Where to start?

[saltwater sasquatch]

Hey everyone,
My Nova extreme HO T5 lighting fixture is on the way. I am looking for opinions on which route to start for coral. I have never done coral before, I have a well established fish only tank right now and have been patient in heading in the coral direction. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated I just want to learn. Also any tips on how to add them to the tank or maintaining them too.
Thanks everyone.

 

[OhNoNemo]

Awesome,sounds just like me a couple months ago....i have the same fixtures...i have 2 ,dual light strips for a total of 4 bulbs...what are yours??.i started with red mushrooms,i now have,purple elephant ears , rics,hammer coral,frogspawn,duncans,and cabbage leather corals...all do great under t-5's.....i'm limited however by the fish i keep too....you could get colt corals,xenia,star polyps ...there are a ton of beginner friendly great looking corals....

 

[BL1]

If it were me, I'd start with some easy soft corals like zoas, mushrooms, or ricordeas. They're all very easy to take care of and most of the time they are fairly quick growers which can be very rewarding especially when you're just starting out with corals.
As far as adding them goes, everyone has their own methods. You can either 1. add them straight to your tank (usually what I do) 2. You can float the bags to temp acclimate them (I'll do this for my more sensitive SPS) 3. You can float the bags then drip acclimate them. It's really your personally preference and what you feel most comfortable with.

 

[saltwater sasquatch]

I ordered the Nova Extreme pro 6X54 watt fixture. I figured it would be plenty of light for any route.

 

[dcantucson]

With that lighting you can keep pretty much anything.

 

[OhNoNemo]

:Cheers:,,,,ahh, yep...congrats ,go crazy:bounce:

 

[Toolman]

Xenia = Aquatic crab grass it will take over. :frustrat:

 

[PRC]

Xenia = Aquatic crab grass it will take over. :frustrat:

I don't think that's necessarily true. Ive got some Xenia in my tank. It's gotten bigger but it hasn't spread throughout the tank. I could be wrong though. Did you mis-read Xenia as Kenya?

 

[Bifferwine]

Some people have pest-like xenia in their tank. It tried to completely take over my old 240, and I have some of the same colony right now in my 90, and it stays isolated. So you never know.

I agree with the others though -- softies like zoanthids, mushrooms, ricordeas and leathers would be a great choice.

Most LPS corals are also easy, so if you like the look of those, there are a ton to choose from. Some good choices are bubble corals, frogspawn, torch, hammer, brain corals, candy canes/trumpets.

 

[OhNoNemo]

Xenia = Aquatic crab grass it will take over. :frustrat:

Get an Angel:beer: :lol:


If you get hammers and frogspawn ,keep a nice 8-10 inch radius of coral free space,they can and will sting other corals

 

[Toolman]

I don't think that's necessarily true. Ive got some Xenia in my tank. It's gotten bigger but it hasn't spread throughout the tank. I could be wrong though. Did you mis-read Xenia as Kenya?

I have thrown out live rock to get rid of this stuff someone told me it sends out spores which is why it is all over my tank. the first piece was cool because of the way it moves in the flow then on another rock and then another and boy does it stink........:pooh:

 

[the reef kid]

+1 everyone, for the most part LPS and softies are very easy. Then when your tank is mature, you could even try some SPS.