Xenia Coral

[$eaba$$]

Hi,

I was just wondering if xenia coral would do ok in my tank. My tank is a 20 gallon tall tank with 55 watts of compact fluorescent lighting. I have a DIY hood with two 20 watt coralife mini compact fluorescent 50/50 bulbs with 50% 10,000K lighting and 50% Actinic lighting and in addition to that I have a normal 15 watt fluorescent strip light that is 10,000K. My water params are as follows: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, <5 nitrates (I have some chaetomorpha in the tank), 8.3 pH, 1.023 sg, and 0 phsophates.

Thanks!

[InTr4nceWeTrust]

I don't think they would do well. Xenia is listed as a "high light" coral.

[RiVerfishgirl]

They might stay alive, they won't really grow much if at all.

[$eaba$$]

all right. Are there any corals that I could keep alive with these lights and have them stay happy? Right now I have a bunch of shrooms and they are doing great and growing a lot.

[InTr4nceWeTrust]

zoas should do well. at least all right. sun polyps don't do photosynthesis so they'll do great. but because they don't use light for food, you'll need to hand feed them. I've also heard LPS coral will do fine in lower lighting settings.

[$eaba$$]

alright I'd rather not hand feed. What kind of cheap and colorful zoas or lps would work well in this tank?

[Grins]

I don't think they would do well. Xenia is listed as a "high light" coral.

I consider it more of a moderate to high light species.

[Grins]

alright I'd rather not hand feed. What kind of cheap and colorful zoas or lps would work well in this tank?

I'd stick to zoas and mushrooms personally.

[Catpicklesdog]

^^Agreed^^

If you get several different varieties/colours of zoas they can look quite dramatic when they eventually grow together. I've got quite a few myself and they're just starting to spread enough to blend. If I remember rightly Grins also has a "zoa garden".

This is what I've done

[Grins]

The trick to zoas is what CPD has just shown, they are most dramatic when placed near contrasting ones. It is the garden affect that many find so appealing.

[$eaba$$]

alright so what type of zoas do you think would do good in my tank? Do you think they would just survive or would they do really well in my tank? Where can I get zoas for cheap? (corals are really expensive...) Would they most likely thrive as my mushrooms are doing or do they require more light?

[InTr4nceWeTrust]

There's a lot of types of zoas. You'll have to look up which ones you like and see their light requirements. It's really up to you. Some zoas will do really well in your tank. Others will do okay but not show all the brightest colors they're capable of. Don't know about cheap zoas unless you live in Southern California.

[Andrew_Murphy]

If you had the Xenia in the top half of the tank it should do alright. It may not spread at plague like proportions as in most tanks with higher wattages but with 55 watts of 50/50 it will survive.

If not go for zoas.

[Grins]

Don't worry about types of zoas...just buy what appeals to you and is a reasonable price. So many of the names you see are just made up ones by the seller and meaingless. Also consider palys which are similiar but larger and tend to grow faster.