# first coral to buy?



## Mike (Feb 21, 2010)

Hello!
Just wondering what others would suggest could be a first coral to buy. I have a few mushrooms that are doing well but now I want to add some more. I know that it is mostly personal opinion but let me give some idea of what I have and then you have an idea of where i can go from there.

-180 gallon bow front
-good water flow to all areas but can be increased/ decreased as needed. I have a multi-grid system so I can adjust the flow to move it elsewhere if needed.
*3 X 250watt 10K lights although I am only 1 light right (centre) now.
*4 X 96watt actinic lights that covers the whole tank. 
The tank depth is 23inches deep so I opted to go 250 watt for maximum punch in the center but actinic for the sides.

My Calcium is great but my buffering/gh/K is still a bit low. I am slowly adding Super buffer K. I will be purchasing in about one month but wanted to hear people's opinions before talking to any sales staff.

Thanks again!


----------



## cablemike (Jan 7, 2009)

well it all depends on what type of corals you plan on keeping in the long run. softies or hard corals? Softies are always the best thing to start with as they are easy and survive in unstable tanks as your is and will be for at least a year. If you want a rock solid coral that will survive the tough water chemistry ahead go with a toadstool leather or finger leather, and there is always zoanthids and button polyps. Dont attempt any sps corals for at least a year but there is hardy large polyp corals like frogspawn and open brain corals. What ever you get just make sure it is known to be a hardy coral. And leathers will do fine with the current light configuration without turning on the other two MH lights. Ive had several lps corals thriving in a tank with just power compacts. Regarding flow, well each coral is different in that area and most leathers love high flow as it help release the slime buildup which they release to clean them selves ..


----------



## BKTruong (Jun 29, 2009)

Considering your tank is 180 gallons your depth is only 24" high which means you have more than sufficient lighting for whatever you want. Although as a beginner coral, any leathers such as colts or kenya trees and anything from the Euphyllia family such as frogspawns, hammerheads, torches will be a very good beginner experience. Oh yeah forgot to mention, Zoas!!! Especially Zoas! Couldn't kill them if ya tried LOL.


----------



## mr_brixs (Jun 18, 2009)

i start with hammer its been almost a year now and in that time i had an ich outbreak due to water issue but that was 9months ago when i was a newbie feel sorry about my yellow tang i didnt know what to dobut my hammer do good.. but anyways in my opinion i will start with softies like cablemike said..

as you can see in this pic i took this yesterday and look at my hammer when i bought it its only 5 heads now they are like 15 and i have to cut hehe i have 3 colonies now...

look atthe bottom thats my new hammer colonies


----------



## Mike (Feb 21, 2010)

just when I got it all together...
I figured that I was ready to start with some corals... Then I remembered that Koran Angels eat polyps. He won't touch my mushrooms but I remember reading that they are prone to nipping anything new in the tank.

I guess I will have to wait. That's okay I guess a few more mushrooms(and there are quite a few varieties).

Anybody know how they are with hard corals? Not now but in the future I might give stag coral a try.


----------



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Angel fishes are generally considered not reef safe as far as I know. Only some dwarf angels are known to be safe, but I met a reefer who has a flame angel he added thinking it was safe, now he can either 1) take down whole 100+ gallon tank to catch the fish 2) let all SPS corals die.

so if you plan to keep the Koran, your choice on corals could be limited. With all the lighting you have, that would be a waste


----------

