beginner corals

[aussiedogs]

I just started a JBJ 30 gal rimless reef tank with an SK-45 skimmer, Pacifica 108W led light, and ocean pulse wave maker. I am using RO water and instant ocean salt, I am not a beginner to salt water. I have a 90 gal fish only tank running also.

 

I just got it cycling today and I was wondering what would be some good beginner corals. I have been reading things online and dont know what to make of it. I would guess with a small tank you would want slow growing corals and also would I need a power head or would i have enough flow with the wave maker since the tank comes with 2 pumps already. Also how many seconds would you set the wave maker on?

 

Thanks

 

 

[patback]

Can't help with thewavemaker, but as for corals look at live aquaria.com. Not necessarily their beginners section, but click through all of their different types. They are listed as their care level and live aquaria is pretty accurate. I would suggest zoas, mushrooms, leathers, acans, favias, and if you want sps, birds nests and montis to start.

And welcome to nanoreef.

[aussiedogs]

Thank you!

[najluni15]

Set wavemaker to like 30 seconds and then get an mp-10, jebao powerhead or even a koralia nano for extra flow

[12_egg_Omelette]

I would suggest staying away from leathers as their defense is chemical warfare compared to sweepers. How on top of your parameters are you going to be. Keeping a mixed reef is not the easiest thing to do as one usually thrives at the others expense. I'm assuming you'll want to start off with LPS.

 

Have you found a couple pictures of people's tanks you like. People seem to usually be driven to certain types of corals. I would stay away from Acroporas and NPS. Acroporas SPS are just fast reactors to subtle changes. I just had an $80 frag crap out on me overnight. NPS army as sensitive in that sense. But sun corals for instance need to have every mouth fed.

 

Palys are very hardly most of the time pack a great punch but can grow very fast which is kinda an annoyance as well. I'm a big fan of richordias. Zoas can be finicky as well and not open for a while, try to avoid single polyps as their growth seems to be exponential.

 

Invest in coral ex and dip everything no matter who you get it form, every time no exception. For SPS dipping multiple times a week is a must to ensure no AEFW make it on and that you get any eggs that might have survived the first round of dipping (not coral rx).

[ndrobey]

Start with things that are hard to kill and are inexpensive, like mushrooms, palythoas, zoanthids.

[VW_TDI_02]

Pretty much what the omelette said. There are a bunch of cheaper zoas that you can get with 6 polyps for like $10. I would look at saltcritters.com for some easy and cheap zoas. They aren't going to have the name brand and super expensive stuff but they have great corals and amazing prices. They go on sale pretty often as well. Here are a few easy corals that I started out with:

 

Softies:

Zoas, palys, kenya tree, ricordea mushrooms (florida ones look great)

 

LPS:

Acan lords, hammers, torches, octospawn, frogspawn. Pretty much euphyllia corals in general are usually pretty easy. Just watch out for brown jelly disease.

 

SPS:

Monti caps and birdsnest.

[HIppieRose]

I am still a beginner. Mushrooms, Polys, torches and finger leather have all worked for me. Every zoas I have tried have died. No idea why. Watch out on the polys mine need regular trimming to keep from taking over the tank. lol But they are worth the trouble.

Once the GHA explosion is taken care of I plan to try some ricordea for more color.

[Exodus]

Keep in mind with LPS though many are very easy to keep as their light demands are not hard to meet, they like little flow and usually placed at the bottom the "Do" however suck up the Alkalinity, using Instant Ocean salt you want to keep an eye on those parameters. (Instant Ocean is tried and true) but they also make Reef Crystals geared towards the Reef aspect rather than Fish Only.

[pntbll687]

Pretty much what the omelette said. There are a bunch of cheaper zoas that you can get with 6 polyps for like $10. I would look at saltcritters.com for some easy and cheap zoas. They aren't going to have the name brand and super expensive stuff but they have great corals and amazing prices. They go on sale pretty often as well. Here are a few easy corals that I started out with:

 

Softies:

Zoas, palys, kenya tree, ricordea mushrooms (florida ones look great)

 

LPS:

Acan lords, hammers, torches, octospawn, frogspawn. Pretty much euphyllia corals in general are usually pretty easy. Just watch out for brown jelly disease.

 

SPS:

Monti caps and birdsnest.

 

^^^^ SO MUCH THIS!!

 

I was in the same boat about a year ago. Got some zoas, pom pom xenia, and a trumpet to start. Added a hammer, gold torch, and birdsnest after a few months of nothing dying. And I rarely test chemicals, check temperature every other day, and salinity every three days or so. I just mix up water using seachem prime and instant ocean reef crystals.

 

Just add slowly and keep an eye on things. It took my birdsnest about two months to show any growth, looked terrible some days too, but it didn't look like it was wasting away and it eventually came around and is doing great.

[HarryPotter]

I am still a beginner. Mushrooms, Polys, torches and finger leather have all worked for me. Every zoas I have tried have died. No idea why. Watch out on the polys mine need regular trimming to keep from taking over the tank. lol But they are worth the trouble.

Once the GHA explosion is taken care of I plan to try some ricordea for more color.

 

Heh just fell for your signature... Tried to brush the bug off of my screen lol

[Murphs_Reef]

Heh just fell for your signature... Tried to brush the bug off of my screen lol

Hmm me too..

[HIppieRose]

Its my retaliation for those annoying car sigs.

[Hammerstone]

Me three. I was paying attention to the avatar, not the bottom of the screen lol.

[aussiedogs]

Thanks for all the input