Lighting, what corals to get?

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DragonForce

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Sep 9, 2005
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Right now I have 28W t5 acintic, and 175w 10k MH in a 37 gal tall tank suspended maybe 6-8 inches off the water. As far as corals go, what would I be able to have in my tank? Currently I have some pulsing Xenia, red and blue shrooms, and frogspawn which is placed high in the tank that seems to be doing excellent. Also what anemones would be suitable for me? TIA
 
if I remember right you have a fairly new setup right?
how long has it been setup?
most will tell you to wait on the anemones..
if frogspawn is doing well.. hammer coral isnt effected by its sweeper tenticals.. from what Ive read.. (they are closely related)
 
Its coming up on its second month of being up and stable(3-4 day cycle period). Ya I understand to wait a good 6 months or longer, and thats fine I can wait.
 
Typically you can really put w/e you want considering your lighting. BUT things to consider; what corals can go with the ones youve already chosen? depending on the philosophy you chose about raising corals might determine the corals you . SPS and anemones are not supposed to mix depending on the literature you read. etc etc.. Typically look at the corals you like.. the corals you want because you have enough light to do what ever you want. Go through you LFS or a coral identification book or the like and find the species you really want Then do research from there to find out compatability. then once youve figured it out go for it.
 
Considering you are in a closed system (and a small one), the water turnover rate is not going to have much impact on the chemical warfare (allelopathy) within the tank. This toxic soup is as/more dangerous than the potential physical aggression. For example, Xenia is known to have a chemical that is very damaging to various SPS corals.....something else to consider. I would be sure to have Eric Borneman's coral book which goes into some detail on coral chemical toxicity with most species.
 
so what does this tell you in easy terms? if you do put the odd specimen that may fight with each other chemically in your system, frequent H20 changes are a must
 
Having a smaller tank is going to limit you on the types of corals you get. Xenia ia nice but you should keep it off any man sections or LR, it can take over a tank fast so keeping it on the SB where it can't get to any large LR IMO is a good plan.
Corals like the Galaxea have long sweeper tentacles so they need lots of room, some reaching 8+ inches on larger corals.
My FS and hammer get along fine, they touch all day every day. But my large hammer stings my finger leather. My yellow leather is getting large and it does not get along with any thing, the kenyas sting it and it keeps the polyps in in that area.
All my zoos seem to get along, but my hairy shroon stunk the heck out of my reg shroons.
Keep doing your home work before you buy too many.
 
4enzix said:
so what does this tell you in easy terms? if you do put the odd specimen that may fight with each other chemically in your system, frequent H20 changes are a must

No, that is not what it tells you. The point is that you need to plan a system ahead of time, research each purchase, and avoid the most noted "rivalries" (some leathers and LPS, Xenia and some SPS, etc.). Even frequent water changes are not capable of making a chemical soup a good environment, not long term anyways.....especially in a small system (quick buildup).

In other words, just be responsible. You have started on a route with soft corals and LPS....I would continue this route over making a complete mixed garden reef. Shrooms are also known to be very potent chemically and the frogspawn will continue to grow (as will all the corals) so this needs to be accounted for in a small tank as well. The mentioned addition of another Euphyllia is a good idea, various LPS species could be grouped together. Or remove most of the frags and go the SPS route. There are plenty of options if you do some homework.
 
ive arleady stated that above... but im saying even with corals that arent at high risk of incompatibility if you put something like xenia in you should still maintain frequent water changes
 
personaly.. its perplexing why you invested in so much light intensity and have desided to get shrooms and the xenia both not needing near as much light as you have.. you could get a much cheaper setup to raise these IMO.
I have read alot of horror stories about xenia and planned to avoid it up front personaly.. Im sure its a fine coarl and from the others you have it seems to not be a big incompatibility issure other then it growing too close to your frogspawn..

I think it depends on wich coarls you like most.. If you like LPS coarls like the frogspawn and hammer I would go from there..

you do have the SPS option.. but as stated before it would be wise to return/sell/rehouse all but maybe the frogspawn. moving the frogspawn near the bottom in a corner maybe.. it needs to be at least 6" away from other coarls..

I was afraid to post the first time.. considering Im still just in the reasearch stage.. but you said you have a frogspawn and I happen to have desided to design my system around that particular coarls needs. I like it alot.. :p
 
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