getting coral started

jessie

jessie

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Mar 3, 2004
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ok i have never bought any coral before. i have a 55 gallon that i want to upgrade later. what i was wondering is if i had an extra 29, could i start any coral at all with regular powerglow bulbs. the people at my lf say sure. but they also told me that perculas can change from sex to sex, i know they change from male to female but from what i have read once they are female they stay that way. so im not real impressed with the knowledge at my lf. is there any type of leathers i could grow with power glow bulbs? i would just like to have some coral for when i start a new tank. ill have pc lights on the new one but dont want to buy a pc for the samll tank. maybe i cant have any corals at all untill i get better lights but thats why im hear asking.
 
If you're talking about a single normal output fluorescent bulb, there aren't really any soft corals that would make it.

You could try mushrooms, which don't need as much, or non-photosynthetic corals, like sun polyps (tubastrea). With non-photosythetic corals, you have to be sure they get enough to eat, but it's possible. I have a few dozen phyllangia that have been thriving for years on whatever leftovers and larvae are floating around the tank.
 
I have a a couple of questions, please.

I have 2 mushrooms and a condylactous in my 55 with 'reefsun' flourescents. The mushrooms are on the sand and look like they are doing fine. They both ate a small piece of shrimp tonite. My question about these is should I place them higher in the tank?
The condy also ate a small piece of shrimp tonite but is very small compared to when I got it. It finally settled into a spot behind a rock although up fairly high. When I first got it, it moved all over the tank. What can I do to make my condy happier and healther?
My 2nd question has to do with an id. What I have is a creature with a flourescent orange headband with a flourescent orange triangle right in the middle of his 'forehead'. 4 grayish antanae off the top of its head and defineately 2 black colored eyes. His mouth is shaped like an upsidedown m. From what I can tell he is a whitish grey. Only comes out at night but from what I can see he does not come all the way out of his hole(which has got noticably larger) It has been suggested it is a mantis shrimp. It makes no clicking noise but he has opened his mouth at me(scared the hell out of me). Anybody have any idea what it is or a link to send me to? Thanks for the help.
 
well my girlfreind just bought me a power compact for my 55. it has 2 65w 10k flourescent, and 2 65w acentic bulbs. what kind of coral could i do with that. i have seen a few leathers i like but what about hammer toe,the little button polyps that are green in the middle. brain coral, and star polyps. are any of these an easy starter? if not what is?
 
The brain might be pusing it uless its real close to the top of the water. The hammer placed in the upper 1/4 of the tank would be fine and the leatether and polyps will all be ok with that lighting. Jsut remember that the hammer has some sweepers that can sting other nearby corals.
 
i dont plan on gettting anything for a while. i just want to make sure i get only what the tank/lights can handle. and i have to take my pc back already. one of the actentic lights didnt work. thats just my luck. what are some of the tests i should have for coral that i dont have for FO? i just want to make sure ei get into a regular routine for testing so i dont forget anything when i eventually add corals. i currently test: ph, alkalinity, specific gravity, nitrate, nitrite and im gonna get a calcium test kit this weekend. anything else i should be testing for. maybe amonia and phosphates????? im clueless on these. i would appreciate any help you can give.
 
The tests you mentioned should be fine. I use nitrate as a measure of general hygiene. Because calcium and alkalinity are being removed from the system by the corals, it's important to monitor those so that you can figure out how much to add.

Here's what I do weekly:
*specific gravity (you will want to measure more often, until you figure out how much to add to keep up with evaporation)
*pH (although I don't ever do anything about it; if alkalinity is taken care of, the pH will be fine)
*nitrate
*alkalinity
*Ca

The most important test is watching the livestock.
 
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