Are these corals really easy care???

GoBigGuy · Mar 23, 2014

So I've been looking at liveaquaria.com and all of the following corals were listed as easy care, is this true? Also what type of LED lighting system would be needed for a 90 gal tank with the below?

Australian Big Polyp Blastomussa
Australis Doughnut Coral
Blue Mushroom
Brain Coral, Goniastrea
Brain Coral, Trachyphyllia
Brain Worm Platygyra Coral
Bullseye Rhodactis Mushroom
Button Coral, Cynarina
Button Coral, Parascolymia
Candy Cane Coral
Caulastrea Coral
Cauliflower Colt Coral
Colony Polyp, Many different ones
Dwarf Colored Feather Duster
Hawaiian Feather Duster
Glove Polyp Coral
Goniastrea Coral
Green Fluorescent Mushroom
Green Toadstool Mushroom Leather Coral
Hairy Mushroom
Heteroxenia Polyp
Hexagon Brain Coral
Lavender Mushroom
Long Polyp Leather
Mini Carpet Anemone
Neon Pineapple Tree Coral
Plate Coral, Pinwheel
Sarcophyton Toadstool Leather Coral
Shaving Brush Plant
Spotted Mushroom
Taylor's Purple Tree Coral
Toadstool Mushroom Leather Coral, Brown
Trumpet Coral

robert_ellis · Mar 23, 2014

Don't get the clove polyp coral. You will regret it. Other then that they all look like easy to care for coral

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

phish96 · Mar 24, 2014

Almost all LPS/soft corals should be easy to care for. If you're not familiar with LEDs PAR strength I suggest you get one that has a dimmable feature so you can start off at a low intensity.

Can't go wrong with either Radions, AI, & Kessils

GoBigGuy · Mar 24, 2014

robert_ellis said:

What's wrong with a glove polyp coral?

standaman4 · Mar 24, 2014

GoBigGuy said:

They just grow fast and take over =)... Not always true though cause GSP's are supposed to be insane and I can seem to grow it EVER. But phish96 is right... most LPS/softies are easy/easier to care for. MOST of them.

GoBigGuy · Mar 24, 2014

phish96 said:

Now if I spend a lot of money on lights my wife will kill me, what is the cheapest route I can go and still have LPS/soft corals? Right now I have a Marineland LED Lighting System which I have been told wouldn't be enough, what if I doubled it and had two of them? (I can get them for free)

standaman4 · Mar 24, 2014

GoBigGuy said:

I'm not sure if more would necessarily be better for that system. What do you mean by "cheapest"? Cause depending on your budget you can go with a couple options. =)

GoBigGuy · Mar 24, 2014

"cheapest" would be the least amount of money I would have to spend for a 90 gal

I'm just looking to replace my fake and dead coral with live stuff. I've heard that mushrooms and polyps would be ok with my current setup and want to know what else would work or if I made a small investment in lighting how much more could I have living in my tank

standaman4 · Mar 24, 2014

GoBigGuy said:

Mushrooms, green star polyps, clove polyps, and some leathers might work with your current lights (I don't have much experience with Marineland leds). I noticed that anemone was part of your list and they would absolutely not work with your current lights. Lighting is ONE of the major investments you'll have to make in this hobby to sucessfully keep different types of corals =P. I think T5's are cheaper initially, but you'll have to spend money purchasing new bulbs every 8-12 months and your electric bill will be a bit more. LED's hurt more upfront, but they last "forever" and they won't draw as much power.

BTW... I am in no way an expert lol... Maybe some of the LED guys can chime in

GoBigGuy · Mar 24, 2014

standaman4 said:

Mushrooms, green star polyps, clove polyps, and some leathers might work with your current lights (I don't have much experience with Marineland leds). I noticed that anemone was part of your list and they would absolutely not work with your current lights. Lighting is ONE of the major investments you'll have to make in this hobby to sucessfully keep different types of corals =P. I think T5's are cheaper initially, but you'll have to spend money purchasing new bulbs every 8-12 months and your electric bill will be a bit more. LED's hurt more upfront, but they last "forever" and they won't draw as much power.

BTW... I am in no way an expert lol... Maybe some of the LED guys can chime in

So what is the least expensive LED option? What is the least expensive T5 option?

standaman4 · Mar 24, 2014

GoBigGuy said:

Like I said I'm not an expert with all different kinds of lighting, but what you need to decide is ultimately what you would like your tank to look like. If you want to stick to softies and LPS then you can get away pretty cheap on lighting IMO. If you eventually want to go with SPS then spending the money now will save you the upgrade later. With this being said I've heard reef breeders makes a great LED that grows and in the world of LEDs, is fairly "cheap". If you want to stick to softies and easier LPS then coralife T5 fixtures should be able to get the job done.... I've had one of these in the past and it worked just fine for me. Scour the lighting section of the forums and you should be able to find some answers. =D

oredith · Mar 24, 2014

i bought the cheap chinese knockoff LEDs.. "full spectrum", which, i'm really not sure how good they are.

they seem to be working great for my tank though, everything grows and seems happy.

mark.a.smith405 · Mar 24, 2014

AI sols are a cheaper led option. 200$ a unit and they will allow any LPS/softie/nem to flourish

GoBigGuy · Mar 24, 2014

This is what I am looking at:

Bullseye Rhodactis Mushroom
Colony Polyp, Assorted
Colony Polyp, Yellow
Dwarf Colored Feather Duster
Glove Polyp Coral
Green Mushroom
Hawaiian Feather Duster
Kenya Tree Coral
Lavender Mushroom
Lemon Tree Coral
Pipe Organ Coral
Sarcophyton Toadstool Leather Coral

How much light do I really need for the above? right now I'm looking at the cheap chinese knockoff LEDs

Are these corals really easy care???

GoBigGuy

New member

robert_ellis

Premium Member

phish96

Member

GoBigGuy

New member

standaman4

Member

GoBigGuy

New member

standaman4

Member

GoBigGuy

New member

standaman4

Member

GoBigGuy

New member

standaman4

Member

oredith

2

mark.a.smith405

Premium Member

GoBigGuy

New member

Latest posts