What corals to buy?

[Oleshp]

Hello all,
I am fairly new to the reefing hobby (my salt tank has been going for about a year now). I have added corals in the past and havent had the best of luck. I recently added a brain coral to my tank which seems to be doing well. My question is, what other corals can/should I add to my tank? I have a 75gal. with two led strips and one t5 blue actinic running. I would like to start with some coral that will grow pretty fast because I'm tired of staring at bare live rock. Also coral that is fairly easy to keep alive and happy.

Thanks for the help
-Phil

 

[Oleshp]

I forgot to mention, I would like to have a variety of colors. The brain coral I have now is mostly green.

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Some zoanthids, candy cane trumpet, war coral, or monti caps.

 

[gmastr85]

Mushrooms tend to spread fast also... birdsnests are cheap and grow rapidly...

 

[Pete polyp]

What led strips are you using. It might be inadequate lighting for moderate to high light demanding corals.

 

[Oleshp]

What led strips are you using. It might be inadequate lighting for moderate to high light demanding corals.

I have 1 Fluval 36" Full spectrum, and 1 Fluval 24" full spectrum. Both are centered lengthwise on the tank, on either side of a 48" t5 blue actinic.

 

[Oleshp]

I don't remember what the wattage is for those

 

[Shep]

Try some acans, they like low light and low flow.

 

[Oleshp]

Try some acans, they like low light and low flow.

Would my lighting be considered low lighting for corals? I don't want to burn them or give any too much light.

 

[Pete polyp]

Would my lighting be considered low lighting for corals? I don't want to burn them or give any too much light.

Can you give more details on your lighting? How many led do the strips have? Wattage?

 

[Oldude]

Would my lighting be considered low lighting for corals? I don't want to burn them or give any too much light.

The answer to that question depends entirely on what corals you want to keep. If you stay with soft & LPS it may be sufficient but may not be enough for a lot of sps. That said, you may be able to keep them alive but they may not flourish in growth & color.

 

[Oleshp]

Here's the two LED fixtures I have

Marine & Reef Full Spectrum Performance LED Strip Light | A3983 | Lighting | Fluval

Marine & Reef Full Spectrum Performance LED Strip Light | A3984 | Lighting | Fluval

And, oldude, as far as what corals I want to keep, I'm not picky. I just want a more colorful tank and am looking for advice on which corals I can keep with my current setup.

 

[Pete polyp]

Those are going to be something like 0.25w led. It might be enough light to keep zoa, mushrooms, green star polyps, leathers etc.

 

[fungia_fiend]

I think that's low light.

If you like mushrooms, you can get a lot of nice colors and patterns that would do well in that setup. They're likely to take over though, so look at some pictures of mushroom tanks before jumping the gun. They're (mostly) easy, colorful, and grow like weeds even in lower light.

 

[Oleshp]

OK. I'll check some out. What would be a good substitute to those lights for me to be able to house a bigger variety or corals?

 

[Pete polyp]

OK. I'll check some out. What would be a good substitute to those lights for me to be able to house a bigger variety or corals?

4 bulb t5 would keep anything but high light demanding corals. 6 bulb t5 would keep everything.

Someone else will probably chime in with which led fixtures would work well.

 

[Shep]

For LED I would look at reefbreeders or reef radiance, both make good units that will not cost you an arm and a leg

 

[fungia_fiend]

4x54w T5HO would grow softies and LPS wonderfully.

 

[Oleshp]

I couldn't locally find a 4 or 6 bulb t5HO fixture. However, I picked up a 2 bulb fixture to add to my current lighting. The setup I am currently running is the 36" full spectrum LED, 2 bulb t5ho (1-10,000k, 1-blue actinic), and 1-48" t5 (actinic). I hope this is an improvement over what I had. My corals and fish seem happy so far.

 

[fungia_fiend]

That's plenty of light for most stuff. That extra 2xT5HO is a huge difference and will help a lot.