First coral try

[janicebembry]

I'm wantin to buy a coral for my 55 gal tan. Got fish and LR. Tank established wih this for about a year now. Going real slow with everything.Would someone give me a list of several of the easier ones and several of the prettier ones?
Can you tell me what is meant by medium light? I have 260 watts PC and lunar lights. Also how many corals will I be able to have without running into trouble about their stinging 1 another? Only 1 more question this time I promise. They warn people about getting stung by anemones but not about corals. They both have nematocysts, so why no warnings about them? Thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[sprang]

First thing very very good you are moving slow and asking questions BEFORE you put coral in your aquarium. Also good you are asking what corals to put in your tank! You have already eliminated a bunch of heartache me and many paople have made! Your lighting should be fine for a bunch of softies. O.K. here are some good starter corals Zoanthids, xenia, mushrooms, cabbage leather, star polyps, toadstools, kenya tree, bubble coral...this is a good variety I believe. Buy the book corals by eric bourneman. It is invaluable! Also as far as being stung, unless you have terrible allergic reactions to other things I doubt you need worry. Just from my m.d. gramps that is...good luck!

 

[reefforbrains]

Wear gloves. There are some corals that can give a nasty sting but they are uncommon.
False leathers, aka Fire corals shoot to the bone with a burn that last for a few hours. Not incapacitating but painful as heck. They are very uncommon in the trade.
Elegance, Fox and a few others can still pack a whallop to the newbie.
Various Anemone on the other hand....... to let one stick its micro needles into a a finger, it feels like sticky velcro, you dont feel the actual poking sensations. They just feel sticky to the touch.
If a good size anemone gets a few square inches of contact surface to surface on your underarm or forearm you wont need to go to the hospital but a nasty looking red welt and blisters will happen without a doubt.
All of this is easy to avoid, just show respect for the specimens and handle accordingly wearing gloves if you like. I personally have given up gloves as I poke around so much and have been stung, stabbed, poked, cut and generally nailed by most everything that s non-life threatening thats available. I should always wear them but now only when I am really getting something intense or for long periods of time will I don a pair.
Gloves are still a recommended and endorsed habit when playing in the tank.
For your lights stay softies and you should be perfectly addicted in a matter of weeks to upgrade your lights to MH or T5 and go for more coral types.
Everyone says "oh just to start, Ill stay with softies" but then comes the green eyed monster in this hobby where you get addicted to more and more corals. MH are never far down the road for most new hobbiests, just sticker shock keeps them away at the very beginning. JMO

 

[rcbruce]

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[fish addict]

Another great beginner coral is yellow colonial polyps, I am pretty convinced they live through practically everything!

 

[happy5446]

Sprang is right. Those are some great corals to start with. I think another good one is called "money tree". I don't remember the name. looks kinda like chaeto. gsp is easy, hammer, mushrooms never die :O)

 

[janicebembry]

I still need to know how many corals I can keep in a 55 gallon tank. How close together can they be?Do they all spread; and if so will they get to close to 1 another ? Hey Sprang is your m.d. in gramps because of age or because of years involved with avocation? -- Bruce, Reef for brains, and Fish addict, I appreciate ya'lls input too. I'm trying to get lots of advice.

 

[janicebembry]

Originally Posted by happy5446
Sprang is right. Those are some great corals to start with. I think another good one is called "money tree". I don't remember the name. looks kinda like chaeto. gsp is easy, hammer, mushrooms never die :O)
Hey, can you explain some of that terminology to me? I don't know what gsp means. Everybody says to stick with softies, but how do I know the difference?
i'm going to be ordering off the internet. We live about 100 miles away from the nearest store that carries saltH2O anything. And then it's a mom and pop store-very small and very expensive!

 

[essop3]

There are 3 primary types people will mention
1. SPS- small polyp stoney. These are the hardest to keep. Usually require metal halide lights and lots of flow. They require a more careful eye on all water parameters. To identify them... they are the stoney ones
2. LPS- Large polyp stoney. They have a fleshy body that extends from a skeleton base. Each branch of the skeleton is called a "head". Moderate light and flow are usual requirements.
3. Softies- Leather corals, mushrooms and zooanthids fit here. There is no skeleton, just soft tissue. The shapes are varied. These are usually the easiest to keep and frag. Most make great beginner corals.

 

[nycbob]

u can put as many as u want, as long as they r all getting their won space, proper lighting, and flows. go with zoas and mushrooms.

 

[coraljunky]

gsp= green star polyps