My first attempt at keep corals :)

[jamesH]

My tiny 8 gal to try out some little corals

 

[carey]

Looks awesome so far! I love the blue!

 

[jamesH]

Thanks! Fish only guy slowly edging to reef :£

 

[carey]

Some people would disagree, but in my opinion and experience it seems corals are much easier than fish! LOL Of course Ihave loads more corals than actual fish so maybe I'm biased. hehe...

What do you plan on starting with?

 

[jamesH]

Well good question i don't really no corals to well so I got as far as some hermit crabs turbo snails mushrooms and a sea cucumber lfs say I could have a small pair of clowns in there but I think the tanks to small what are ur opinions and suggestions??

 

[carey]

I would for sure NOT put a pair of clowns in an 8g tank. Way too small.

 

[jamesH]

Well that was my thinking! They have the same tank set up in there shop with a pair of clowns in! What sort of coral could I have in a 8gal? And mayb somethink to keep the gravel clean?

 

[davidmaguirre]

Start out with some soft corals such as muchrooms and if u want work your way up depending on the watts of your tank light.. by the way how many watts are you running? About any aquarium light should produce enough watts for you too keep anything in that tank because of its size..

 

[Hinds04]

I would get some zoanthids and mushrooms.

 

[carey]

Yep, start with some zoo'as and some shrooms. Lots of color, easy and cheap. Can't go wrong with that. lol

Maybe if the light is good enough you can get some LPS corals too, like a hammer or some candycanes(trumpets) in smaller pieces. I had them in my pico and they did very well.

 

[jamesH]

I have two t5 11 watt bulbs one white one blue will this be ok?

 

[davidmaguirre]

Yea that should be ok but for harder corals I believe its 3 watts per gallon I could be wrong though..

 

[carey]

How big is the tank? Are you sure its a t5? I;ve never seen an 11 watt bulb in either T5 or T8. What kind of fixture is it? It could be a special brand that requires special bulbs.

 

[Greenturtle]

I'm still scared of zoas, as they are poisonous, and if I have to frag one one day...

 

[carey]

Just wear gloves, thats my plan. Plus I ordered some coral tools and one is a long set of tweezer like things so I dont even have to touch them really.

 

[Greenturtle]

I know, I will still get them, but small colonies all zoas have the same care requirements right? And with button polyps?

 

[scottayy]

Wow, I didn't know this! Good thing I know now. I'll get some gloves and some goggles or a face mask lol.

But can it be in the water too? Cuz I always have scratches on my arms and if I stick my arm all the way down in there....

 

[jamesH]

It's 30 litters so around. 8 gal. Well I was told by lfs that's what the are but I'm out of my depth when it comes to lights so maybe you could tell me if the pics

 

[carey]

Oh, they arent t5's they are compact flourescents.

They shoudl be fine for that tank size and many easy to care for corals.

 

[jamesH]

Well the plan is as many mushrooms as I can fit in few hermits somethink thats small but good at cleaning (haven't worked that one out yet) and some frags of some kind. Tanks just about cycled now so a pwc today and test 2mora and might be able to start adding do you think mushrooms first?? Do you add corals like fish one at time?