Interested in hard coral...

[EliWhitney314]

but I have no idea what species are good for beginners. I wanted brain coral and mushroom coral and wanted any advice you guys could give me. I know that those are both difficult coral but I like a challenge.:mrgreen:

 

[bjohanson1234]

Mushrooms are a soft coral and very easy to keep.

I have never had a brain soI am not sure on that one

 

[EliWhitney314]

I thought mushroom coral was soft. I need to stop getting advice from the kid at work. haha

 

[Rcpilot]

Mushrooms are soft corals. So are xenia and kenya weeds.

Hard Corals:
Brains, acans, hammers, candy canes, favia are all LPS - Large Polyp Stoney

Acros, montis etc are SPS - Small Polyp Stoney

 

[EliWhitney314]

could I get lps in a 35?

 

[EliWhitney314]

What about bubble coral?

 

[daugherty]

that is a lps hard coral they are not that hard to care for as long as you got good lights for them

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

It depends on your lighting and helps if you have an established tank, 4+ months, so that your params are stable.

Most LPS need moderate lighting

SPS need strong lighting. A lot of people prefer MH or HQI lighting for SPS but others have been succesful with T5's.

 

[EliWhitney314]

I think I'm getting a 250 watt halide light

 

[daugherty]

that will be fine but you need to wait a few months with the tank running before you even think about adding corals.

 

[EliWhitney314]

will do

 

[sen5241b]

Don't think about hard corals until you can keep nitrates and phosphates at zero.

 

[dcantucson]

+1 Sen

 

[EliWhitney314]

Okely Dokely

 

[sen5241b]

On the other hand there are some corals that tolerate modest 'trates. Just don't want you to pay good money for something that will die. Not too long ago my phosphates rose just a tidbit (not even 1 ppm!) and my hard corals started dying fast. I got the situation under control in time.

 

[daugherty]

Don't think about hard corals until you can keep nitrates and phosphates at zero.

not true. prob 98% of people cannot keep them at zero plus some corals do better with some nutrient in the water how do the filter feed plakentan if there is not nutrients to grow the plakentan? there are ultra low nutrienent systems and they face there own battles with different kinds of alage that thrive in that clean enviroment

 

[Bifferwine]

Most corals will be just fine as long as your nitrates are below 20. It is nearly impossible to keep nitrates at zero for most people, and I think that's an unrealistic expectation to ask of someone before they get corals.

 

[Melosu58]

Most corals will be just fine as long as your nitrates are below 20. It is nearly impossible to keep nitrates at zero for most people, and I think that's an unrealistic expectation to ask of someone before they get corals.

I totally agree. The goal is 0 but as long as they are under 20 you should be OK. I would wait 4 months as mentioned above to get stability out of your water parameters.

 

[yote]

About the only corals that really REQUIRE 0 nitrates are some of the SPS corals.
A lot of the soft corals,will actually do better with some testable nitrates and phosphates.

 

[JAG107]

I think a minute amount of nitrate is actually a little beneficial to SPS, and definitely to other coral types. If it's 1 ppm or less, IMHO that's pretty good. I agree with Biff on the under 20ppm, especially for a beginner. That would be a realistic goal to achieve before trying corals.
Brains are probably not the best beginner coral. Mushrooms, leathers, and maybe candy cane for an LPS would be a good starter.
And nobody with a tank less than a year old is gonna have zero phosphates, unless there is no feeding going on or any fish. If you see algae, you got phos! Yeah, 1ppm phos is gonna kill your SPS big time. The Salifert kit says growth retardation occurs at/around 0.25ppm. I hit 0.5 last fall and had some disappointing losses as a result. Just my opinion...