Opinions and expert advice on corals

[chocochipper]

Well I'm thinking about looking into getting my first coral sometime soon here. I've read the books I have a few times now and know their opinions, but want yours too. I plan on doing a lot more research before I actually buy one. What would you say are the easiest to keep for beginners. I know light is a big thing too. And I know I am limited as to what I can get since I have only 130W PC smartlites and one 40W NO 10000K light in a 75G tank. I also don't understand how you can go by the wattage rating when they say one PC puts out as much as 3 1/2 NO's. If that's the case then I have 320 watts of light. Anyways, opinions and advise (aside from buying different lights, not in the budget) please.

 

[adrian]

You could try some very low light corals like mushrooms, zooanthid polyps, star burst polyps, ect. As you already know your lighting is very dim, and even these corals may not do well. Corals cost money just like lights so you might as well put your buck where it counts HTH

 

[kelly]

chocochipper,
My tank is about the same size as yours. It has been up for over 10 years, and I have 2 40 watt 48" lights on it, one triton, and one actinic. I have had excellent luck with mushrooms, gorgonians (the fleshy ones), button polyps, zooanthid polyps, star coral, condylactys anemone(sp.), a flower anemone, and some other anemones that I have not identified. I even a frogspawn coral. I do not recommend frogspawn or other hard corals for a setup like mine though. I also have 2 species of firefish, and some other gobies. I have around 100-130 lb. of live rock. I ocassionally add kalkwasser, and reef solution (highly recommended). The mushrooms and polyps are always reproducing and the frogspawn even started a new branch. I have a nice cleanup crew, and originally setup the tank with crushed coral over an underground filter (I know a DSB is better but it has been working for 10+ years). You should have no problems with mushrooms, zooanthid polyps, star coral, or button polyps. Just make sure you water quality is good, and that you do not have hair algae. Take it slow and just add 1-2 pieces at a time.
I wish you the best of luck.

 

[fat_ed]

You could likely keep most mushrooms and polyps, and some leather corals under that light, assuming you kept them fairly high up in the tank. However, I agree with Adron, once you start keeping corals you will never go back, so you might as well make the investment in better lighting now (or at least keep your eyes out for a good deal).