12's that came with my 30 gallon tank. Its time to repalce the bulbs before I put coaral in, Would a 4-6 bulb T5 fixture be sufficient or break the bank for a MH 2 bulbT5 setup.
Click to expand...

30g is like 16 inches deep I think right? A 4 bulb t5 fixture would be great for that, should be able to keep pretty much anything you want under it.
 
n2b8u said:
I read Lighting 101. So should I scrap the 4 T12's that came with my 30 gallon tank. Its time to repalce the bulbs before I put coaral in, Would a 4-6 bulb T5 fixture be sufficient or break the bank for a MH 2 bulbT5 setup.
Click to expand...

A 4 or 6 bulb T5 fixture would work perfectly. Just make sure it has individual reflectors for the bulbs and you're good to go
 

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