Coral help

W

wrhenry

Premium Member
So... I don't know how to ask, but I am trying. I have upgraded tanks but now I have a lot of space for corals and I don't know what add. Most of what I have is brown or pink. I need some color. Obviously zoas are a strong option and I will be adding some frags going forward. My problem is lack of knowledge. I don't know what is relatively easy to care for but adds a lot of color. I know I can't support sps without a lot of dosing and light. I really want some yellow, blues, greens, purples, orange, and red colors. So here is what I am working with:
51x22x24 125g tank with single overflow
6 bulb T5 (54w/bulb) 3 white, 3 actinic and blue led moon lights
4 koralia evos with wave master on random pulse
A lot of live rock and space.

I have already ( and doing well):
Button polyps ( brown and green and solid brown)
Orange duster polyps
Pink w/ green tip torch
7 head frogspawn
Xenia trees ( pink)
Yellow polyps
Candy apple red ZOA frag ( growing more polyps but still only half of the frag is covered)
PJ cardinal
Diamond goby
Green mandarin

I already have my fish list and a couple zoas I am going to add on my list. Just looking for ideas based on what I have.
Thanks!
 
Good call! Just looked at a picture. I also looked at a coral that is similar from the coop listing. Lesley picked it out, its a gorgeous blue color. No one ever picked up on it though so I don't know if it is available anywhere or not.
 
Vargas purple monster.... only thing is says moderate to high lighting and I don't know that I have enough for it to go anywhere but the top of my tank.
 
LPS like duncans, frogspawn, and maze brains have lower lighting requirements and are very colorful. They also add some nice movement.

Stick with palys to start if you can, high end zoas will break your heart (and wallet). Palys seem much more resilient than a lot of the zoas and many are just as pretty.

Monticaps are sps but they're not too hard to keep and are very colorful. Just stick them up high.

If you don't have algae eating fish in the DT get a nice assortment of macro. Some macro is very colorful like dragonsbreath and care requirements are not high.
 
@wrhenry wrote:
Vargas purple monster.... only thing is says moderate to high lighting and I don't know that I have enough for it to go anywhere but the top of my tank. said:
I've seen SPS grow under T-5s. Do some research but I'll bet doable. Next time you're near Plano, I'll cut you a piece of the neon green
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the help! I really like the armor of god and god of war. Those oranges are nice. I like the purple haze montipora I saw a member selling. And I will drive out next week jimi, if you are available Thursday or Friday, that's an awesome offer!!! I would love to see your tank too! Like seeing tanks and getting perspective. I will eventually change the lighting to MH as budget permits, but I will need a chiller most likely and those are costly. I have an opened top canopy that is built on the the tank so I thought about hanging MHs above or something to help with cooling but not sure what the wife would say lol. Still exploring my options with what I have. Always looking for advice and help also. I appreciate your input. As far as macro, I plan on adding tangs so I think that would just be throwing away money if it isn't for the fuge. But, growing algae in the fuge for a treat would be good, not sure what their favorite is but I am sure someone will chime in. Right now just have cheato and some caulerpa. I don't have many fish in the tank right now so its a slow growing process. More fish coming though, next week I am picking up a Hawaiian naso and a regal/ hippo.
 
Metal halides are possible if you have fans on them but its wiser to get a chiller. SPS can def be raised with T-5's, I think flow and water quality is more important. LPS such as Chalice and Acans are very colorful in the middle sections. Scoly's or Lobo and some nice Favia for your sandbed. Get a nice anemone too.
 
I have 4 koralias currently with a wave master pro. Eventually will switch to mp40's. Still working on adjusting flow to get it throughout the water column. I added an LA Lakers scroll, GSP, a green colt ( I think that's what it is) and a nice bright orange rhicordia. Haven't seen the colt open up or the scroll yet. I placed the colt about mid to low mid down, the GSp is opening and its about mid to high mid, the ricordia towards the bottom( need to glue it down because its on the sand bed now), and j placed the scroll towards the top about 6" or so from water surface so its about 12-14" from light. It looks great, they all do. Hopefully its good placement for them as I would love to see them grow from where I out them. Added some nice colors, especially under the blue lights in morning and evening. They look amazing with the blue led lunars. All glowing nicely.
 
If you T5s have individual reflectors, you should have no problem with SPS as long as they are in the upper half of the tank.

I've attached a picture of my 90 gallon with 6 bulb Sun Light Supply Tek T5.

This is a year and a half growth.

As far as dosing is concerned, you just need to test for alk, cal, and mag until you know what and how much needs to be dosed.

I buy alk, cal and mag from Bulk Reef Supply
 
Gorgeous tank brother! Man I hope I get that from what I have. Kind of scares me what to put in it though, don't want to overcrowd. I am not even sure what make/model the light is. It looks like a single reflector but there are edge reflectors for every pair of bulbs. It looks similar to an aquaticlife fixture but it isn't the same. It has 10 pairs of blue led lunar lights , 5 on each side and a timer built in at the front that is very similar to the aquatic life but the faceplate is black. Can't find any markings on it to know for sure. All of the corals I just added are opened up and the scroll seems to have bubbled up and pushed its polyps out too. So I think it all looks like it is working. The leather is a nice green color and looks great with its polyps extended. I hope it is enough to add some others. I really want some montipora and a few other hard corals. I was hoping to be able to out a durasa clam, a couple of plates, some favias, scans, and some sort of brain coral and some others. I am still learning corals obviously and I have seen several others that I don't know what their classifications are. Typically I just brouse sites and our forums to see what they are labeled and go from there.
 
