Help

[HeatherLynn]

im new to reefing and i was wondering what reef or corals should i start out with as my first plant?

 

[hoopsdaddy]

I am just guessing that your 10 years of experience in the saltwater hobby has been in a fish only or FOWLER tank. If that is the case then I would start by reading everything you can get your hands on about reef keeping. There is tons of great stuff out there, and much of it is available under the articles section on this site.

What type of fish do you already have?
What type of lighting do you have?
What are the water parameters of your tank?

With this info we can give you some great suggestions to get started with.

 

[Smitty]

+1 Hoops...the only thing we could suggest at this point are soft corals, but we'll need more info about your tank.

 

[LunaLaFee]

If you are a beginner i recommend cladiella or palythoa. But be careful with the second one as the protopalythoa species are known for producing palytoxin - so handle it with care and don pour ur hands into the water if u have wounds.

 

[Bifferwine]

Corals aren't plants -- they are animals.

Good beginner corals are mushrooms, zoanthids and leathers. You do need proper (reef) lighting to keep those, though, so as others have pointed out, we will need more details on your set up.

 

[LunaLaFee]

Is it really 10 yrs that you are dealing with marine aquariums? :P

 

[HeatherLynn]

ive had fish tanks for 10 years, i have three in my room right now. ive never really done corals and reefs but now im interested in them so this is my first one. in my tank i have some clownfish, a molly, and a bar goby right now.

 

[HeatherLynn]

the tank is a 55gal with an overflow box and day/night 10k coralife lights

 

[cvcdrk]

How much live rock/sand? You need a high flow rate, too. 20x-40x your tank size.

I think I will be getting some nice zoas which are easy to care for and mushrooms. Leathers are a good option too in the beginning. Then you will be able to advance into LPS corals and maybe even SPS corals.

Good luck!

 

[HeatherLynn]

i have about 30lbs of rock and 10lbs of sand, maybe more. and thank you for your help!

 

[motorcyclereefer]

With the lighting you have I would maybe just add some mushrooms like Bifferwine has said.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Yeah I was planning on getting some. I just needed to know where to start.

 

[ErinCahir]

Mollies are meant to be brackish water fish... YES they can survive in a saltwater tank... but it's really not healthy for them. Just my two cents.

 

[cvcdrk]

I dont think its been touched on but youre probably going to need more than 10lbs of sand for a 55g tank. I have 30 lbs in my 29g right now and thats about a 1 inch sandbed. Im not even sure if 10lbs would completely cover the bottom of a 55g.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I have more than that I don't know an exact number that's not my issue. And my Molly has been in my saltwater tank for a year and is doing better in this tank then he was in my freshwater tank.

 

[HeatherLynn]

I have about a inch and a half sand bed

 

[little_fish]

Its not really important how much sand you have as long as you dont have more than 2 or 3 inches. I had just enough sand to cover the bottom on my tank.

 

[HeatherLynn]

Yeah I mean I was just wondering what people thought I should start out with as far as corals and reefs

 

[Bifferwine]

Again, it depends on what kind of lights you have. I don't believe you have answered that question. Lighting is of utmost importance when keeping corals. If you do not have the correct type of lighting, you can't keep them. So it's hard to give an answer if we don't know what lights you have.