Coral questions

[dweeble]

I have a 29 gallon tank that I will be putting my first saltwater setup in. I have decided to make it a reef and I had some questions on coral. I plan on getting all reef safe inverts and fish.
How do they reproduce/spread/split and how quickly do they do it? Last thing I need is to have too much coral (if that's possible). Also I have made a list of the coral I was thinking of getting, now I have read about not mixing hard and soft coral, but I don't know which is which so if someone could tell me if my list is compatible and whether or not they will fit in my tank it would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[bang guy]

Your question is too big to be answered in anything less than a 500 page book.
Can you list the animals you are considering?

 

[dweeble]

Sorry Bang, that's a bad habit of mine. Also forgot to post the list of corals. Oops. Well, here is the list of coral I want to get.
Green Closed Brain
Hard Tube Coco Worm
Finger Leather
Blue Stripe Mushroom
Neon Green Mushroom
Green Plate
Pink Long Tentacle Plate
Super Orange Zoos
The fish and inverts I want to get are as follows
Percula Clowns (x2)
Firefish Gobies (x2)
Fridmani
Midas Blenny
Barbershop Shrimpgoby
Malladrin Pistol Shrimp
Blue Reef Chromis
Orange Serpent Starfish
Cleaner Shrimp (x3)
Horseshoe Crab
Scarlet Hermit Crab (x3)
Blueleg Hermit Crab (x3)
Mexican Turbo Snail (x5)
Feather Duster (x2)
Lettuce Nudibranch
As far as what I have read these are all reef safe and I have been told they should all get along and fit comfortably in the tank.

 

[bang guy]

Hard Corals have a hard skeleton and grow by laying down more skeleton. Soft corals have internal Calcium carbonate structures but they are flexible and can move with the current.
Hard Corals:
Brain
Plate
Soft Corals:
Zoanthids
Mushrooms
Leather
The Cocoworms is a type of filter feeding Bristleworm and not considered a coral.
The soft Corals you listed will mostly multiply using fission, ie. make a clone of themselves. The Brain will grow by the same mechanism but the new clone will still be closely attached. Plates sometime clone but usually only after an injury, it's not that common.

 

[reefnut]

Those corals will do fine together. I would skip the Horse Shoe Crab and increase the numbers of the hermits... I would also add some Cerith Snails & Nassarius Snails to your list if you plan to have a sand bed.
The lettuce nudi can be tough to keep. You will need to "nudi proof" your tank... but until you have algae for it to eat I would hold off.
Be sure to go slow adding all those fish... after the cycle you will want to only add one or two every few weeks.

 

[the reef]

I have had my candy corals split and I fraged a few pices of them I would say after You buy a large pice of either zenia or candy corals with moderate lighting I have had them grow at a good rate I will go get some pices of the candy corals and show you the new split they have made

 

[the reef]

here is the cluster of the corals notice that the one on the top used to be just one and the one down from it also used to be one then one day I watched them split off the split down the middle and are still atached for about a week then they branch out and become seperate the ones on the top have seperated but notice the ones in the midle are still kida atached they have not branched away from each other yet then the last two pics are frags of that same coral but I just moved them to a difrent part of the tank notice that the branch splits as well like on the fist frag that I have how far they would split down on the stem im still not shure but bang would probly know

 

[the reef]

here is the pics

 

[dweeble]

Bang Guy - Thanks, that info helps me out a lot. I always wondered what that stuff meant.
ReefNut - I have decided against the crab and I will look into getting more snails, I do like the Nassarius Snails. And what do you mean "nudi-proof" becuase I would still love to get a Lettuce Nudi.
The Reef - Thanks, visuals always help out a bunch. I love those candy corals, are those ones you would recommend for a beginner?
I have been doing a lot of research and I have come up with a revised list of the corals I would like to get. I was reading that the Zoos are aggressive coral, so I was going to hold off on them. So it's opinion/suggestion time
Colt
Stubby Finger Leather
Toadstool Leather
Green Closed Brain
Blue Stripe Mushroom
Orange Ricordea Mushroom Polyp
Green Plate
Candy ?
If this sounds good for a beginner and his 29 gallon, please let me know. Thanks.

 

[the reef]

Originally Posted by Dweeble
Bang Guy - Thanks, that info helps me out a lot. I always wondered what that stuff meant.
ReefNut - I have decided against the crab and I will look into getting more snails, I do like the Nassarius Snails. And what do you mean "nudi-proof" becuase I would still love to get a Lettuce Nudi.
The Reef - Thanks, visuals always help out a bunch. I love those candy corals, are those ones you would recommend for a beginner?
I have been doing a lot of research and I have come up with a revised list of the corals I would like to get. I was reading that the Zoos are aggressive coral, so I was going to hold off on them. So it's opinion/suggestion time
Colt
Stubby Finger Leather
Toadstool Leather
Green Closed Brain
Blue Stripe Mushroom
Orange Ricordea Mushroom Polyp
Green Plate
Candy ?
If this sounds good for a beginner and his 29 gallon, please let me know. Thanks.
they would be good for beginners but just remember you will most likley need moderate lighting for the candy corals

 

[reefnut]

Nudis have a bad habit of getting caught up in the current and making their way to overflows, powerheads, etc. Nudi proofing means to cover everything so they do not get injured.

 

[fishieness]

the corals sound good to me
but 8 fish seem slike a lot in a 29 gallon even though they are all kept relatively small.

 

[bang guy]

Plate corals are not the easiest. You'll be able to keep one but I suggest making it one of your last so you can gain more experience before trying.
Zoanthids are actually a good beginner coral. Just keep them on a seperate rock.

 

[dweeble]

Thanks for all the information everyone, it has been extremely helpful.
As far as the lighting I plan on getting Aqualight Double Strip Light w/ 65 watt Actinic & 65 watt 10000K Bulbs. Is that going to be a good light for what I want for my tank?
When you "nudi-proof", would using eggcrate on the overflow be enough or is something else recommended?
Also if anyone can provide me with a timeline of when the best time to add the fish, inverts and corals, it would also be extremly helpful.

 

[dweeble]

One more thing, I was also wondering about putting in a couple of anemones for the Clowns and possibly getting an Anemone Shrimp. I really liked the Pink Tip Haitian Anemone and the Florida Condi Anemone. Does anyone have any advice on keeping these, I think the Clowns and Shrimp would like it, it says they are peaceful and reef safe?

 

[teresaq1]

welcome, and good luck. I love my zoos. they come in so many colors, and never bother anyone. i dont have any experiance with anemonies, my clowns love thier grass mushrooms.

 

[dweeble]

Thank you Teresa, so Clowns will stay in a coral if there is no anemone? If this is true does anyone know if an Anemone Shrimp would do the same?

 

[fishieness]

clownfish will host any coral, or even a piece of rock or corner of a tank. Im hopeing my morron will host my frogspawn or hammer.....
i believe both those anenomes will not have enough lighting for th elighting you are looking into. I doubt you will be able to keep any anen;omes except maybe a bubbletip. They look awsome and will host most species of clowns.
if you are looking for a hosting anenome, make sure that your clown will host them. Go into the clownfish and anenomes forum and lcick on the sticked thread on top about hosting anenomes.

 

[dweeble]

Thanks a lot fishieness, I think I will hold off on the anemone. I would really rather have a frogspawn coral, but I have heard they are very difficult to take care of. Any recommendations/suggestions on what is required for a Frogspawn.

 

[bang guy]

Frogspawn are 1000% easier than Anemone. Give then moderate lighting, moderate current, excellent water and they're good to go.