coral sugestions for a coral newbe

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gorfre

AC Members
Jun 24, 2009
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miramichi nb canada
hi all
can any of you give me an idea of what kind of coral i can buy for first a good start. something easy to care for and interesting to look at.
please consider that i know little about coral.
my tank is 75 gal that has both t5 and mh lighting and strong flow and 80 lbs of tonga live rock.
thank you
 

snappyguy

Keeper of the fish
Jan 12, 2009
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Houston TX
Most large polyp stony (LPS) corals are pretty good. Some good starter corals are most Favia, Favites, Duncanopsammia (duncan), Fungia, and Montastrea. I agree with the soft "corals" of zoanthids, palythoa, and mushrooms. Leather corals like Sinularia, colts, and toadstools are also quite good.
 

DSR

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Apr 10, 2009
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Tulsa, OK
Have you gone to look at some in person? LPS (e.g. duncans, acans, etc.) can be pretty hardy if water parameters are good. And they are very interesting. Zoas are lovely, but I find you really need quite a colony for the punch impact. I am a big fan of LPS and you can find some really nice pieces for a good price. Also some leathers are really nice looking. Look around find what you like and then check to see what it requires. With your lighting you shouldn't have many limitations (depending on age of tank and flow). GOod luck post pictures.
 

DSR

AC Members
Apr 10, 2009
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Tulsa, OK
zoas are always good and there are so many different varieties... that is what I really wanted when I first started setting up my tank because they were so pretty. Find yourself a nice sized colony and you will be very happy. Also, get some leathers like kenya trees or toadstools. They are very hardy and look really nice. Great corals for beginners.

If there is a reef club in your area, check it out. Reefers are always more than willing to share tips and tricks and, sometimes, they are more than happy to share some frags with a new initiate.
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
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Andrew
Can you give us a few more details about the setup? Do you know what the halide fixture is? What about lamp color (Kelvin rating), wattage, and brand? You say you have strong flow, but what exactly are you using to accomplish this (i.e. give pumps and volume ratings, if possible). The reason I ask the latter is that for some, 500 gph seems like a lot of flow, whereas others may see 10000 gph as a lot. It's just too relative.
 

gorfre

AC Members
Jun 24, 2009
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miramichi nb canada
no problem
my tank is 75 gal with a 40 gal glass sump below. quiet one 4000 return pump via 1" squid diverter. recent korilla #4 on each end 1200 gph ea and a #3 on the back center 900 gph. lights on timers 2-t5 actnic on from 7am to 7pm then 2-t5 daylite 10000k on from 10 am to 6 pm and finially 1-250w 20000k xm mh on from 12pm to 5pm. i change bulbs every 10 months. oh 80 lbs of tonga live rock. while i'm at it also a remora c pro skimmer.
also amph , i see you use tunze. why are those so much money?
are they really that much better?
 
Last edited:

Amphiprion

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Feb 14, 2007
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You do have a nice setup there. What are the water parameters? Do you add any sort of supplements?

If everything is in order, you shouldn't have trouble trying some of the hardier stony corals (or most soft corals). Things like most brain corals, bubble coral, hammer/torch/frogspawn coral, etc. would work well if the above conditions are met. You shouldn't be terribly limited at all in terms of what you can keep once you get some experience, either.
 
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