Coral Questions

entice59

Active Member
Well i have questions about corals for 2 low light tanks:
1. Is my 55 gallon, 96 watt pc
2. My friends eclipse 2 in 20 gallon, 40 watt standard florcent lighting
Can we any of these things get these things?:
a: pulsing xenia?
b:ToadStools?
c:riocordia mushrooms?
d:button polyps?
e:star polyps?
f:Candy Cane?Trumpet?(dont know if they are the same)
g:Colt Coral
 

memnoch

Member
Everything you list has done well in my 55gal hex with 132watts of PC. Everything that is except "candy cane/caulestria." I think caulestria definately need more intense lighting.
 
N

naclh2o

Guest
Instead of paying the money for those corals and seeing them do very poorly, why not spend the money on lighting? Lots of folks waste so much more cash on trying to keep things in low light and having them die than they would have by just spending the money on good lighting and not having to keep replacing corals. LISTEN CLOSELY AS I PREACH......if you get good lighting and keep the tank right.........the corals you buy , you will have the rest of your life and then some. See what I mean? These guys telling you that you can do it.....either have tanks less than a year old, don't care, like to prove people wrong by lying, or enjoy replacing hundreds of dollars worth of corals per year.......in the long run.......lights are cheaper. Anyway, you asked, so I'll say this.........I wouldn't put anything under 95 watts in a 55 gallon tank. It blows my mind that people are so against paying for good lighting........I'm not saying you are, but too many people here talk about how well things do under low lighting when they've only had it a few months. ......and even worse.......they dish out this info to other people and say it worked for them.......corals are hardy actually, and this is what makes people believe they have found the "cheap lighting solution" since they have had a coral six months. Don't follow these guys even if they tell you what you would like to hear.....listen to people who have tasted failure, tried and failed and learned from their mistakes through experience. Look around this board......only the newbies have hard to keep corals under low lighting, and all the old timers have good lighting, or proper corals in lower lighting. ......want a reef? Go for lighting first.......best of luck, and I hope you take my post the right way without being offended. :)
 

entice59

Active Member
no offense taken :D, i have a 15 gallon tank, thats basically the coral tank, i just added some low light coral just for decoration since all those corals were only 15 bucks only. I was just curious to see if any of those would work for the 55. If i only had the 55 then i would definately get better lighting.
As for the 20 gallon eclipse thats just my friend, he was wondering about the toadstool. and the xenia and the star polyps. He said he'll upgrade in a few months but doesnt have 200 dollars. I know you guys would say "save up your money and then get it" but knowing my friend he'll rather just get the corals now and then spend the 200, thats just how he is.
 

slick

Active Member
Dosen't your 55 look funny with only a 96w pc over it? Is there light reaching the corners of each side?
 

entice59

Active Member

Originally posted by slick
Is there light reaching the corners of each side?

yes it does reach every side, it doesnt look funny. Its just one long bulb. not a good picture but you can see that it actually see how far the light reaches if thats what you mean
 

slick

Active Member
Ok yeah it does reach each side nicely. I wasen't sure if you were running the quad thats why I aksed. As far as corals you could definatly keep sun corals and mushrooms. Other than that I think you should add more light.:D
 

entice59

Active Member
i just got some mushrooms and button polyps and zoos(placed on the top) yesterday, as far as anything goes... thats it for the 55. Im going to get some more coral for the 15 as soon as the hair algae is controlled, waiting for the test kits i ordered to see whats wrong:mad:
I dont know anything about toadstools or xenias, can you guys tell me something about them and how hard they are to raise? do i even need to feed them?
My friend wants a toadstool for the 20, so he cant even get that right? not even if its fed? (just curious)
 

slick

Active Member
I am by no means a expert when it comes to corals. All I can tell you if from my personal experience. I have a toadstoll that was inbad shape after I got him. At the time I was only running 260w of pc's on my 90. It wouldn't even stnad up. It was all hunched over and I thought it was dead. So I moved it up in the tank and it did a little better. Once I got my MH's the thing is thriving. I'm not saying you need MH's to keep one. But I believe they need a good amount of light. At least mine does. As far as feeding goes I just feed DT's and it is doing great.
 

memnoch

Member
It blows me away how people think "their" way is the "only" way. I've been running 130 watts of PC on my 55 for over a year and half with great results, only coral I've lost was the caulestria. I am by no means an expert on any of this, but you don't need 5-10 watts per gallon to have a successful reef system. Or, maybe my reef is the exception. I would even say with the risk of stoning by the halide users here that metal halide is not a necessity unless you intend to have stuff like acropora. Ok, let the stones fly :p
 

memnoch

Member
It blows me away how people think "their" way is the "only" way. I've been running 130 watts of PC on my 55 for over a year and half with great results, only coral I've lost was the caulestria. I am by no means an expert on any of this, but you don't need 5-10 watts per gallon to have a successful reef system. Or, maybe my reef is the exception. I would even say with the risk of stoning by the halide users here that metal halide is not a necessity unless you intent to have stuff like acropora. Ok, let the stones fly :p
 
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