First coral ... when to get?

[temple2101]

Hey guys ... I originally thought I wasn't going to do any corals, but have since decided to do some soft and LPS coral. I have 2 96W PCs on a 55gal. Does anyone have a suggestion on a good starter coral? Also, is this lighting sufficient? (I do have plans to upgrade to 2 110W VHO, but that won't be for a little while). Please let me know, thanks in advance!

 

[slofish]

Start w/ mushrooms. They're very hardy corals and grow rapidly.
As for the 2x110 VHO, it'll only be 28 watts more than you have now. If you have the money and can spare a few degrees of heat, try looking into some MH. It'll also increase the diversity of corals you can house.

 

[bdhough]

Thats plenty enough. Make a nice base out of your rock so the corals get up in the tank a little bit and you should be fine. If you are planning on upgrading to VHO buy a 4 bulb ballast. I think the dual VHO bulb ballasts are only marginally cheaper and you would be better off investing in a quad ballast.

 

[jonthefb]

shrooms, button polyps, leathers, etc....most of these guys are extremely hardy and very easy to get ahold of!
good luck
jon