shrimpandram
Aquarium Advice Activist
- Joined
- Mar 15, 2016
- Messages
- 141
What are some cheap and easy to take care of corals? Pictures would help
Mushroom coral, star polyps, and xenia have always been easy to rear. You'll have to give more specifics on your tank, lighting, and other equipment to see what fits your tank
Cheers,
Rexx
Excellent. So your lighting should be able to handle most corals in that type of set up. Moonlighting honestly effects very little as far as growth as far as I'm concerned (though it's controversial, but I digress)
Anyway! Do you have live sand and live rock? Live rock on its own can produce some cool coral on its own if you have good stuff. I got some neat little zoos last tank I had from Fiji LR.
Soft corals probably will do best with your lighting, though towards the top of your tank you probably can do hard coral if you have the bravery lol.
I'd stick to xenia and stars for the bottom areas, but xenia will grow about anywhere lol.
Middle ground is great for zoos and mushrooms, leather coral and trumpets.
Higher ground will be needy corals like plates, branch, staghorn, and most sps.
Like I said, softer coral is easier in the beginning and start cheap so you can learn. I always say xyz, Xenia, Yellow stars, and Zooanthids.
Cheers,
Rexx
They don't need food l, they get all the energy they need from your light. As long as the tank is cycled you can add corals
Wait until your tank is completely cycled otherwise there is a good chance everything will die and start another cycle.
You might want to get a cheap fish or some cheap snails to start adding more biology to your tank. I always say wait always least always month always tater adding fish to get coral. That way your cycle should be finished by then.
There's always different types of food to feed, my favorite is Coral Frenzy. You feed by dosing the corals themselves with a pippet/ baster type tool, or dosing the water column.
If you dose water column, I turn off the pumps for about 5 to 10 minutes while feeding and then turn them back on so the food doesn't just get sucked away.
Some corals like a dosing of brine shrimp on occasion, again best to do the direct dosing for this to be sure they are fed properly.
Be sure you look into getting the correct supplements for your corals as well, like calcium, potassium, etc.
I know this is kind of overwhelming lol I apologize, just want to set you up for success!
Depends on the size of a tank. Some corals like high flow.
My 90 gallon had 2 power heads in addition to the output from the pump.
For a tank your size, if you have a high power pump you should have plenty of flow. You'll probably see "dead zones" in your tank where detritus likes to collect. If that happens, you can always angle your output nozzle to create more flow through the tank. It's kind of one of those things you have to play with
Every system needs powerheads. It helps stabilize pH through carbon dioxide exchange as it brings in fresh oxygen. This will also prevent uneaten food and poop from settling in the tank.
Most coral benefit from water column dosing or direct dose feeding. Some coral do get most energy from lighting, but feeding doesn't hurt at all.