Corals?

Stony corals and the soft corals with sclerites (small calcium support structures) will uptake calcium from the water.

Some reef tanks may require calcium supplemention due to the high rate of calcification occuring among the corals (i.e., calcium consumption being greater than calcium replenishment via water changes).

Most corals are photosynthetic (or more accurately, the symbiotic zooxanthellae they host are) and obtain what they need via light (PC, T5HO, VHO, MH). Some corals require lots of intense lighting to satisfy their needs. Others can get by on indirect low or moderate lighting.

Corals are also capable of consuming particles as small as microscopic dissolved organics to stuff as large as krill (depending on the coral). Many of my corals are spot fed mysis shrimp. Those that eat larger food items are usually equipped with feeder tentacles.

There are a number of non-photosynthetic corals as well. These require regular feeding for successful sustainment. Some of these can be difficult to keep.
 
thanks i just wanted to know if i would need to get them anything special, cept calcium supps.
 
Weekly 10% WC should be sufficient to provide trace elements unless you end up going with a lot of SPS. Is your fixture the standard fluorescent one that came with the tank? If so, you will need to upgrade that to at least power compacts to have really any coral except for a non-photo coral which will require being fed microplankton and that could foul your tank real quick without a skimmer. As mentioned, most NP corals can be difficult to keep.

Some other pics

Chalice (right)

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Acan (left), Frogspawn (right), Duncan background

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thanks for the help. I will be upgrading my light, just need to do some measurements. What kind of light is the best? For a generic top piece.
 
ive read about BIRDS NEST CORALS and am wondering if they are to hard for a newb like me. Are they?
 
anyone? I could really use some advice here. Thanx in advance.
 
Birdsnest are one of the easier SPS corals but you still need good water, moderate to high flow and a fairly strong light. You can do T5s but it the coral will need to be high in order to thrive. I recommend starting off with LPS corals. Current makes some nice lights for reasonable $. The Sundial is a 4 bulb fixture with built in timers and LED moonlights. Very convenient with only 1 power cord. The Nova Extreme I believe now has individual reflectors which will provide a bit more light into the tank than the Sundial but you will lose some of the convenience. There are a lot of options out there between Power Compacts, T5HO, LED, Halide and many combinations of the two. Just depends on your budget and what you want to keep.

You can get a less expensive fixture or go with a 2 bulb T5HO but if you are wanting a reef, the light is not something you want to skimp on.

Edit: Ace said it much better than I did. Get the equipment you need for your tank to be healthy before buying corals.
 
First, spend your $ on the right equipment before you even think of buying any corals other than mushrooms and xenia. The light you have is beyond "low" light, it is practically no light as far as corals are concerned. You will need a new light, good protein skimmer, and a media reactor with good media.

Next, invest in good testing items like Salifert test kits and something like a Hanna Phosphate meter if your planning on doing SPS corals like Birdsnest. SPS corals really don't like phosphates above .05 and test kits won't show you levels that low, you need a $200+ meter to tell you that.

Believe me, this is coming from experience... I, like so many others, went the wrong route in the beginning, bought corals before I even had a clue what was involved with that, and killed them all many times over. If I would have spent the $ up front on the proper things I would have saved thousands of dollars in the long run.
 
Ok... well.... i guess i will need to wait on the corals till i save up some major $$$, i was thinking get a test kit, better light, and ill be fine for coral, all under $150. I think ill stick with fish until i get my funding (AKA DAD/MOM) up and running, and maybe get a job at the LFS b4 i go coral. Thanks for the help though ill be copying this whole thread for when i get corals.
 
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