What to start with?

euthyphro · 12-11-2006, 11:36 PM

I will be starting a 45 gallon bow tank with a 250w 20000k metal halide light. Also two actinic bulbs. I was wondering what coral i should start out with, after the tank is cycled that is. What coral is the most interesting, hardy, fastest growing and best suited to the type of tank i have?

m_lacom99 · 12-12-2006, 08:33 AM

You could always start with green star polyps, zoanthids, leathers, mushrooms etc. There are a ton of easy to keep coral out there its just a matter of choice.

Marc.

s14hayame · 12-12-2006, 08:51 AM

M LACOM is right start with something easy first like those stated above also u might want to start with some frogspawn too those are very nice. being that u are running MH *make sure* u place ur new corals at the lowest point of the tank then slowly(week to 2 weeks) move them up to where u want them to be. the reason for that is u dont want to shock them with that much lightings the first time u introduce them to ur tank. i ll stay away from sps for now until get u familiar with keeping ur water at top quality. other then that just do ur regular maintaince keep ur tank healthy. good luck

euthyphro · 12-12-2006, 08:20 PM

Thanks for the advice. 3reef should offer a bachelor degree program for marine aquariums

Birchell · 12-18-2006, 03:27 PM

I agree, I just started getting corals, and Ive got some pulsing xenia (will grow like a weed, so you can sell some back to the lfs for more corals, lol), blue stripe mushrooms (there great, but love low light, and low flow) some yellow polyps ( great little guys, add great color and are easy to care for), neon green candy coral ( great coral, and very easy to care for) and a green bubble tip anemone. With you lighting an anemone will be easy to care for. Mine was a mistake I made along time ago, but these guys are the hardiest anemones around!! Mine survived no light, lol ( one 18 watt bulb), bleaching, poor water quality, and my noob mistakes. Now Ive got the power compact lighting and the little guy is doing great about 6 inches from the top. It has got its color back and is starting to eat again. So no matter what you hear BTA's are a great starter anemone. Plus most clowns will host them. Hope this helps,

Michael

Dyngoe · 12-18-2006, 03:51 PM

Hi Birchell,

I'm just going to second what was said by everyone else. Shrooms, zoos and star polyps are a great place to start. Not only are they easy to care for, but they grow quickly (relatively) which is fun for a beginner. Thank goodness Birchell mentioned xenia. I believe for a beginner xenia are a must. They are a weed, basically, so they grow fast and are easy to care for. Also, they pulse which is real cool when you first get started.
A good plan would be to join your loacal reef or saltwater group. They may be listed as members of Marine Aquarium Societies of North America, or you may need to google for them in your area. Either way they will be a great help to you. They almost always have frag swaps of some kind. And, someone in the group is bound to unload some xenia or zoos. Save some money for when you get truly hooked and look at SPS.