Good Reef Corals to start with?

[Tank2379]

What would be good reef corals to start with? In the next 4 months or so my tank should be established enough were I will want to start adding anemone's and other marine life to spice up my LR.... First off what should my parameters should be before i am able to put coral fags or anemone in my tank what SG range should it be at i heard 1.024 is great for them but not really sure if thats going to be to high..... let me know whats the best way to start off I want to get a head start so i am ready and know what to pick out when i am ready to purchase my first corals.... let me know...


Thanks

[Chisel]

Mushrooms are absolutely the easiest for a beginner coral.

[CaPoNe]

i agree with chisel mushrooms are always one of the starter soft corals if you will, kinda like a damsel in a sense. Hardy pretty self sufficient. (still have to feed) It will get you in the right direction. Also saw the helmet, how bout them bucs huh?? Everybody wants to doubt them this year idk why.. Im not gona talk crap though that was an amazing game two amazing football teams and it was just a good show, the bucs just happen to win. But i congrats the Bears Defense just because its simply amazing!!

[MsBeanCtr]

It might be easier to suggest if you mention what kind of lighting you have.

I agree that mushrooms are good starters. Perhaps devil's hand or a nice long polyped leather. I only mention softies here 'cause I don't happpen to know what your lighting is.

[Tank2379]

Oh not even enough lighting yet I only have a Sinlge stripe light 40watts coral life 10,000k High Intensity Bulb light for now... But but the time I get ready to get coral I should have my 436 watt lighting fixture by then.... Right now My coraline is growing like crazy for some odd reason with such super low lighting........ I thought I needed more lighting for it but once I replace my lighting it just starting growning more and more.... And right now I don't have a calcium test to even test my level I hope it not 2 high.....

[Tank2379]

Originally Posted by CaPoNe

Also saw the helmet, how bout them bucs huh?? Everybody wants to doubt them this year idk why.. Im not gona talk crap though that was an amazing game two amazing football teams and it was just a good show, the bucs just happen to win. But i congrats the Bears Defense just because its simply amazing

Yeah all i got to say is we should be 3-0 right now Hands down.... But The bears are who we thought they were...... lol...

[melosu58]

Mushrooms, Yellow polyps, button polyps, finger leather, bubble coral. That should be a good start. If you need to see pics of them look in my gallery.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Coralline will grow (and seems to thrive) in pretty low light. My best coralline growth is down low in my tank. The worst is high up in my tank.

Agree that it's tough to kill mushrooms. No need to feed them though - they'll get what they need from the water and lighting. Zoanthids, leathers, and many of the euphyllia species (torch, frogspawn, hammer) are also pretty easy to maintain corals. Sounds like once you get your new fixture, you'll be able to put anything in your tank.

Just be aware that anemones are not really "easy" corals and 4 months is still a pretty "new" tank for them. I know I'm probably just repeating what you've already heard a million times. Also be aware that anemones can and will roam your tank and if it's filled with corals you might lose some if the anemone decides it'd rather live where one of your coral lives.

Regarding water parameters, sg of 1.024-1.026 would be good as well as calcium above 380 and alkalinity between 8-12 dkH. Temperature should be stable and somewhere between 77 and 80. Nitrates below 10, but honestly they should be as close to zero as possible. Phosphates below 0.03, but again... they should be as close to zero as possible.

[Chisel]

Quick hijack here.. (but still on topic)

Are there any "must have" supplements/foods for these beginner corals? I know that some require phytoplankton.

[Kurt_Nelson]

In my opinion, no. Euphyllia can benefit though from pieces of mysis shrimp or other meaty food.

[ccCapt]

Depending on many things, including the type of coral and the salt used, there may be no need for any supplements. Proper maintenance with partial water changes may be all that's needed. Again, depending on the corals, you may need to supplement calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. IME, nothing else needs to be supplemented.
FWIW, I never directly fed or bought any food for any corals.

[melosu58]

I dont supplement anything. Most corals get what they need through the lighting and water column.

[Tank2379]

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

Just be aware that anemones are not really "easy" corals and 4 months is still a pretty "new" tank for them. I know I'm probably just repeating what you've already heard a million times. Also be aware that anemones can and will roam your tank and if it's filled with corals you might lose some if the anemone decides it'd rather live where one of your coral lives.

How long before Anemone could be establish in a tank?

[Chisel]

I added mine at the 4 month mark and I might be regretting it. See my other post in the sick section of SW. But this could just be because of how small it is compared to my clown and getting beat up.

[Kurt_Nelson]

Originally Posted by Tank2379

How long before Anemone could be establish in a tank?

All I know is that they want stable parameters, and I think back on my tank at 4 months as I was trying to get my ca/alk numbers a little better in anticipation of adding coral. Things were anything but stable. Not saying that would be your case, but I just know that many folks just starting out think they're tank is "stable" only to look back a year down the road and chuckle.

I don't do anemones, but the normal time period I've heard that kind of makes sense is 8-12 months.

[Tank2379]

Originally Posted by Kurt_Nelson

All I know is that they want stable parameters, and I think back on my tank at 4 months as I was trying to get my ca/alk numbers a little better in anticipation of adding coral. Things were anything but stable. Not saying that would be your case, but I just know that many folks just starting out think they're tank is "stable" only to look back a year down the road and chuckle.

I don't do anemones, but the normal time period I've heard that kind of makes sense is 8-12 months.

I shall wait the 8-12 months then... But if i feel like my water parameters are stable enough before hand I try to take a crack at them.... but i would defenitly make sure my parameters are stable before anything that would require high mantience....

[fijiwigi]

I started by placing a $250 order online got lots of polyps a ricordea and a favia brain coral. and some inverts I was really dissapointed at first because everything was shriveled up and I was like I spent over $200 on that?? but a week or so later when everything opened up I was really amazed. Especially with my green Ricordea its perhaps my favorite. then MsbeanCtr sent a fragged frogspawn and hammer coral in trade for a sump and all of my stuff is doing Awesome with no issues at all. Except I did order some mushrooms and they floated away and died somewhere if you get shrooms get a few that are already attached to a rock.

[CaPoNe]

i Feed my Corals plankton and brine shrimp, also with there supplemented coral vitamins they are happy corals

[Tank2379]

Quick ? Will Zoanthids Survive in low light? One of my buddy wanted to give me a few off of his reef and I told him I only have 40watts of light he said it should be fine as long as I keep them closer to the light? Should I take them or just wait?

[Tank2379]

Any one?