What is your favorite coral??

[fishymommy]

Hello! I'm starting up a new 20g reef and was wondering what your favorite corals are so I can start being expose to all the awesome one's available. I have a T5HO 4x24watt actinic/10,000K with lunar Current USA light that spans the whole 30" of my long tank. I'm pretty sure that means only softies for me unless you think otherwise.

So, what is YOUR favorite coral?? thumbs2:

[saix88]

Oh man a favorite coral...that's way to hard!!!

Hands down a Yuma Ricordia Mushroom for softies

SPS...ALL!!!!:hmm3grin2orange:

Does your T5's have individual reflectors? That increases the output by a lot and you should be able to have any coral.

[fishymommy]

I'm not sure what that means but my light does have a sheet of very reflective metal behind all of the bulbs that directs the light back into my tank. Is that what your thinking of?

Cool coral btw. And you don't have to list just one. Tons of suggestions/favorites is awesome too!!

Thanks!

[saix88]

I'm not sure what that means but my light does have a sheet of very reflective metal behind all of the bulbs that directs the light back into my tank. Is that what your thinking of?

Cool coral btw. And you don't have to list just one. Tons of suggestions/favorites is awesome too!!

Thanks!

No, there are individual sheets of metal between each bulb and it increases the out put by A LOT!

Have fun getting lost...
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The beauty of SPS is just unbelievable...
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[saix88]

BUT CORALS FOR YOU; there are many beautiful zooanthids, mushrooms, and other soft polyps. Best thing to do is just go to many marine stores and check out their corals and their is always something new you haven't seen.

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[saix88]

BTW here is a picture of a Yuma Ricordia
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[fishymommy]

That is a really neat coral. Thanks for the help!

[travie]

All of them. Can that be my answer. I find it impossible to pick just one as being my favorite.

[fishymommy]

haha what does all of them mean? So far I have been pretty limited to witnessing what is on liveaquaria.com. Are there any of those you prefer over others? Why? Any other corals not on that site that you like a lot??

P.S. I'm trying to do a bunch of research ahead of time while my tank is maturing so I don't end up with a jumbled mess like my 90g is right now.

Thanks,

fishymommy

[MCHRKiller]

lol, Im happy with a good ol' Star Polyp or a blue Ricordia mushroom

[AABatteries]

I love zoas and ricordias, for softies. And pretty much any SPS. All coral are cool though.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

That's an easy one. LOL

I love my Galaxia coral. Aggressive little beauty and definitely not recommended for a smaller tank for that reason, but a beauty none the less.
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[sid101]

Yuma hands down is my favorite coral, barin coral is great as well as pretty much all SPS and most LPS also most softies for me, what he meant by the reflectors is if each tube has it's own "half circle" or reflector behind it or if all share a single big reflector.

Is your fixture the "Current USA Sundial T5 HO"? if so the only thing you should think before buying would be tridacna clams and acroporas.

[saix88]

How could I leave out the beautiful duncan ><

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[kaybee]

Hard decision as to my favorite (which may explain why my tank contains all sorts of corals) but I'm particular to LPS corals (such as the sun coral in my avatar).

[fishymommy]

Yes, my light is the Sundial T5 HO 4x24watt light by Current USA. It doesn't have curved metal reflectors around each bulb but instead, there is one big sheet that is sort of zig-zag or crimped to fit around each bulb... if that makes any sense..

So does this mean I could have SPS or LPS?? btw, what do those stand for any way? I've seen "small polyp stony" before but what does that mean?

Seems like the yuma ricordia is a favorite amongst many. It says its semi-agressive though. Could I safely have it in my 20g Long (29g footprint)??

And I love the sun coral in your avatar kaybee. Very bright colors!

Thanks everyone for your opinions so far!!

[saix88]

Yes, my light is the Sundial T5 HO 4x24watt light by Current USA. It doesn't have curved metal reflectors around each bulb but instead, there is one big sheet that is sort of zig-zag or crimped to fit around each bulb... if that makes any sense..

So does this mean I could have SPS or LPS?? btw, what do those stand for any way? I've seen "small polyp stony" before but what does that mean?

Seems like the yuma ricordia is a favorite amongst many. It says its semi-agressive though. Could I safely have it in my 20g Long (29g footprint)??

And I love the sun coral in your avatar kaybee. Very bright colors!

Thanks everyone for your opinions so far!!

I can't remember what it's called but sunlight Tek 5 and icecap has it for their individual reflectors *think it starts with a p?* while the Current uses contoured. Current's produce a lot of output, but not as much as the Tek's reflectors.

SPS = Small Polyp Stony
LPS = Large Polyp Stony

The polyps on the coral are either small or large.

Here is a Birds Nest Coral *SPS* It's a stony but the polyps are small *gives more of that full stony/rock appearance*

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Here is a Hammer Coral *LPS* It's a stony *base* but the polyps are large. Correct me if I'm wrong but all of the LPS I can think of have mouths and should be fed meaty foods.
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You could have SPS and LPS in your tank since your T5's reflectors are contoured and same goes for individual reflectors. Normal T5's would not work since the output isn't enough. I would not suggest putting them at the bottom of your tank though, anywhere from mid to top works best.

All coral has temperament and should be properly spaced. Yumas are not as common as a find in a local store as the Florida ones are and Yumas are very very expensive.

[sid101]

yes your reflector are contoured and with that fixture you can have anything you want but tridacna clams and/or acropora (SPS). yes i think you could have a yume in your tank just dont let it touch any other coral. Since it can't move that shouldnt be much of a concern.

[labnjab]

Mine would have to be a tie between our candy cane and open brain

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[fishymommy]

Wow, thank you very very much for all of that information! I love learning about all of this stuff. Thats awesome and uber exciting that I can have SPS an LPS in my tank. I thought I was limited to softies only. WOOT!

Thanks again everyone!