thinking of corals

[Hajra]

wanted to try polyps or something of the sort. what do you suggest for a beginer with coral? the lighting that i have came with the tank. would it work for corals?  How much would it mess with my system as far as nitrogen cycle and how much? dont really know a lot so thought i would ask. interested in hearing from the more experienced than i. i hear polyps are easy but wanted the advice and opnions from everyone on here before i tried anything.

[Bergy]

coral, by definition is a colony of animals that are polyps....

adding coral, in a reasonable manner wont affect  , nitrogen or other perameters...

it all depends on your lighting...

there are some zoanthids that dont recquire a  lot of light just like there are some lps corals that dont need a lot of light


I guess i would suggest some zoanthids and some mushroom corals


check out www.liveaquaria.com  and search for those and look up lighting requirements for the ones you like

[Hajra]

the light that i have come with the tank. i doubt that it would be anygood for coral. what you think?

[Bergy]

not sure what came with your tank??? what type of bulb is it?  Pics will help???

it could be compact flourescent, or t5 flourescent or even metal halide...

i would shoot for a t5 fixture with at least 4 bulbs and 39watt or 54 watt

But you can try some mushrooms with your light and cross your fingers... they really dont need that much light


good luck

[cruzincaril]

yep, we need to know what lighting you have. as for my experience ( which is not very long) ive had good luck with the polyps, zooanthids , mushrooms espec..you cant go wrong with those. i have runaway xenias which im sure everyone knows about lol,and a few others i cant remem the names of. if u look at my tank pic somewhere on this forum you will see what i had..acutally when i first started with my 30 gal didnt have a lot of money plus the shipping is ridic..i bought a lot of nano size corals..you get like five or six kinds small for like 50 dollars..and they all survived and grew..so..whatever works for you

[Hajra]

its only one bulb. and fluorescent. will that still work with mushrooms or polyps?

[Bergy]

it would be good to know what type of flourescent... a picture of the bulb or the bulb 'end' / connector will help

but mushrooms will probly work