Beginner Corals & Requirements

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mhandley92

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Hey Guys,

The more and more I research into saltwater and see all of you posting awesome corals, the more I want to learn!
I'll post my tank soon, but it's a 90 gallon (48L x 18W x 24H) w/ sump. I don't have great lighting for saltwater. I bought the tank from someone who was running freshwater, and it has a Beamswork F-Spec light. Since everything needed for corals tends to be pricey, I'm trying to plan out all of my needed purchases so that my wife can still fuel her random hobby lobby and Kirklands purchases :D LOL

What are some corals that each of you started out with? What kind of setup were you running at the time?
I know that I want corals, but I don't want to pre-maturely buy them and kill them.

What are the differences between cheapo MarineLand powerheads and the super expensive wavemakers I see everyone commonly using?
 
Start with some Green Star Polyps (GSP). But put it on a personal small rock that doesn’t touch your main rockwork. This way it won’t spread too much. This is a great, super-easy, beginner coral, and also a great “Canary-coral”. If something is seriously bad with your water, he will close up immediately and give you a visual signal. You’ll see it and think “crap! Something is maybe wrong, I better test my water.” And other times, you’ll look and see him all green and shining, and think “Whew! He is happy, so my water can’t be too bad.” You’ll test your water anyways... but you won’t be as worried.

Otherwise, listen to advice on a coral-by-coral basis! You got a 90g tank, which is a great size to start. Lots of flexibility. I’d recommend sticking with easy corals, and maybe choose 1 moderate difficulty coral for the first couple months. If he is still healthy after a few months, you’ll gain confidence and can step up your game bit by bit.

Final advice: go as slow as you can. I promise within a year or so, you will have too much coral. These grow exponentially, as do our desires.
 
Awesome advice! Any other beginner corals you'd recommend?

I plan to take it slow. My tank is still new, so I'm in no hurry. Planning to add my first fish this weekend!

What are the light requirements for GSPs? Should I start by purchasing a better light, or wavemakers, or what should be the next purchase haha.
 
Mushrooms, leather corals would be good start

After you get comfortable with stability of your system try some basic lps like green hammer or frogspawn maybe acans. See how it goes.

plan for 6 months
 
I have a 90 with a sump that I just started in August, so here’s a few things I’d do differently with your requirements in mind:

- Chinese Blackbox LED fixtures will be fine for you with softies. Lookup Mars Aqua, there's tons of clones like it, can probably do 2 of them and get enough usable for any of the above suggested softies, and probably plenty of most LPS. Beginner lights for $200, that later on can be used elsewhere, when you inevitably upgrade.

Side note: I did the upgrade game all the time 10 years ago when I was keeping lots of tanks. I knew my wife would never approve of these things multiplying in my house, so I went with what I wanted... got a Reefbreeders Photon 48 V2+ for about $650 - that sucker is a beast. Nothing else I purchased is anywhere near as expensive. Not saying this is what you need, but it does everything I wanted a light to do in a really sleek, refined package.

- Smaller skimmer. I went with an oversized skimmer, and apparently, it strips out just about everything from the water. Which is good, sure... unless you want softies (and coloration in my SPS). In that case, you want some nutrients in the water. I have a Reef Octopus AC20287, but I believe it would be fine with something like the 4" 110 Classic. Occasionally, someone is selling a good skimmer here, so maybe be patient for a deal - you don't need one right away. Alternatively, I could put it on a timer, but it serves as my primary aeration for the tank water.

- Bigger ATO. I undersized my Auto Top Off unit with only 5 gallons so it would fit easily in the stand. If there's one thing I could redo, I'd go at least 10Gal, maybe even try to figure out how to get a 15 gallon container in the stand. In this dry weather, I'm going through a little more than a gallon per day of evap water.

- Smaller gyre. I went with a Jebao CP-150, and it's on the lowest setting. I wanted high flow because I'm keeping SPS, but obviously could have done fine with a SCP-90. This is my only powerhead in the tank, and it blows everything around quite well.
 
bzb said:
I have a 90 with a sump that I just started in August, so here’s a few things I’d do differently with your requirements in mind:

- Chinese Blackbox LED fixtures will be fine for you with softies. Lookup Mars Aqua, there's tons of clones like it, can probably do 2 of them and get enough usable for any of the above suggested softies, and probably plenty of most LPS. Beginner lights for $200, that later on can be used elsewhere, when you inevitably upgrade.

Side note: I did the upgrade game all the time 10 years ago when I was keeping lots of tanks. I knew my wife would never approve of these things multiplying in my house, so I went with what I wanted... got a Reefbreeders Photon 48 V2+ for about $650 - that sucker is a beast. Nothing else I purchased is anywhere near as expensive. Not saying this is what you need, but it does everything I wanted a light to do in a really sleek, refined package.

