first coral?

[Ctlongreef33]

looking for suggestions as to what coral would be the best to try as my first one in this tank, something cheap, something hardy, have good lighting and good flow, what do ya all think'?
also is anyone in the CT Mass area and if so are there any decent stores to get LR or corals from?
thanks

 

[ohio reefer]

ctlongreef.

I'm pretty new at this too, but when your tank is ready for them, check out liveaquaria.com. they use a chart to descibe the difficulty, water tolerance, and aquarium requirements. not to mention they are pretty cheap and they have a good warrenty.

hth
mark

 

[BBReef]

shrooms are always good to start out with. they are for the most part hardy and will do well in newer tanks. softies and lps would also be ok. id stay away from sps untill you get more experienced and have all the prpoer lighting etc. my first corals were mushrooms, a torch, candy coral, a devils hand, hammer corals, and frogspawn; all frags, and are all thriving in my tank.

like mentioned above, check out www.liveaquaria.com and look at all the different corals for ideas. and although they have a lot of good information, not all of it is accurate so be sure to do other research as well.

HTH

 

[captivereefs]

Zoanthids would also work well. Or any other polyp for that matter.



Darin


www.captivereefsc.com

 

[loganj]

I agree with BBreef and Darin about the shrooms and zoos. Shrooms can be in the lower parts of the tank...they don't need so much light. The zoos will thrive in a higher light environment so you might put them closer to the top. Yellow polyps (parazoanthus, I think) would be good also. A couple of other corals that you might want to try are a cladiella (often sold as a "colt") or any of the sinularias (usually called "finger leathers"). Both of these are hardy and will adapt to most tank conditions. Be warned that the cladiellas will grow fast and get large though. Another one you might try is a ricordia. They are similar to mushrooms in appearance although they like a little more light than most shrooms.

 

[ddcboys]

shrooms are the best to learn on

 

[ReefLady]

Although I agree with the above suggestions as far as hardiness, etc., I'd tend to look more toward what you intend to eventually keep in the tank.

If you want an LPS-dominated tank, start with a Fox coral (Nemenzophyllia), or Open Brain (Trachyphyllia), or a Trumpet or CandyCane (Caulastrea sp.). Most LPS are not difficult to keep, as long as you provide good water quality, medium lighting, and stable ca/alk parameters.

If you think you want your tank to be a 'shroom/polyp/softy reef, then by all means, start out with some mushrooms, polyps, a Colt or Leather coral.

However, if you intend this to some day be an sps dominated reef, be careful with the mushroom/polyp choices. One of the worst mistakes I ever made was trying to use rock from our old 75g softy tank to establish our 180g sps reef. A couple stray 'shrooms and Green Star Polyps hitchhiked along, and now I find myself battling them back on an almost daily basis.

It can be done - the 'shrooms, polyps, etc. can be kept on isolated rocks. Just know that there is a potential for them to turn into a "weed".

s anyone in the CT Mass area and if so are there any decent stores to get LR or corals from?

Where in CT are you? If you're willing to drive a bit further north, I could offer you a good deal on a frags. I have large Colt & Brown Finger Leather frags, Gorgonians, red 'shrooms, hairy mushrooms, a couple small Trumpet frags, zoanthids (2-3 different kinds), button polyps, and Orange ricordea. I'd be willing to sell them to you pretty cheaply - with my new work hours, shipping has become next to impossible, and I want to get rid of all the softies and change the prop. tank over to sps only. PM me if you have any interest.

 

[cj10488]

Man Reeflady I wish I lived close to you.. I would love to take you up on some of them however I am on the West Coast and thats a bit of a drive..

James

 

[ReefLady]

Road trip!

Seriously though, if you're interested, let me know - if I can come up with a day over the next week or so that I can escape early, I might be able to ship. Shipping $$ is cruddy though - not sure if it would negate any potentials savings. PM if you're interested.