You should try montipora and digitata. They are easier SPS IMO.

Forgot if you have an auto top off on your system. If you don't it will help stabilize your parameters and also help your skimmer.
 
@wrhenry wrote:
Gorgeous tank brother! Man I hope I get that from what I have. Kind of scares me what to put in it though said:
Lets see a picture of your tank. Show it off!
Click to expand...
 
I am not able to upload for some reason. When I get time later today I will try to get a picture on here. Its not anything like that. Mostly frags. I have the corals from my 30g that were taking up all the space, they look tiny in a 125 lol. Its a great tank though, I just hope I can do it justice. I will work on a pic though.
 
You might look at getting some Dragons Breath Macro Algae. It's not a coral, but I find that the maroon leaf with red tips really adds some great background color. Kind of like a filler plant in your front yard landscaping. You might also consider some Favias and/or Fungia. Both are medium to low light corals that require medium to low flow making them easy and colorful beginner corals.
 
http://m1329.photobucket.com/albumview/albums/greenbayalltheway/Mobile%20Uploads/ResizedImage_1369017829623_zps23f7b1d1.jpg.html
 
Well, I tried to get it to post but I have no idea.... that's the link to a picture of my tank. And I thought about the macros, but the tangs will eat all of it I would imagine. And for sure the favias. Another member offered that as a suggestion with some pictures.
 
So, here's the update on what I got last week. The green colt is actually a green devil's hand and it is open and awesome looking. My Lakers scroll has been opening up and has little bumps where the polyps are as it should, looks really good and a very nice shade of purple. The GSP looks great and everything is open. My orange rhicordia is larger but doesn't look as bright as it did when I first put it in, still looks healthy. I placed it towards the bottom so I'm not sure. And the stuff already placed looks open and happy. I had a rock with a bunch of brown, green centered polyps that is more green and has more polyps. The zoas I had, pretty sure they are candy apple reds, have grown more polyps and all of the polyps are larger than before. My xenias have grown as well. I feel much better about adding more variety and getting some color. I am also thinking of adding a durasa clam. I know the maximas and stuff need more light but I have been told several times they will do fine in my set up. I have a couple of nice places to put one, but I am fairly certain a plate coral is in the plan, if not two. I saw someone had a nice purple and green and then I really like the brought orange as well. I was also looking at favias and the purple Aussie are gorgeous. I also want to add a birds nest if that will do okay towards the top. And possible lay a scolly somewhere if you guys think my lighting will work. I was also told a welso brain would be happy with what I have so I looked at those as well and several are nice, bright red and green. So if anyone knows any members with any of those listed, I feel better buying from a member when possible. Thanks for all the help and advice!! I will update as I get things going.
 
Update- thanks for everyone's help first, it has made things much easier at picking the right corals. I have grown my collection to some pretty good ones I think. Still want more, I think it has become an addiction. I have added a red lobo, blue short tenticle plate, galexias ( finally picked them up and the gbta), metallic green mushrooms, and some really nice hammers (teal green color). All look good, still not seeing the hammers open but I just added them a couple hours ago son they should be opened any time. Still trying to meet up with Jimi for some nice zoos and that gorgeous purple monti. I am so amazed at all the nice people I have met and continue to meet on DFWMAS. I look forward to meeting more of you and adding to my tank with your help!! Thanks again!
 
So.... I have been coral crazy and I think I need to stop lol... I added some more things today from some great members and they look great. I am starting to think I might have added most of what I will have room for once they grow. I added a purple haze monti frag, an ultimate purple monti, red-orange monti, rainbow monti, a green slimmer frag, another monti that is a yellow color, green dragon eye zoas, purple death zoas, and another ZOA David wasn't sure what it was called. I have some great colors in my tank as far as corals. There are a couple other things I realized I want but I am almost finished. I want a gold/yellow hammer, a bubble coral, some Duncan's, yellow sun coral, pulsing xenias, and possibly a couple other color hammers like David has. I am on the fence about the dincans as I really like the dendros as well. And I almost forgot, I will eventually ads a welso brain, orange plate, and a scolly. That's about all I feel comfortable adding. Then I need a derasa clam and I really like the Sherman anemone. Rest will be fish unless I find a nice rock nem. I have seen some wild colors and those guys are really neat. I think the gbta I have is going in the nano with my clowns.... but not until I can get a nice Sherman.... if anyone has any input on what I have or want to add I would appreciate it. I am thinking once I find these others I will have to give some up. I have quite a bit of room, but if they grow well, it will be a constant battle to keep space available for growth. As for now, I think it looks great!
 
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