what are some easy corals to maintain for beginning reefers?

[fishypatis28]

I want to start housing corals in my fish only tank. What are some easy corals to maintain for beginners? I have a 60wide tank and its been established for about a year and a half. I already have a calicum doser and I believe I have all the chemicals too...anything would help. I've been reading other forums but of course tips from you Professionals would be great! Thanks. :D

[drummereef]

Mushrooms, polyps, and most softies are pretty easy. I would start with green star polyps and shrooms. They don't need any special care, just light. :)

[seapug]

There are "easy" corals of just about every type. What kind of lighting do you have?

[TarheelFrag]

I think that shrooms can grow under the light of a single candle!

[fishypatis28]

thanks for the info guys...right now im running some nova T-5 at 216 watts...yah its pretty basic as far as lighting goes. Of course i want more...but the electric bill begs to differ..:mad:

so would these work well with the shrooms and polyps?

[E.J. Coral]

your lights should work just fine for most sessile inverts.

My first coral was anthelia .... grew like wildfire...

[fishypatis28]

as far as chemicals goes what are normal readings for a healthy tank? Does anyone have any good advice on whats a good test kit out there?

yah these are pretty basic questions i can find here but since i have been reading so much on the forums...everything is starting to look the same...(if you know what i mean) so with everyone's past experience through trial and error any advice would help...

right now in my tank i have about 45lbs of live rock...

blue tang, yellow tang, sailfin tang, fire angel, coral angel, and a couple of damels...

do you think this is too much fish already?

[drummereef]

What size tank do you have, fishypatis28? That's ALOT of fish for even a large tank. The answers to all your questions are in these links. ;)

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 1: The Salt Water Itself
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners, Part 3: pH
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php

[kau_cinta_ku]

I agree way to many fish for a 60 gal. also i would be worried about the angels nipping at the corals

[Lee_Bay]

watch out!!!

Here come the tang popo

[fishypatis28]

sweet thanks for your help...sorry i ment i have a 260 wide tank it was custom made...i was half asleep when i wrote my last post...haha..all my fish are less then 3inches big...sometimes my tank looks bare. =(

[virginiadiver69]

You really should look into upping your rock amount to get your bio filter going.

[MegsB]

as a fellow begginer reefer i have had much sucess with mushrooms, polyps, xenia, waving hand (anthelia?) and frogspawn.

[Nashvegas1]

Don listen to the tang police I have a orange shoulder in a 2.5 gallon. Just kidding that is way to many fish.

[DetectiveTofu]

Tangs need more room

[bllfish]

Too many for a 260 gallon tank?

[fishypatis28]

so what everyone is telling me is that the fish i mentioned is too much for a 260 gallon tank?

[drummereef]

260g is fine for the fish you have. I was really worried when you said 60g. ;) How do you manage filtration? I saw you only have 45lbs of live rock which is no where near what you would need to support the bio load.

[rlm2005]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10139454#post10139454 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishypatis28
so what everyone is telling me is that the fish i mentioned is too much for a 260 gallon tank?
Maybe they are thinking you have a 60gallon tank. Your load is fine for a 260 gallon tank. Do you have any base rock or is the 45 pounds all the rock you have?

[fishypatis28]

*whew* you guys had me sweating for a bit there...so would anybody think it would be ok if I add one or more fish? everyone in my tank is FAT and happy...I wouldn't want to ruin the tight and cohesive crowd I have now...=)

[fishypatis28]

as of right now I only have 45lbs of rock...my local fish connection ordered an extra 60lbs for me. But I think all of that would be a little too much in my tank....what would be a reasonable amount to add on top of the exsisting 45lbs?

[seapug]

In a tank that size you should really have closer to 300 lbs of live rock, especially if you plan on keeping corals. It may seem like a lot, but you've got some big poopers in there that will necessitate some heavy duty biological filtration to keep nitrate levels low for the corals-- no better way to do that than with live rock. Oh yeah, corals....with your lights and fish bioload you should stick to the mushshrooms. You also might be able to get away with some lower light LPS like Bubbles, Scolymias, and Cynarinas, but no telling what damage some of those fish might do to them.

[salty55]

is 216 watts enough for a 260 gallon ?

[fishypatis28]

ok thanks seapug...ill probably get another 150lbs of rock considering the amount of fish I have right now. Ill try to go with a cheap mushroom 1st to do the trial and error deal to see if the fish nip at it. I just didnt want to overload my tank with alot of live rock. The T-5's seem do to a good job right now keeping the tank lighted. I don't really want to go higher as far as wattage b/c of that darn thing called "electric bill." I just want some easy coral to maintain that don't require intense lighting. =)

[slowradio]

it will be tough to overload a 260 with liverock. some reefers go to 1.5 to even 2 pounds per gallon. that's 390 lbs or 560 lbs, respectively. even at a good price of $3 per pound, man, i don't even want to think about it!

[salty55]

if it wasn't for the cost of live rock i would have a 150 gallon. heck i have had my 55 for six months and i still don't have all the rock that i want. if i could quit spending my money on stupid stuff like grocerys, bills and clothes for the kids i would have an awesome tank. :)

[jwd]

Is my area the only area that sells live rock for 3.29/lb? I bought another 10 lbs just because it wuz there and cheap.....

[LionfishFinatic]

you know...... i think we need some pics now......:)

[salty55]

one lfs in town sells it for 4.50, one 2 miles down the road sells it for 5.50 everywhere else within driving distance sells it for 6 to 8 bucks!