How did you plan your corals?

So far, I have some frogspawn and a zoanthid frag. Did you plan your coral layout or did you just buy what you wanted and place it? I love looking at the tank pictures - some are just incredible. I guess I wondered if it was by chance or if it took great thought and planning. We (Jwin) anchored the frogspawn in the middle front on a piece of live rock with that putty stuff you quish up, and the zoanthid frag is off to the side on another rock.

Advice, please? :-/

 

Im gonna start adding more corals to my 46 gal. bowfront, and the main things I look at are the flow and lighting requirements of each coral and also compatability between corals, right now I have two different colors of zoa and some porites on a single rock, they are both growing well...so I thing Im gonna add some different colored mushrooms, frogspawn, and maybe some leathers and go from there, one at a time of course...

 

Initially, I started collecting corals based on my light intensity and what my local pet shops had advised.
Through the years, reading and educating myself coinciding with my equipment upgrades, that changed and now it is more based on what I like as my lighting and mature tank will maintain most if not all species of corals.
I still shy away on certain corals such as Gonipora, Alveopora and Catalyphyllia though.

 

Im basing mine one first, what I can keep, no point in looking at stuff that will die in your tank, then what I like. I go for a variety of colors and also a variety of lighting conditions so that you can have corals at all levels of the tank. I place them where they will be happy and give them room to grow. I try to imagine what they will look like when they are big.

 

I am limited to the easy corals both because of my experience (or lack thereof) and my lighting (or lack thereof). So, eight months into the hobby and using PCs, I just buy that which I can keep alive.

 

Plan?

I ask about the ones I like... make sure they work with my setup.... and buy what I like!

 

I also do like PharmrJohn, I go by my lighting.. And stay away from the exotic stuff.
I do try to keep corals that sting together, and the ones that don't kind of bunched together, so one day it will look like a forest.. It's a process of learning, as each person is different, so the tanks are different.. And buying corals can be habit forming.. !! LOL

Good Luck, Larry

The water, feeding, lights and how much time you can devote to the upkeep..

 

Great points! I buy according to the following;

1. Lighting(when I had PC's)
2. What I like
3. Placement.(flow,lighting needs,compatability,growth)
4. Feeding requirements.
5. And of course, do I have the room for it

[SCROLL]Luna[/SCROLL]

 

I spend alot of time on the internet researching the corals that i am interested in. I narrow them down to the ones i can keep with my tank specs. Than i go to my local stores with those corals in mind and i have only bought frags, no colonies.

 

I started with a colt coral- easy, hard to kill. Moved to a zooanthid. It lived. Added a mushroom. It grew! Added a toadstool and a frogspawn. I spaced my purchases about 3 months apart so I could make sure everything lived, and hopefully flourished. Everything is larger and more colorful, and my last purchase was 4 months ago. I'm due for a shopping trip! Buy a good corals book, the one I have rated species on ease of care, lighting, where to put in the tank, etc. That was a big help. Enjoy!