beginenr to corals

[danlim]

Hi, for beginner, what type of corals to start with ? I have FOWL now in 3X2X2, canister w/o chiller, temp 29-30C. W/o chiller what type of corals can survive?

[Qxnviolet]

if you want, maybe you can try some hardy corals like zoos or mushrooms....can try with the cheaper variety first and see if they'll survive. Cheaper ones are normally less than $5 a piece...

[jervismun]

Can you tell us more about your setup like lighting?

But if you have Metal Halide fixtures, chiller is almost a must. I tried running my 24g NC with 150W MH without chiller, the temperature went up to almost 32ºC... die like that!

So do let us know what's your lighting... it affects the rest of the setup.

[Qxnviolet]

Hrmz, i guess 29 to 30 dgrees is with everything running already? Anyway, mushrooms and zoos are some of the most hardy corals around and will do relatively ok in that temp range...maybe you could start a thread in the "member's tank n specs" thread with pictures provided so we can get a clearer picture of what you are running in your system. Oh, a list of LS in your tank would be good as well, some LS peck on corals...

[danlim]

no MH. Only PL light. Will be adding T5 soon

3 Clowns, 1 bi color angel, 1 BT, 1 damsel, 3 turbo snails, 1 cleaner shrimp in the tank

[Elune]

Hi, for beginner, what type of corals to start with ? I have FOWL now in 3X2X2, canister w/o chiller, temp 29-30C. W/o chiller what type of corals can survive?

hi there,

yep, tell us what kinda lighting you are using (or plan to use).

Becuz some corals require certain intensity of lights for their diet/ to photosynthesis.

Qxnviolet is right to suggest trying out some of the hardier (thus beginner) corals like Zoos (Zoanthids) and mushrooms. These corals are easier to keep. Alternatively, u can try Sun Corals, which is non-photosynthetic, so it does NOT need strong lightings. U only need a good water flow towards the sun coral.

Alternatively, u can tell us what is the type of corals u EVENTUALLY wanna keep, and perhaps our guys here can suggest wat type of lightings to go for. so u only buy the lightings 1 time ya?

My advise is to keep water temperatures low. Esp. if u want to keep corals. So in case ur budget is tight on a chiller (which i find its freaking expensive; perhaps i m poor), I suggest that you at the very least install a fan (budget around $60). Having a fan installed and allows you to keep temperatures between 26 - 27 degree celsius. Still its dependent on the type of lights u are using (MH will boil fish if there is no chiller).

in case u intend to install a fan, do take note of the evaporation rate, and follow up with water top up to maintain the Specific Gravity ya!

Good luck and reef onz