Help me decide what I should get for me first coral

[apwhite]

Hi all, I started my first 10g nano tank in January and added a true percula clownfish in April. I have now gotten the hang of owning a fish and my parameters are stable, so I’ve been looking into purchasing a coral. Mostly due to availability, the two front runners in my search are either a torch coral or a pink devils hand coral. If you guys could answer some questions to help me decide for n which I should get, that would be great!

1.) as I mentioned, my tank is only 10 gallons. I’ve heard that corals like Kenya trees are easy and hardy, but that they grow quite quickly and can take over a tank. I’m not opposed to fragging, but I prefer to have a coral that doesn’t require constant trimming back. How quickly do torches and devils hands grow? Will they take over my tank in a short period of time?
2.) right now I have an artificial anemone in my tank which my clown occasionally sleeps in. I’ve heard that sometimes clowns will interact with torches, and that sometimes this can damage or kill the coral. Will my clown sleeping in a torch cause harm to it?
3.) this is my first marine tank so I’m definitely new to the hobby. As I prefer not to kill any livestock, are either of the corals in question particularly difficult to care for/have abnormal needs?
4.) do these corals need spot fed? If so, with what?
5.) right now my tank has a white light in it. Should I get a blue/purple one if I want to keep corals? Also, does it specifically have to be a nice reef light or could it be a cheaper light off of Amazon that fits the right color spectrum? Will this make any sort of significant difference?

 

[P-Dub]

Hi all, I started my first 10g nano tank in January and added a true percula clownfish in April. I have now gotten the hang of owning a fish and my parameters are stable, so I’ve been looking into purchasing a coral. Mostly due to availability, the two front runners in my search are either a torch coral or a pink devils hand coral. If you guys could answer some questions to help me decide for n which I should get, that would be great!

1.) as I mentioned, my tank is only 10 gallons. I’ve heard that corals like Kenya trees are easy and hardy, but that they grow quite quickly and can take over a tank. I’m not opposed to fragging, but I prefer to have a coral that doesn’t require constant trimming back. How quickly do torches and devils hands grow? Will they take over my tank in a short period of time?
2.) right now I have an artificial anemone in my tank which my clown occasionally sleeps in. I’ve heard that sometimes clowns will interact with torches, and that sometimes this can damage or kill the coral. Will my clown sleeping in a torch cause harm to it?
3.) this is my first marine tank so I’m definitely new to the hobby. As I prefer not to kill any livestock, are either of the corals in question particularly difficult to care for/have abnormal needs?
4.) do these corals need spot fed? If so, with what?
5.) right now my tank has a white light in it. Should I get a blue/purple one if I want to keep corals? Also, does it specifically have to be a nice reef light or could it be a cheaper light off of Amazon that fits the right color spectrum? Will this make any sort of significant difference?

First things first. Congratulations on keeping your clown happy and healthy.

If you could answer a few questions for us to help you, that would be great.

Could you tell us about your current system in a lot more detail? What filtration are you using? What are your parameters, specifically? Do you have live rock and if so, how much?

I personally would start with a hardy zoa or shroom as my first coral, provided your current setup can support it. Light is one of the most important elements of successfully keeping. Most any type of coral, except for non-photosynthetic, which can be a challenge even for the more experienced hobbyist. Along with light are filtration and flow. Filtration being biological, mechanical, and chemical, and is what controls and stabilizes parameters and to a degree, dosing does as well, depending on the corals you want to keep. Flow being important for nutrient exchange and filtration.

Also, have you read the stickies in the forum section New to Saltwater & Reef Aquariums? Post Here ? Tons of useful info there.

As well, head on over to the Meet & Greet Forum and introduce yourself there. Let me be the first to welcome you to R2R, an invaluable resource along your journey.

So let's get started and see what happens.

 

[ilikefish69]

I think a 10g would be great for a Zoa garden

 

[Perthegallon]

Kenya tree there literally impossible to kill

 

[ilikefish69]

Also with almost any coral you’ll need full spectrum, LED or medal halide. Bulk reef supply has so many

 

[damsels are not mean]

Hi all, I started my first 10g nano tank in January and added a true percula clownfish in April. I have now gotten the hang of owning a fish and my parameters are stable, so I’ve been looking into purchasing a coral. Mostly due to availability, the two front runners in my search are either a torch coral or a pink devils hand coral. If you guys could answer some questions to help me decide for n which I should get, that would be great!

