Coral QuestionS

bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
I have a 29 gallon tank that has been up for 3 months now. I was wonder if there were any corals that I could get with just regular flourecsent lighting?
Another question is that could i get anymore corals with 50/50 bulbs? I heard you could get some with that. I plan on upgrading my lights in the spring to T-5's.
My stocklist is
-Sebae Clown
-Cleaner Shrimp
-Feather duster
-Hermits
-20 lbs of LS
-about 25 lbs of LR (getting more this week)
Planning on getting
-Flame hawk
-Chalk basset
-Maybe a bi-colored angel or some other fish
Thanks
 
clown316

clown316

Member
Originally Posted by bjoe23
I have a 29 gallon tank that has been up for 3 months now. I was wonder if there were any corals that I could get with just regular flourecsent lighting?
Another question is that could i get anymore corals with 50/50 bulbs? I heard you could get some with that. I plan on upgrading my lights in the spring to T-5's.
My stocklist is
-Sebae Clown
-Cleaner Shrimp
-Feather duster
-Hermits
-20 lbs of LS
-about 25 lbs of LR (getting more this week)
Planning on getting
-Flame hawk
-Chalk basset
-Maybe a bi-colored angel or some other fish
Thanks
What are the lights? Yes, there are some corals that need very low light such as zoos.. but you might not want to have corals if you intend on having a bi color angel. There is a good chance they will nip at the corals.
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
Originally Posted by clown316
What are the lights? Yes, there are some corals that need very low light such as zoos.. but you might not want to have corals if you intend on having a bi color angel. There is a good chance they will nip at the corals.
Regular flourscent lighting. O ya, scratch the bi-colored out
 
alix2.0

alix2.0

Active Member
how many watts? you could probably do shrooms, zoas, xenia, and nonphotos such as chili and sun coral with your flourescents
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
Not sure how many watts, it was already in there when my dad used it on his freshwater tanks. So what corals could I get?
 
alix2.0

alix2.0

Active Member
Originally Posted by bjoe23
Another REALLY newby question, do I need to feed any of those? If so, what?
nah not really. you can feed phyto but you it wont hurt anything if you dont. unless you get nonphotosynthetic corals, then you have to feed.
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
Originally Posted by alix2.0
nah not really. you can feed phyto but you it wont hurt anything if you dont. unless you get nonphotosynthetic corals, then you have to feed.
Like which ones do and dont I have to feed, just common ones?
Which corals i get that are good the a beginner for corals?
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
Originally Posted by bjoe23
Like which ones do and dont I have to feed, just common ones?
Which corals i get that are good the a beginner for corals?
All nonphotosynthetic corals need food. Sun corals need meaty foods and chili corals need lots of phyto. Mushrooms, zoas, xenia, and a few other soft corals.
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member

Originally Posted by Coral Keeper
All nonphotosynthetic corals need food. Sun corals need meaty foods and chili corals need lots of phyto. Mushrooms, zoas, xenia, and a few other soft corals.
Are they easy to take care of and dont eat food?
 
namas05

namas05

Member
All corals eat. And in a brand new tank they would do much better if you feed the tank. Even mushrooms and zoas need something to eat. And in a new tank there is not much already established. get some photmaxx and add a couple drops a couple times a week once you put the corals in.
And 50/50 is a mix of blue and white light. Doesn't mean that the coral will get more light just different light.
 
errattiq

errattiq

Member
Hey, the first thing you have you to do is research. Like was already stated, some corals are photosynthetic, to keep it simple there is something in them called zooanthallae. That stuff transfers light into food for the coral. However, since you have weaker lighting, you are limited to certain corals. Given what you've said, I'd go along with softer corals or even corals that require little to no light at all. Look for the key word "filter feeder" when you are purchasing them. Simple filter only feeding corals require no light because they don't have zooanthallae within them to produce light into food. So depending on what you get, photosynthetic corals will require less feeding, although I'd still recommend at least one supplemental feeding a week of phytoplankton or some sort of equivalent "coral food." If you get a coral that needs no light than they'll require a few more feedings, maybe 2-3 or more depending on how many corals you have. I know a decent amount about this but in comparison with some of the forum members, I'm a mere novice, so if any expert reads this feel free to assert yourself and correct my advice. thanks
-josh p
 
clown316

clown316

Member
Originally Posted by bjoe23
Ok so I could get zoas and shrooms?
Your lighting will allow you to have them but i would definately do some research before you buy anything. If you dive into something without research... it leads to disaster. read books, read the posts from other people on this board... the people on here are very knowledgable... they have pretty much guided me through the set up of my tank. they are great. but i would suggest getting a book called the consientious marine aquarist. Mushrooms recieve some food through the photosynthesis of the symbiotic algae zooxanthellae but it benefits from the addition of otyher foods such as phytoplankton. They prefer medium light and low to medium water flow. Xenia is another beginner coral. They prefer medium light and medium flow but should also be fed phyto or other coral foods. There are a lot of beginner corals.... just read read read. hope this helps some.
 
bjoe23

bjoe23

Active Member
I will do my research i just didnt want to do alot of reasearch of I couldnt support them, thanks
 
teresaq

teresaq

Active Member
reg freshwater florecent lights will not suport corals. If they are pc-power compacts, then yes zoos and mushrooms. normal output (NO) lights will not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top