easy hardy corals

[megos1]

hey guys!

i'm new to keeping corals, but well seasoned at sw tanks and fw tanks and i have a couple of questions...

i recently set up a 29 gallon tank that i plan on making a reef tank. i was wondering what you guys suggest for hardy corals to start with.

i have power compacts (coralife 50/50)
also, there are two power heads in the tank and a cascade 1200 canister filter, protien skimmer is on the way

the tank is only two weeks old (i scored some beautiful live rock off my boyfriend and it's cured and about 4 or 5 years old) and i have live sand!!

thanks guys!!!!!!!!!

 

[roka64]

What is the total Wattage of your lights?

 

[austinsdad]

Shrooms, zoos, ricordias, leathers for a few.

So what are your lights 2x65w maybe?

Pick up a copy of Eric Borneman's "Corals, Selection, Husbandry, and Natural History" for some decent info on the wide variety or corals.

 

[melosu58]

Every coral in my signature is a easy hardy coral. It also a medium light tank.

 

[lando]

We do need to know the wattage and type of your lighting to make some good recommendations. Most Zoas, mushrooms, leathers, polyps and LPS corals will do great under CF or VHO lighting.

 

[megos1]

130 total watts ... i appreciate all of your suggestions and i'll definately check out that book!! thanks!

 

[lando]

130 total watts ...

With 130watt of CF you sould be fine.

 

[neilster1]

At two weeks in you aren't even cycled yet... I hope you don't have fish in there. Wait until your cycle is done before you add anything.. at least 6 weeks unless you have tons of lR.

 

[megos1]

heyy i have added to the tank, a frogspawn, green star polyp, pulsing xenia, flame scallop, and algae blenny and everyone is doing fabulous.

my tank cycled quickly, i used pre-cured liverock from my boyfriends mature tank, so there wasn't much of a cycle but i've been testing my water regularly and everythings perfect.

 

[austinsdad]

Sounds like fun.

But sorry to tell you that flame scallop probably won't last IMO. Neat critter though.

 

[roka64]

But sorry to tell you that flame scallop probably won't last IMO. Neat critter though.

I agree with this. I have wanted one but have heard they don't last too long. Hopefully you can keep it alive.

 

[tecwzrd]

Flame Scallops are amazing and my lfs always has them in stock for $10 or less. I haven't seen one dead yet but all their reef tanks are very mature.

In a new tank I'm afraid it's just a matter of time before you loose it

 

[Squado]

I just placed an order in for an electric flame scallop from my lfs. I've had my tank up and running for about 8 months now and the water parameters are very pretty much stable. Should I go for it or wait a little longer? The only reason why I ask is that I was told that they have short life spans and are hard to keep at times...

 

[lando]

Flames do have a very poor survival rate in captivity. They re very heavy filter feeders and often require a lot of phytoplankton to survive. The down side is that feeding that much can cause water parameters to decline. The best thing to do is to take a 2 liter or 20oz. (depending on size of the flame) pop bottle bisect it about a third of the way down from the top. You will end up with a "funnel" of sorts. Place the large open end over the scallop and use a syringe to squirt filter feeding food into the drinking hole of the bottle. This will allow the water around the scallop to be contained and saturated with food. I am a fan of DT's live plankton. www.dtsplankton.com