new coral

[holloway]

Please recommend species of coral I should add to my tank. I have a young tank that was set up in early june of 2003. It has cycled and the water is stable. I am looking for coral that is easy to maintain (*since I'm a newbie) colorful, grows fairly fast and does well with others.
My tank is 300 gallons, 350lbs of live rock. 5 powerjets. 2 wave makers with excellent circulation. I have 4 400 watt MH lamps w/ 20k Radium bulbs. 1/3 chiller to keep temp at 78 Degrees. SG is 1.023/1.024.
Right now I have a Green Zooanthid, 2 brains, and a leather toadstool. I haven't put any new livestock in my tank for the past 2 months.
I like mushrooms but I heard they sting neighboring corals. Is this true? Thanks.

 

[holloway]

Here is a low res photo of my tank. Note that there are only 2 of the 4 bulbs on. Trust me the photo doesn't do it justice. It's very bright.

 

[dzones]

My tank is 300 gallons, 350lbs of live rock. 5 powerjets. 2 wave makers with excellent circulation. I have 4 400 watt MH lamps w/ 20k Radium bulbs. 1/3 chiller to keep temp at 78 Degrees
no advice but i had to chime in to say..NICE SETUP!
I am envious

 

[holloway]

Thanks, Dzones.

 

[jacksonpt]

It sounds and looks like you've got a very nice setup. I see that your tank was setup in June... how long has it been since the cycle was finished?
You've got more than enough light for most corals, but because your tank is still young (and I assume your experience is limited), start of with some of the hardier LPS corals. A hammer coral might be a good one to try. They are rather hardy and most people find them quite beautiful. There are a lot of soft corals (mushrooms, polyps, Xenia, etc.) that are good starter corals, but you have to decide which ones you like.
My recommendations would be:
- hammer coral (LPS)
- bubble coral (LPS)
- Pulsing Xenia (soft coral, will spread fast, but requires good calcium levels)
- Green Star Polyps (soft coral, will spread fast)
- Mushrooms (soft coral, will spread fast)
Try one or two and give yourself 6 weeks or so to see how they do, then add more if you want.

 

[holloway]

I will go to my LFS and see what they have. Thanks for the recommendation Jacksonpt. The tank completed it's cycle within the first 6 weeks. Fortunately the LR and LS were cured.

 

[jacksonpt]

It certainly sounds like you are on the right track (doing things right the first time). Just keep being patient... unfortunately, this is often the hardest part. Do a search on the board for beginner corals, you'll find lots of good info. Then do some research about the corals you like (find out what they need in terms of lighting, water flow, filtration, etc.). Then go slow. Buy one or two at a time, and let them get settled and see how they do for a while. If you are successful, then add one or two more and so on. If you are unsuccessful, try to figure out why. It always stinks to lose an animal (fish, coral, or invert), but if you can learn why it died, you can better prevent it from happening again.