Anything at all about corals

Der_Iron_Chef · #1 12-16-2006, 10:22 PM

It really depends. You don't *need* metal halide lighting if you only want to keep a variety of certain soft corals and LPS (Large Polyp Stony) corals. I have five corals under Power Compact lighting, and they are doing very well!

It's really necessary to research the individual coral, finding out what lighting/water flow/additives it needs.

I think the worst mistake, with regards to keeping corals, is the impulse buy!! It pays to know what, exactly, you're bringing home....

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #2 12-16-2006, 10:28 PM

Get some good books on the subject & get a better idea what different species look like & their requirements. If you decide not to go with MH, then you will need to focus a future reef on softies & low-med. light LPS. In many cases, you can keep higher light requiring species under PC, but they would need to be placed higher up in the LR structure & be prepared for some of the colours to maybe fade.

Research, research, research. It'll save you lots of $$ & it'll keep your purchases alive.

Anthony

mark · #3 12-17-2006, 01:02 AM

Definitely time for some books. Try "Book of Coral Propagation" by Calfo and "Corals, (selection, husbandry, and natural history)" by Borneman.

Dale · #4 12-17-2006, 01:45 AM

Yes, a good book is in order. Asking for a simple rundown on corals is like asking for a simple rundown on mammals. The spectrum is too vast for any one type of answer. How about narrowing it down to a specific variety.
Too bad you weren't interested in anenomes. That would have gotten you that last A

Pan · #5 12-17-2006, 03:51 AM

Check out what you like on an online source such as fragfactory (canadian) or liveaquaria (they have some nice wysiwyg photos in there catalouge so you can see what you'd actually get) pick the ones you like find out their names and research them specifically. Then go from there...

justinl · #6 12-17-2006, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dale

Yes, a good book is in order. Asking for a simple rundown on corals is like asking for a simple rundown on mammals. The spectrum is too vast for any one type of answer. How about narrowing it down to a specific variety.
Too bad you weren't interested in anenomes. That would have gotten you that last A

ANEMONES! brilliant hahaha

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BTW thanks for the super quick replies you guys, that's awesome! Yeah Ive been looking at a few corals... they're so much more diverse than I had previously imagined. I especially like the pulsing xenia... synchronised filter feeding. I vote we make that a new Olympic event.