Beginner corals

Lee Haynes · Jun 3, 2015

heathd.hd said:
Acans will be a bit touchy on peramiters. You will need to be fairly decent at keeping your alkalinity stable. Seems like your doing your homework so go for it!

I would read into kalk water for starters. Randy holmes Farley has written some nice articles and I have adopted his methods.

Acans color can be a bit finicky also. Alot of people say they just turn orange in there tanks. Idk mine look pretty dang good under leds so I'm happy about that!

I have done a lot of research so far

I'll give anything a go as well so I'm up for the challenge

bevans116 · Jun 3, 2015

Euphyllia are also great starter corals (hammer, torches, frogspawn)

acolotto · Jun 3, 2015

A big thing is, don't get anything you don't love, as you will learn you will run out of room quickly! Also idk where your located but find your local reef group, join it, and ask them. I know out here people would even give you some frags to try out and I'm sure that's about the same every where, the people are nice in the hobby, as long as you don't put a tang in a 20 gallon lol

Lee Haynes · Jun 3, 2015

bevans116 said:
Euphyllia are also great starter corals (hammer, torches, frogspawn)

Yes! I Love those, I thought they were hard to keep though...

bevans116 · Jun 3, 2015

My first coral was a neon green hammer coral that I still have today after fragging many times 4 years later

Oscaror · Jun 3, 2015

GSP will grow on the back wall just fine. They make a soft, thin, purple mat that they poke the green polyps out of.

Oscaror · Jun 3, 2015

Double post

Lee Haynes · Jun 3, 2015

Oscaror said:
GSP will grow on the back wall just fine. They make a soft, thin, purple mat that they poke the green polyps out of.

Awesome that could look quite cool

Longnose Hawkfish · Jun 3, 2015

Be careful with GSP, it can take over rock work fast

Lee Haynes · Jun 4, 2015

Longnose Hawkfish said:
Be careful with GSP, it can take over rock work fast

Yes I've heard of that happening. I'll be careful because I've only got a small tank

fragman2 · Jun 4, 2015

You are thinking along the right lines. Oh to be a newbie again. It sounds exciting when you have been keeping reef tanks for decades. I would add one thing to the water chemistry side of things. Buy an inexpensive doser rather than investing in Kalk stirers, or CA reactors. You will be able to adjust the amounts of the solutions that you use as your tank matures. CA, Mag, etc... levels are somewhat forgiving but an unstable Alkalinity is not. It is really important for many coral species. Stable Alk leads to a stable PH. IMO there is no easier way to stay on top of this. Another super important point that I didn't see addressed is Pests. It is far easier to prevent getting them than it is to eradicate them after you are infested. It is not uncommon for new reefers to buy a bunch of expensive corals, have some success and then notice 6 months or a year into the hobby that their tank is infested with some form of pest. It can be discouraging to say the least. Many new hobbiests just give up when faced with such challenges. Do your research regarding preventing the introduction of these pests. Dip, dip, dip. Quarantining new corals is a great idea too. If you are not lazy you will do well.

Lee Haynes · Jun 4, 2015

fragman2 said:
You are thinking along the right lines. Oh to be a newbie again. It sounds exciting when you have been keeping reef tanks for decades. I would add one thing to the water chemistry side of things. Buy an inexpensive doser rather than investing in Kalk stirers, or CA reactors. You will be able to adjust the amounts of the solutions that you use as your tank matures. CA, Mag, etc... levels are somewhat forgiving but an unstable Alkalinity is not. It is really important for many coral species. Stable Alk leads to a stable PH. IMO there is no easier way to stay on top of this. Another super important point that I didn't see addressed is Pests. It is far easier to prevent getting them than it is to eradicate them after you are infested. It is not uncommon for new reefers to buy a bunch of expensive corals, have some success and then notice 6 months or a year into the hobby that their tank is infested with some form of pest. It can be discouraging to say the least. Many new hobbiests just give up when faced with such challenges. Do your research regarding preventing the introduction of these pests. Dip, dip, dip. Quarantining new corals is a great idea too. If you are not lazy you will do well.

Thanks! That's great advice