Newb needs advice

[reefnewb]

Hello all:

I have started a 29G tank and need some advice:

I would like to have some coral, some fish (Chromis, Cardinal, Clown)
and need some help deciding what species of coral to choose from.

I do have several years experience keeping fish only in saltwater, but am entirely new to the reef experience

Any advice would be good advice. I have the patience to do it right and do not wish to kill creatures by means of stupidity.

29G
36# live rock, 35# aragonite sand and crushed coral
aquaclear 50
Coralife super skimmer 65
2 zoomed rotating powerheads
Coralife 24" lunar aqualife (2x65W)
:biggrin:

[milesj250]

i have done well with birds nest and tree corals (my first corals got at frag fest) i found a cabage coral in my tank and is doing great. i was told that leather and sps are my best bet they might do good for you. a good book is aquarium corals by eric h. borneman lots of info.

[michika]

I see you have PC lighting on your system. With that kind of lighting, assuming you are not upgrading, I would recommend softies, and zoas/zoos. There is also some types of corals, such a sun coral, that are not photosynthetic, and may be of interest to you in the future.

[fishytime]

Xenia,green star polyps, most leathers, zoas, palys, mushrooms, frogspawn/hammer. MAYBE some of the less light thirsty sps such as birdsnest, digitata, if placed at the tippy top of the tank.

[reefnewb]

Thank you all for the advice.

Any issues between fish and corals I should consider?

[Mik_101]

With your lighting I would go with softies. Are you planning for metal halides?

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Stay away from SPS corals for now. Most of these require high light (metal halides), high flow & extremely high water quality.

Softies and certain types of LPS (large polyp stonies) are well suited to reef newbie tanks since they are much more forgiving of water quality & will do well under your PC lighting.

[Puff]

ive read that using crushed coral in a reef tank isnt a good thing, as it can trap a lot of nitrates.

[Snappy]

I agree that softies & LPS are your best bet. You may also want to include an anemone for your clown to host.