- Smaller skimmer. I went with an oversized skimmer, and apparently, it strips out just about everything from the water. Which is good, sure... unless you want softies (and coloration in my SPS). In that case, you want some nutrients in the water. I have a Reef Octopus AC20287, but I believe it would be fine with something like the 4" 110 Classic. Occasionally, someone is selling a good skimmer here, so maybe be patient for a deal - you don't need one right away. Alternatively, I could put it on a timer, but it serves as my primary aeration for the tank water.

- Bigger ATO. I undersized my Auto Top Off unit with only 5 gallons so it would fit easily in the stand. If there's one thing I could redo, I'd go at least 10Gal, maybe even try to figure out how to get a 15 gallon container in the stand. In this dry weather, I'm going through a little more than a gallon per day of evap water.

- Smaller gyre. I went with a Jebao CP-150, and it's on the lowest setting. I wanted high flow because I'm keeping SPS, but obviously could have done fine with a SCP-90. This is my only powerhead in the tank, and it blows everything around quite well.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much for taking the time to type that long reply and answer everything.

-I had been looking at MarsAqua. There is someone near Savannah selling 3 of them (165W)+ some Intellinet 36" for like $125 total. So I honestly may make the drive and pick them up.

-I do have a skimmer, although I'm still trying to figure out some fitment issues. I want the skimmer in the first section of the sump, but the filter sock holder is currently in my way lol. I picked up a Reef Octopus Classic 150 used locally for a steal! This seems to be a little smaller rated than yours, so hopefully that's along your recommendation?

-I'm actually doing a DIY ATO right now. I've got float valves, relay, etc and plan on putting the time into it this weekend. I too only have a 5 gallon bucket right now, but have been looking for a bigger safe container for the water.

-Ah that's helpful. The SCP-90 isn't too bad in price. Do you think I'd still only need one with SPS? Or would I need to add another at some point? I still dont understand the difference from just throwing cheapo Marineland Maxi-Jet or a Hydor Koralia Evo.
 
I would be cautious with Xenia. It can and will detach and spread out of control. Awesome coral nonetheless, one of my favorites, and super easy, just not recommended in my book.

And good offer by @civics14 , my first 2 corals ever were a GSP and Red Monti Cap.
 
mhandley92 said:
Thank you so much for taking the time to type that long reply and answer everything.

-I had been looking at MarsAqua. There is someone near Savannah selling 3 of them (165W)+ some Intellinet 36" for like $125 total. So I honestly may make the drive and pick them up.

-I do have a skimmer, although I'm still trying to figure out some fitment issues. I want the skimmer in the first section of the sump, but the filter sock holder is currently in my way lol. I picked up a Reef Octopus Classic 150 used locally for a steal! This seems to be a little smaller rated than yours, so hopefully that's along your recommendation?

-I'm actually doing a DIY ATO right now. I've got float valves, relay, etc and plan on putting the time into it this weekend. I too only have a 5 gallon bucket right now, but have been looking for a bigger safe container for the water.

-Ah that's helpful. The SCP-90 isn't too bad in price. Do you think I'd still only need one with SPS? Or would I need to add another at some point? I still dont understand the difference from just throwing cheapo Marineland Maxi-Jet or a Hydor Koralia Evo.
Click to expand...

Seems like a great deal on the lights, but wow that drive though!

Classic 150 is a great skimmer, but I believe it's just the predecessor to mine... so you're likely going to have same results. It's not necessarily a bad thing - I think dosing extra nutrients is way easier than exporting them out.

You can always add another powerhead wherever. But based on my experience, a single SCP-90 should be fine in the 90 gallon even for SPS. I placed most of my SPS on the side of the tank with the pump, so they get blasted and seem to like it.
 
ActiveAngel said:
I would be cautious with Xenia. It can and will detach and spread out of control. Awesome coral nonetheless, one of my favorites, and super easy, just not recommended in my book.

And good offer by @civics14 , my first 2 corals ever were a GSP and Red Monti Cap.
Click to expand...
I've been looking into these, and honestly think they may be great ideas. Now I've just got to find some! :)
 
@mhandley92 If you can find used lights for a good price like the Mars Aqua or similar "Black Box" that's a good way to go in the beginning. It's also good to buy other used equipment like the skimmer you got. Most of those deals will be well under retail and can be sold again to get most of your money back. If/when it comes time to buying something new, is the time to really put your research in and buy right the 1st time. It's never good to skimp and buy something new because of the price (unless it really is a good deal) only to find you need to upgrade in a short while later. You'll never get close to retail on used equipment. This hobby is expensive enough as it is, better to buy right the 1st time and not have to buy the same thing new more than once, even if you end up paying a little more than you planned.

With the coral. Don't go into it too worried about killing things. You will kill things, it's just a part of the hobby. There are plenty of members here willing to give some of the less expensive corals for free to help you start. It's just the drive you'll have to make to get them. Coming from south of Macon is a bit of a hike. There are a few members there it's just not as plentiful as Metro Atlanta is.

Good luck getting started and post some pics of your setup!!!
 
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