What corals to get?

i am not sure what lighting you have, but favias, acans, candy canes, all like low to moderate lighting, if you have lower lighting they should do fine towards the top, tracys would prolly work as well, there are a lot of options for low light lps. what do you like?

 

lol That, I'm not sure on that. I like color and interesting shapes. lol. montipora capicornus, kenya tree, candy cane, polyps, some mushrooms, toadstoll leather, . I also like sponges and nem's for a more established tank. I don't really like favia or chalices.

My light fixture will be Aquarium Lighting for Freshwater and Reef Systems: Nova Extreme Compact SLR T-5 Fixtures for a 55g tank. 48" L x 12" W x 20" H

 

These 3 are cool polyps.

http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a454/coral2sell/034.jpg
http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a454/coral2sell/031.jpg
http://i1037.photobucket.com/albums/a454/coral2sell/037.jpg

 

Acans (this refers to Acanthastrea) have some of the nicest colors of any types of coral, with a somewhat bland shape because they're considered a "massive" coral. In terms of color, button corals (acanthophyllia genus) are also up there as being some of the most colorful. Favias too lol.

Most of the SPS I see are somewhat bland in coloration compared to the vibrancy in the astreas and phyllias, IMO. The shapes will definitely present a problem when dealing with them, though....they just don't have shape going for them.

 

hmm. I've been looking at lights. I know Tek is almost top of the line. Was going with the nova slr extreme 48". Now possibly looking into the 48" Teck light T5HO for just a few dollars more and free shipping from reef geek. Any thoughts?

http://www.reefgeek.com/lighting/T5...igh-Output_Fixture_(Black)_by_Sunlight_Supply

Please post thoughts/comments on this new light on my other thread...

http://www.3reef.com/forums/reef-lighting/lighting-55g-reef-87174-3.html

 

if you like the look of nems, hammerheads and torches can be had and are very easy corals, i have a green and pink euphyllia in my tank that hosts my picasso clowns right now. be sure if you get them to place them in a lower flow area, also i bought it with 5 medium heads, those have prolly doubled the amount of "arms" and i have counted 7-8 new baby heads coming up, i have only had it about a month.

in terms of liking colors, i am surprised you do not like favias since they are extremely colorful, but to each his own. acans have the best coloration i have seen, if you go to my build thread on here in the new to the hobby forum you can see my acans on the 3rd page. if you do not mind paying 100ish for a coral there are some amazing scolys that can be had, one of my friends has a pink/baby blue one that i absolutely love.

there are quite a few colors of candy canes that you can have since you said that you like those, they are a very easy coral as well, they will branch up to find the amount of light/flow that they like so you should be good there.

zoas/palys have amazing color for the price, if you have actinics or night LEDs they absolutely glow, if you keep it towards the top you can get a hydnophora. i have a green one that looks like nuclear waste under my night lights and actinics.

 

Toadstool Leather Corals are a great tank filler, rather inexpensive for the size you can get them at... and pretty darn neat!

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Thee nem. you have, Footballdude , seems to have grown pretty quickly. As far as favia, it depends on which ones. I like some of them, now that I look at them more. Some have great colors while others look quite dull. Here's a cool one.

http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z297/fullmeal88/favia2.jpg

Like the nuclear waste. Here's another one that's pretty neat.

http://areefcreation.com/catalog/images/prism favia frags.jpg

 

thanks but its not a nem its a form of hammer/torch coral. it is nice because it gives off the same look, but it does not move around with the possibility of killing your other corals. also it is nice that it does not need a lot of light, it is happy as can be in my tank. LOVE the second picture you posted...if you look around you will be surprised at all of the colors you can find good luck

 

Well, let's put it this way: they don't require the highest amounts of light, but will definitely appreciate higher lighting levels.