Scale of (low) maintenance for Corals?

[desx2501]

Hi!
I've been in the saltwater Fish Only tank for nearly a year and I'm collecting information regarding reef keeping. Like many neophytes, I almost died drowned by the sea of information available on the topic.

I read some places that for ANY corals, you NEED to supplement using Limewater and reactor, and some other folks tell me "just put that frag in your tank and it will be more than fine."

So basically, what I'm interested in today is to make myself a small (non-exhaustive!) list of what kind of coral I can have with my actual (basic) setup, and define some [coral / requirements] bundles to see how I'll make my tank evolve.

I'd be glad to get any kind of pointers, wether they are specific to some corals, or general for some families (for example, "Mushrooms will be fine with your regular water changes")

For the moment, here is my setup :
* 40g display with 10g sump.
* 30g liverocks
* 2 clownfish, 2 benggai cardinals and a tuxedo urchin
* 5 hermits, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp, a few snails
* Protein Skimmer
* 2 tubes T5 HO lights

Readings :
- No ammonia, nitrite, nitrate
- 1.023-1.024 sg
- 8.1-8.25 pH
- 79-80 F

[Reefer1225]

You can have a number of corals for your setup I think. I started off with easy ones like green star polyps, low end zoas/palys, pom pomp xenias, mushrooms, cloves, etc. Some of these grow like weeds though.

If you want LPS, I started with a frogspawn and candy cane coral. I eventually got a hammer cora as well. These look nice and are relatively easy to keep with good water parameters.

I would hold off in any SPS as it requires a lot more care in terms of water parameters. You may have to start dosing and monitor Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium a lot more. They also need strong lighting and flow.

Good luck!

[desx2501]

Oh, so with hardy LPS and the other types you stated first I wouldn't really need to monitor Calcium or Alkalinity as long as my other parameters are stable? That's really good to know!

Thanks Reefer!

[Reefer1225]

I think the first ones I listed are hardy enough to live without having to monitor Calcium and Magnesium (definitely do not need to dose).

You have a decent lighting and good filtration (sump, skimmer, T5 lighting, and 30 lbs of live rock for a 40 gallon), so I think that's pretty good for those corals. Regular water changes is all I did. The only things I tested for at the beginning was PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. I never really tested for phosphate. Unless you have a persistent algae issue, you may want to test for that. I am no expert and just starting off too.

If your like me and others, you will not stop with those corals and want more and more. Then you will have to upgrade things. This hobby is addicting and expensive ;)