1.) as I mentioned, my tank is only 10 gallons. I’ve heard that corals like Kenya trees are easy and hardy, but that they grow quite quickly and can take over a tank. I’m not opposed to fragging, but I prefer to have a coral that doesn’t require constant trimming back. How quickly do torches and devils hands grow? Will they take over my tank in a short period of time?
2.) right now I have an artificial anemone in my tank which my clown occasionally sleeps in. I’ve heard that sometimes clowns will interact with torches, and that sometimes this can damage or kill the coral. Will my clown sleeping in a torch cause harm to it?
3.) this is my first marine tank so I’m definitely new to the hobby. As I prefer not to kill any livestock, are either of the corals in question particularly difficult to care for/have abnormal needs?
4.) do these corals need spot fed? If so, with what?
5.) right now my tank has a white light in it. Should I get a blue/purple one if I want to keep corals? Also, does it specifically have to be a nice reef light or could it be a cheaper light off of Amazon that fits the right color spectrum? Will this make any sort of significant difference?

1. Devils hand is a fine beginner coral and quite pretty. Yes you'd need to frag it often, but if you succeed in reefing all corals will need trimming back and managing. Like a healthy garden. The amount of management is overblown by lazy reefers IMO. Just keep up with it and don't wait for it to take over the tank (as any coral will eventually)

2. If the clown likes the torch, sometimes they can be kind of rough. This is a problem for small frags so it depends on the personality of the fish and the size of colony. It might prefer its old home anyways. I think this risk is overstated and healthy corals are fine with a rough resident.

3. Both are fine for beginners IMO. Soft corals tend to be a bit hardier but if you keep up with maintenance you can keep a torch just as well. Sometimes they don't do well but this seems to be an issue of quality specimens rather than poor husbandry.

4. No photosynthetic coral requires direct feeding. But some may benefit. It would not hurt to feed mysis or pellets or whatever else it takes occasionally but this is unnecessary. The clown may bring it food sometimes as well.

5. Any light which is bright enough will grow any coral. Remember, the sun is white, not windex. Corals are adaptable to spectrum as well. It is important to know as well that white has a lot of blue in it anyways, especially most cheap (generally "cool white") leds. The spectrum you use is mostly for aesthetics. Bluer lights make more fluorescent pop and certain wavelengths trigger more brilliant coloration. Do not feel the need to blow your budget on premium reef lights unless you think the tank is ugly.

 

[Rmckoy]

Hi all, I started my first 10g nano tank in January and added a true percula clownfish in April. I have now gotten the hang of owning a fish and my parameters are stable, so I’ve been looking into purchasing a coral. Mostly due to availability, the two front runners in my search are either a torch coral or a pink devils hand coral. If you guys could answer some questions to help me decide for n which I should get, that would be great!

1.) as I mentioned, my tank is only 10 gallons. I’ve heard that corals like Kenya trees are easy and hardy, but that they grow quite quickly and can take over a tank. I’m not opposed to fragging, but I prefer to have a coral that doesn’t require constant trimming back. How quickly do torches and devils hands grow? Will they take over my tank in a short period of time?
2.) right now I have an artificial anemone in my tank which my clown occasionally sleeps in. I’ve heard that sometimes clowns will interact with torches, and that sometimes this can damage or kill the coral. Will my clown sleeping in a torch cause harm to it?
3.) this is my first marine tank so I’m definitely new to the hobby. As I prefer not to kill any livestock, are either of the corals in question particularly difficult to care for/have abnormal needs?
4.) do these corals need spot fed? If so, with what?
5.) right now my tank has a white light in it. Should I get a blue/purple one if I want to keep corals? Also, does it specifically have to be a nice reef light or could it be a cheaper light off of Amazon that fits the right color spectrum? Will this make any sort of significant difference?

