Easy care corals/polyps

[paulholden31]

Hi,

i've had my tank running for around six months now and would like to add some coral or some kind of plant life.
The tank is a fluval edge with the standard bulbs changed to the L.E.D versions. Which corals/polyps would be suited to this level of lighting?

Many Thanks

Paul

 

[dmatt88]

Before I suggest a few things, first welcome and secondly what us your water change regimine and livestock list? Do you test your calcium or magnesium? If so what are those levels? Any way u answer there are a bunch of worthy additions. U may want to check out Myreeftoyours.com. the guy who owns it is immensely knowledgeable and has some amazing stuff at really fair prices. Matt

..........I live my life as a warning to others.

 

[tekjunkie28]

Fair prices? Matt must be away from the bottle.. From what I hear those prices are EXCELLENT for the quality of stuff he sales. As soon as my tank gets over this GHA in have and I get time stuff I need I'm going to put a large order in for some coral.

Tank pics and specs?

 

[dmatt88]

Free is the best price!

..........I live my life as a warning to others.

 

[tommyboynj]

Show us some pics of that tank. I've been thinking about getting an edge and modding it for my office. Like Matt said, post your tank params etc and we can make some recommendations. Then you can hit jj up for a my reef order ;-)

 

[whippetguy]

I'd say most zoanthids, mushrooms, some of the soft coral species should do well. With those you won't have to worry about Calcium levels, easy to take care of.

 

[engineer goby]

TOADSTOOLS! Sorry I had to scream but they are awesome and easy to care for. Zoas and mushrooms are easy as well

 

[JamesFitz]

Dmattt........you got it...... that being said, look into Clavularia and Xenia. They are easily captive propagated and are more hardy tht way. they readily reproduce and harbor zooxanthellae as their main source of sustanance. That as wwell as Discosoma and Rhodactis mushrooms. Discosoma are smooth and Rhodactis are generally fuzzier in texture. Both require moderate lighting as well as good water flow and good parameters.

 

[JamesFitz]

i hate to disagree, but the toadstool or Sarcophyton spp. has a max size of about 12" and requires a very strong amount of lighting. In terms of....................everything else....yes they are easy. but these are invertibrates......they are sensitive and have long life spans. I personally dont reccoment Sarcopyhton Spp to the beginner aquarist for a nujmber of differnt reasons. I have seen them get so large on rocks that their polyps extend out of the water and perish in weeks due to stress and exposure.

 

[JamesFitz]

no where else to go

 

[tekjunkie28]

i hate to disagree, but the toadstool or Sarcophyton spp. has a max size of about 12" and requires a very strong amount of lighting. In terms of....................everything else....yes they are easy. but these are invertibrates......they are sensitive and have long life spans. I personally dont reccoment Sarcopyhton Spp to the beginner aquarist for a nujmber of differnt reasons. I have seen them get so large on rocks that their polyps extend out of the water and perish in weeks due to stress and exposure.

True but also how long would it take for a 1 1/2" frag to get that big?

I hate having crabs.

 

[ddelozier]

Mushrooms adapt to a wide range of light, button polyps are almost as flexible but arent 100% dependant on the light for food(a few frozen brine shrimp once a week, and they spread like weeds). Zoa's are fairly flexible, and widely available. Toadstools are easy to care for, but require high lighting conditions, multiple t5ho(3watt per gal +) or metal halides(3watt per gal+). I had a friend order a medium to low end LED Fixture for his mixed reef tank. His zoa's were ok, mushrooms were ok, but he had to cut his toadstool off the rock and give it to me, cause he sold his MH lights, and the TS didnt like the leds. Green Star Polyps and Xenia are fairly adaptable. If they have barely enough light, they wont spread much, but look ok. If they have Plenty of light, they can spread like weeds, even requiring trimming occasionaly to keep them from taking over.

 

[dmatt88]

True but also how long would it take for a 1 1/2" frag to get that big?

I hate having crabs.

1-2 years it'll surprise u.

..........rarely am I speechless