Coral ideas?

[kwsm]

Seems like every time we buy a new coral, it looks so much better at the store. We get it home and it looks blah and brown under our lighting. They're all healthy and happy but look a little drab.

Current corals:

Zoas
Green Star Polyps
Green Mushrooms
Frogspawn
Huge colony of Palys

Lighting:

4 bulb 65W T5's with reflectors



Looking for an idea for a less than boring coral that doesn't have a ridiculously high care requirement. We both work practically nonstop in the summer and after the loss of 2 fish a while back, haven't added anything new for lack of time.


Any ideas?


Also is there anything we can do or change (save for a new lighting fixture) that will make the corals look a little closer to the nice bright colors at the LFS?

 

[ggNoRe]

Well my obvious first thought was it's probably because they have 14K or 20K MH's. However since you noted changing your light fixture was out of the question, I would suggest maybe switching out bulbs towards a more actinic spectrum. If changing bulbs is also something you wouldn't like to do you can always focus on creating a better environment for your coral. Things you are probably already aware of such as water changes, running carbon, increasing flow, etc. as happy corals tend to be a little more vibrant. Corals I have that are extremely bright and actually glow even in the daytime are my kryptonite candy canes. So as for new vibrant colored corals I would suggest some type of LPS like the candy canes. Or maybe even a clam if you think your tank can meet the lighting and water parameter needs they too exuviate color. Hope this helps!

 

[reeffreak]

I hope you meant 54w T5 bulbs.They don't make 65w T5 bulbs,those would be PC bulbs.Acans,blastos,brains and many zoas that come in wild colors.

I'm not sure what fixture you have but it can be as simple as replacing the bulbs.The great thing about T5's is there are tons of bulb choices that can make corals really ''pop''.

 

[Bifferwine]

+1 Reeffreak. Are they PC lights or T5?

Either way, buy some ricordeas. Super easy, and they look fantastic. This is a good site to order them from:

Coral Morphologic - Live Corals

Their "mixed bag" of ricordeas is the cheapest you will find them online.

 

[kwsm]

Yeah I know the LFS has better lighting, I was just seeing if maybe I could change the bulbs to make the bright greens show up a bit more. Water quality isn't a problem.

And apparently I'm dumb and they're PCs, not T5's. No idea why I typed T5's....

 

[Bifferwine]

Unfortunately you are a little bit more limited in bulb choices for PCs than for T5s, but you can still get some different colored bulbs. How many of your bulbs right now are daylight (white) and how many are actinic (blue)?

 

[kwsm]

Unfortunately you are a little bit more limited in bulb choices for PCs than for T5s, but you can still get some different colored bulbs. How many of your bulbs right now are daylight (white) and how many are actinic (blue)?

2 and 2.

 

[reeffreak]

I wouldn't know where to begin when it comes to choosing PC bulbs.All I ever seen were,10000k,6500k,blue(460/470nm) and purple(420nm) bulbs.The choices are very limited.There really aren't any bulbs that can make corals really ''pop'.You could try replacing the blues with a bulb half blue and half purple.

 

[kwsm]

Maybe I'll just sneak in a MH fixture and stop whining... >_>

 

[dcantucson]

Maybe I'll just sneak in a MH fixture and stop whining... >_>

Good idea. :Cheers:Then you could keep anything.