Great post . First things first . Welcome to r2r

let’s try to make this as enjoyable as possible .

after reading your entire post , I had a list of suggestions other than the 2 you questioned .
But I need to ask if your lights will be sufficient for corals .
and if so . Are they restricted to only soft corals such as the devils hand .
or lps such as the torch .
That being said ..
I have never had any luck with torch corals . But hammerCorals , are much hardier IME

there are plenty of corals that would do great and not take over too fast .
such as Zoas . Acan , favia .
I have heard of clowns and torch , hammers together but not too sure if any long term damage can occur

 

[Pistondog]

We have a 10g waterbox zoa garden, which host 2 osceliaris clowns.
Very low maintenance and showy.

 

[Pistondog]

They did fine with this light.
Aquarium Lights –2nd Generation A029 Aquarium LED Light 30Watts Saltwater Lighting with Touch Control, 3W/5W LED Chips for Coral Reef Nano Fish Tank Marine Tanks with Timer https://a.co/d/e50WBrh

 

[ZombieEngineer]

I would try some cool looking zoas first (not palys but zoas). Devils hand can grow quite quickly and isn't really stunning looking. Torches are really awesome, but are more of an intermediate coral.

Frogspawn would be a good second coral if the zoas start to multiply.


You will probably want to upgrade your light, but there are lots of options. If you have a bit more money to spend, the kessil A80 is amazing for that size tank. On the cheaper end of the spectrum, just a simple "par38 reef bulb" and an adjustable socket is sufficient for coral in that size tank.

 

[HudsonReefer2.0]

Welcome

 

[gbru316]

Stick with softies, polyps, and mushrooms for now.

Why? Because once you start adding stony corals -- you've started moving towards needing to supplement frequently (in some cases, daily -- or more for many of us, which is why dosing pumps are used) to maintain coral health. Stony corals pull alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium out of the water and use them to build their "skeletons" with.

I've no doubt that you'll eventually want hard corals of some type -- but just enjoy the ride for a moment before starting the dosing clock. Because that's just one more thing to worry about as you're starting out.

 

[Billabong]

Keep scrolling down

 

[JNalley]

5. Any light which is bright enough will grow any coral. Remember, the sun is white, not windex. Corals are adaptable to spectrum as well. It is important to know as well that white has a lot of blue in it anyways, especially most cheap (generally "cool white") leds. The spectrum you use is mostly for aesthetics. Bluer lights make more fluorescent pop and certain wavelengths trigger more brilliant coloration. Do not feel the need to blow your budget on premium reef lights unless you think the tank is ugly.

I don't want to de-rail this conversation, but the "white light" argument is one that I see often and I think most people misunderstand. Yes, the sun pumps out 6500K "White" light. BUT, after 30 meters of light being filtered and refracted by water, it IS significantly bluer. You can see this represented spectrally as well...

Light at the surface of the ocean:

Purple -> Red representing UV->visible light->IR is what we're most concerned with.

Light, by wavelength, and at what depth it hits 1% of the surface intensity:

As you can see, at 10 meters, l your reds are reduced to 1% (meaning below 10 meters it's less than 1%), At 15 meters your oranges are down to 1%, at 30 meters your yellows are down to 1%, and so on and so forth. You have to hit 200+ Meters for Blue and Violet light to get down to 1%. Which means, at around 35 meters (the average depth of a coral reef) light is significantly more blue, and definitely not white.

The deeper you go, the more blue and purple the light becomes. Then you have to consider Zooxanthellae and how they absorb and use light for photosynthesis. Overwhelmingly they prefer blue light (since it's the most abundant at those depths).


This graph depicts the absorption of Zooxanthellae:

This information is all summarized from this article here if you want to read more:

Light in the Reef Aquaria

Light is one of the main life-supporting resources on our planet. Being photosynthetic, many marine invertebrates require light to live; Their symbiotic zooxanthellae need light for photosynthesis to produce sufficient nourishment both for their own use and for the host coral.

reefs.com

 

[Billabong]

Zoa's are super hardy, and vibrant colors. They're tolerant.

In response to your last question current orbit have good lights with a decent amount of par for softies. Here's a link on Amazon

 

[Ulee]

I'd say as far as first corals, 'soft corals ' such as mushrooms , green star polyp, maybe a toadstool leather to start would be excellent. I would advice against Kenya and Xenia coral since it can clone itself all over the place and take over ur tank. I would also forget about zoanthids for now, easy at first but u will be disappointed down the line with them closing up.

