First coral ideas

[ty_05_f]

what would be the best and cheapest coral to start out with. I have 1 65 watt coralife pendant with a 50/50 bulb. So low light it is for me. I was thinking of some kind of mushroom. What do you all think?

 

[wamp]

Yep a mushroom or even some polyps. Thats about all with the lighting you currently have.

 

[krishj39]

Yup, go with some standard mushrooms (not the slightly more difficult and expensive varieties such as ricordia or hairy). Also button polyps are a good choice. Lets see, you can't go wrong with cabbage leather (cheap and easy, not the prettiest but still interesting). I just found a piece of cabbage leather that I had lost behind the rocks a few months ago. It had been under all my LR this whole time, with no light, but it was still fine. I re-attached it next to the other piece I got the same time and in less than 2 days it looked just as healthy as the one that had been in good lighting the whole time. I don't think you can kill the stuff unless you are trying to.

 

[ty_05_f]

Do you have any specific mushrooms that are sorta colorful too. Thanks for you help.

 

[krishj39]

Sure, the red ones are my favorite, but they are usually more expensive. They are hardy too, in fact in the last month one of my red mushrooms has had 3 babies. I also like the watermelon mushrooms, they are green with red stripes (pretty easy to find this kind). Blue shrooms are also really cool, but you will only see the blue under certain lighting (again, these are more expensive). There are some fuzzy mushrooms that seem to be pretty available. The ones I see most commonly are a red/brown but look bright green when under actinics. Let's see, you could get an umbrella mushroom as well. Mine is pretty fun. Not the prettiest but they get huge (10 inches). Let's see, those are my favorites of the hardiest mushrooms. IMO mushrooms look best when you have a variety of types together. HTH

 

[ty_05_f]

Thanks for the help you have been really helpful

 

[ty_05_f]

I had some kind of green mushrooms on my live rock that i ordered but it died while curing. Hopefully i will have some that survived but i doubt it. I really like the red mushrooms as well. I'll see what the store has and do some more research.
Thanks
Tyler

 

[flamingkingofhe]

yellow polyps

 

[timsedwards]

zooanthids are also a colourful choice, but do a search in the forum there was some worrying info on how they are poisonous to humans and animals apparently...
All the best,
Tim.

 

[krishj39]

That buttons may be poisonous is a good thing to know, but I don't think I'd make a big deal out of it. It is VERY rare. MHO

 

[fishkiller]

I just started my tank over again about 2 1/2 months ago. I have some ricordias, green polyps, some star polyps, green shrooms, and some other kind of mushroom I have yet to be able to ID. These all have been thriving in somewhat stressful conditions, and have been pretty easy to take care of. Usually can find them pretty cheap too. But with the lighting you have, you are more limited. I just picked up a JBJ 2x65w complete w/ 2 internal fans for $170. This would be perfect for yer tank, especially when you take your other fixture and put an actinic bulb in it. Good luck.

 

[ty_05_f]

Thanks for everyones help I think i will get some polyps but i'll see what they have there and take in mind what everyone said.

 

[ty_05_f]

Well i decided on some Green star polyps. Thanks for everyones help. A couple of the polyps opened a couple of minutes after being put in my tank. Hope they do well.

 

[krishj39]

Good choice, I'm confident they will do well. Congrats.

 

[ty_05_f]

Also i forgot she gave me some coral for free b/c she was fragging it. So i have a small rock with about 4 polyps on it. I don't know what they are. Also I found a place that gave me two mushrooms for 5 dollars.

 

[krishj39]

Again, good job, I love getting cheap small frags of corals. Helps me find out what will do well in my tank without dropping 50$+ on a coral. After all the research you do on a coral, there is still no way of knowing for sure if it will do well in your tank until you actually try it. Almost all my corals were small loose frags. The only down side is you have to attach them yourself.