What coral first....or should I wait?

OK. My tank is cycled. My numbers are good except for nitrate. It is at about 20 (down from 100 a few weeks ago). I am going to work that down toward zero with weekly 30% water changes using rodi h2o from the lfs. That will take awhile. My only problem is my lighting. I think I have enough to do some easy corals in the top twelve inches of my tank. SPS is out, I know that. At this point, is it an exercise in futility? I DO NOT want to kill anything out of impatience. But if success is probable, I am willing to try. Let me know and thanks. John.

Lighting listed below.

 

i started with mushroom polyps and after a few months with them got some beautiful hammer coral frags and after a few more months with them i just recently got some frogspawn these three are pretty hardy as far as corals go, next for me is a colt or kenya tree.
zoanthids are supposed to be pretty easy too, i can't speak from experience on them though as i have none as of yet

as far as your lighting goes thats certainly plenty for the soft corals and i think you might get away with sps up high

 

What type / size light system ?

 

I have two PCs going. Both 48". One is 4x55W 10K and actinic and the other is 4x65W daylight and actinic.

 

You can go with mushrooms or green star pollyps now. GSPs are a nice coral. Get a small frag and in 6 months it will be a fairly large attractive easy to keep coral. Most other soft corals will also do well Kenyan tree, toadstool, etc
Stay away from SPS until your tank is at least 6 months old and you have stronger lighting.

 

U can get some xenia, that spreads fast and is nice, also will help feed off some of them nitrates.

 

Actually no coral types will do well until water params completely stabilize. This can take a good while in many tanks as they fluctuate pretty wildly as fish are added.

Many corals are lost at startup due this reason.

Recommend you don't go out and buy any large expensive coral specimens. Just get inexpensive "frags" so you do not wind up loosing lots of $ if coral does not make it. (Also is lots of fun to watch them grow and multiply)

Stick with softies to start (you also just may find you like them and thats all you wind up keeping. ) --- Many quite beautiful to choose from. Most pretty hardy and light/flow forgiving.

Only get a couple as they they are pretty much incompatible if you decide to go with SPS corals later.


Corals: What They Are and How They Live, by J. Charles Delbeek

"...They are mysterious guests from an exotic world. Unlike anything else we keep in an aquarium, they represent the essence of the coral reefs that we try to duplicate in our living rooms. Our success at this effort depends greatly on how well we understand these unusual life forms..."



Learn to Live With It

"...As surprising as it may seem your tank will look ugly at first. This happens to all new marine aquariums as they cycle through their initial filtration phase. Your tank may go brown, and then green, and then red, and then just look junky. It happens. Consequently the one coral you really want to keep may not live. You may struggle to raise the prize fish you originally intended to acquire. It's okay; just learn to love whatever is working for you. Remember, not only is this a hobby, but we are keeping living ecosystems. Special efforts should be put forth to enjoy and appreciate what we are keeping, whatever it may be. It takes time and patience to turn a glass box full of rock into a beautiful, thriving reef tank..." (Adam Blundell M.S.)


Have fun!

Enjoy!

8)

 

+1 on star polyps. Quite easy to keep.