Coral questions

[fishieness]

frogspawns are my favorite. They are easier to take care of than an anenome. They need moderate lighting, moderate flow, a placement of the middle to top of your tank (top for your lighthing) and distance between any corals that could sting them with sweeper tenticals. They cannot digest phyloplankton, and some people spot feed theirs, but i have not gotten mine to eat anything..... And of course, they need good water quality.

 

[dweeble]

Thanks a lot bang and fishie, I will definitly be getting a frogspawn. Once my tank is setup and running can I add all the coral at once or should I put them in periodiclly?

 

[fishieness]

add them in slowly, not all at the same time. one here, another there. you know the drill. i would also recomend starting out with easier ones and moving up.

 

[dweeble]

If this is the list of coral I plan on getting what order would you recommend putting them in?
Colt
Stubby Finger Leather
Toadstool Leather
Green Closed Brain
Blue Stripe Mushroom
Orange Ricordea Mushroom Polyp
Green Plate
Candy
Frogspawn

 

[bang guy]

Blue Stripe Mushroom
Orange Ricordea Mushroom Polyp
Colt
Stubby Finger Leather
Toadstool Leather
Green Closed Brain
Candy
Frogspawn
Green Plate

 

[fishamajig]

I agree, make sure you plan out where you put your corals and allow room for growth, leathers can get BIG and take over an area quickly, but they are beautiful. your clowns might host the leather.

 

[dweeble]

Thank you so much, your information has been a major help. And you guys think these will all comfortably fit in a 29 gallon tank?

 

[fishmamma]

Hi Dweeble!
Your fish list is WAY too large for a 29 gallon tank. A safe number is 3 or 4 fish, and then all your inverts. Probably not what you wanted to hear I know. If you want all those fish either go larger- like maybe 75 gallon or plan on a second tank or an upgrade one day. I started with a 16 gallon, then bought a 29 and am stuck there due to space limitations. In my 29 gallon I have a false perc. clown, pygmy angel, bi-color blenny, and spotted shrimp goby. Also a pistol shrimp, two cleaner shrimp and some hermits and snails. It is actually quite crowded IMO with that stock. Happy and healthy crowded but one more fish would be too many at least for my tank.
You could do a pair of clowns and one firefish (they are sometimes hard to find paired at LFS) in order to give you another fish like the fridmani or shrimp and goby pair.
Mushrooms are a great starter coral and can be fragged rather easily too which is just thrilling for a new hobbiest.

Zoos and leathers are also good choices to begin with, you have a fabulous wish list and I have no doubt your tank will be gorgeous with all those corals and fish. Good luck with all the set-up!!

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by Dweeble
Thank you so much, your information has been a major help. And you guys think these will all comfortably fit in a 29 gallon tank?
dweeble some of the corals you have listed require intense lighting so you will want to also add some metal halides behind the list of lighting that you posted.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by The reef
dweeble some of the corals you have listed require intense lighting
Which ones would that be?

 

[speg]

Those corals he listed do not 'require' intense lighting. It would be 'nice' for them, but all can do well under moderate lighting.

 

[puffer32]

Nah, I have all the corals on his list under pc 260 watt lighting in a 75 gal.

 

[reefnut]

I agree, none would require metal halides...

 

[the reef]

I would say the brain will benifet more leaning tword the intese lighting

 

[reefnut]

Brains do best under moderate light, fluorescents would do fine. I lost one once due to not acclimating it properly to MHs.

 

[dweeble]

Thanks for all the information, I have been really busy lately, but all your info has been very helpful.
I think I will hold off and only get a few at first, get the whole saltwater thing down be fore I expand. I do plan on getting a much much much larger setup, I would just like to start out small so I can get the hang of everything before I go all out. Thanks again for everyones opinions.

 

[verde_ad]

Also, remember that fish make waste, so the less fish the eiser it will be to keep your coral happy. I have a thirty gallon cube, with 3 fish in it. I wouldn't add any more. I like healthy corals and the ability to miss a water change everyonce in a while. Have fun and enjoy the process because you won't ever get to the end.

 

[marvida]

I'm kind of concerned about only having 2X65 compacts. When I started my 29 gal soft tank the lighting was similar. I had to go to the equivalent of 3X65 before things really clicked.

 

[shelley]

I, too agree that your list includes too many fish for a 29 gallon. I have a 30 gallon and I have a clown, royal gramma and a goby and won't be adding more as I'm maxed out on fish. I also have a variety of small crabs, cleaner shrimp and a sand sifter star. I would also stay away from the horseshoe crab. I had one and it only lived about 5 months and they do get big! Hope this helps!