 

[damsels are not mean]

I don't want to de-rail this conversation, but the "white light" argument is one that I see often and I think most people misunderstand. Yes, the sun pumps out 6500K "White" light. BUT, after 30 meters of light being filtered and refracted by water, it IS significantly bluer. You can see this represented spectrally as well...

Light at the surface of the ocean:

Purple -> Red representing UV->visible light->IR is what we're most concerned with.

Light, by wavelength, and at what depth it hits 1% of the surface intensity:

As you can see, at 10 meters, l your reds are reduced to 1% (meaning below 10 meters it's less than 1%), At 15 meters your oranges are down to 1%, at 30 meters your yellows are down to 1%, and so on and so forth. You have to hit 200+ Meters for Blue and Violet light to get down to 1%. Which means, at around 35 meters (the average depth of a coral reef) light is significantly more blue, and definitely not white.

The deeper you go, the more blue and purple the light becomes. Then you have to consider Zooxanthellae and how they absorb and use light for photosynthesis. Overwhelmingly they prefer blue light (since it's the most abundant at those depths).


This graph depicts the absorption of Zooxanthellae:

This information is all summarized from this article here if you want to read more:

Light in the Reef Aquaria

Light is one of the main life-supporting resources on our planet. Being photosynthetic, many marine invertebrates require light to live; Their symbiotic zooxanthellae need light for photosynthesis to produce sufficient nourishment both for their own use and for the host coral.

reefs.com

Sure, but how many corals do we get from 30 meters depth? That is pretty deep for collection. And most of the species we keep are found in very shallow water as well as mid depth. I don't think there are many corals in the hobby if any that can't tolerate white light or even thrive under it. And the same in reverse. Most probably do fine on just blue.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

Sure, but how many corals do we get from 30 meters depth? That is pretty deep for collection. And most of the species we keep are found in very shallow water as well as mid depth. I don't think there are many corals in the hobby if any that can't tolerate white light or even thrive under it. And the same in reverse. Most probably do fine on just blue.

Not really the place to be arguing the fine details of the spectrum debate. The OP is a beginner with a 10g tank.

As long as she gets adequate wattage she's gonna be fine either way.

 

[snorklr]

on kenya trees...one of the first corals i put in my 30 like 20 yrs ago ....grew fine under white/ actinic power compact bulbs...it would pinch off branches which would float away and " take root" where they landed...i was thrilled that it did this as it looked like i knew what i was doing...the pieces that floated off were large enough to notice (at least 1/2 to 3/4 inch tall) and were easily removed before they adhered if desired...to me this was easier to control than something that spread out in mat form...this was back when i couldnt keep much of anything else alive....i'm sure in a big tank with a lot of flow and rock it could potentially spread all over the place but you could easily keep tabs on it in a 10

 

[apwhite]

First things first. Congratulations on keeping your clown happy and healthy.

If you could answer a few questions for us to help you, that would be great.

Could you tell us about your current system in a lot more detail? What filtration are you using? What are your parameters, specifically? Do you have live rock and if so, how much?

I personally would start with a hardy zoa or shroom as my first coral, provided your current setup can support it. Light is one of the most important elements of successfully keeping. Most any type of coral, except for non-photosynthetic, which can be a challenge even for the more experienced hobbyist. Along with light are filtration and flow. Filtration being biological, mechanical, and chemical, and is what controls and stabilizes parameters and to a degree, dosing does as well, depending on the corals you want to keep. Flow being important for nutrient exchange and filtration.

Also, have you read the stickies in the forum section New to Saltwater & Reef Aquariums? Post Here ? Tons of useful info there.

As well, head on over to the Meet & Greet Forum and introduce yourself there. Let me be the first to welcome you to R2R, an invaluable resource along your journey.

So let's get started and see what happens.

I forget what brand my filter is but it has a flow of 90gph. My parameters are 0 for ammonia and nitrite and ~5 for nitrate. I started my tank with one piece of live rock (not sure of the weight, maybe 5lb) and the rest dry rock. Also—I’m not opposed to other types of corals but there is a limited selection where I live and I’m not quite ready to take the risk of buying online