LPS for dummies?

[lazycouch]

hey guys i keep putting one foot in and one foot out on adding my first lps coral(s)... i feel i’m really overthinking it but what i keep reading seems to reassure that i’m not and it’s difficult. can someone share some main highlight type of advice when it comes to lps? sort of like lps in a nutshell maybe.. i really only want about 3, and 2 of those being a lobo and an elegance most likely. thanks! (ps i have a 30 gallon tank with fluval marine 3.0 leds a wave pump and a powerpump)

 

[Kellie in CA]

Frequent target feeding. Invest in some long tweezers!

 

[lazycouch]

Frequent target feeding. Invest in some long tweezers!

thanks! what nitrate level would you say is too high if you don’t mind me asking?

 

[Kellie in CA]

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I only test that during the cycling process. I do weekly water changes and don’t have to worry about parameters much.

A word of advice... don’t start with an Elegance, they can be tricky.

 

[lazycouch]

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I only test that during the cycling process. I do weekly water changes and don’t have to worry about parameters much.

A word of advice... don’t start with an Elegance, they can be tricky.

was about to be my first one! hahaha thanks a lot for the heads up. what would you recommend as a forgiving lps to start with?

 

[samnaz]

Start with Duncan’s. Easy and fast growing IME.

 

[DeniableArc]

G

hey guys i keep putting one foot in and one foot out on adding my first lps coral(s)... i feel i’m really overthinking it but what i keep reading seems to reassure that i’m not and it’s difficult. can someone share some main highlight type of advice when it comes to lps? sort of like lps in a nutshell maybe.. i really only want about 3, and 2 of those being a lobo and an elegance most likely. thanks! (ps i have a 30 gallon tank with fluval marine 3.0 leds a wave pump and a powerpump)

G’day! I would suggest a nitrate level of 5-10 and phosphate 0.05-0.1 I target feed reef roids once per week but I ultimately think a decent bio load but within these nutrient range so that corals have a constant supply of fish waste.

 

[Saminpa]

My first LPS was a green Duncan. They are pretty easy as long as you dont have crabs or fish that will chew on its tentacles.

 

[Paul31733]

I am fairly new and I have 2 hammer corals which seem pretty tough. I had an issue where my ato pumped in way too much fresh water and both hammers survived!!

 

[lazycouch]

I am fairly new and I have 2 hammer corals which seem pretty tough. I had an issue where my ato pumped in way too much fresh water and both hammers survived!!

how are hammers with nitrates?

 

[lazycouch]

My first LPS was a green Duncan. They are pretty easy as long as you dong have crabs or fish that will chew on its tentacles.

i have a lot of hermits! and i personally don’t find duncans so interesting v.v what would you say about bubbles?

 

[lazycouch]

G

G’day! I would suggest a nitrate level of 5-10 and phosphate 0.05-0.1 I target feed reef roids once per week but I ultimately think a decent bio load but within these nutrient range so that corals have a constant supply of fish waste.

thanks for the info!

 

[lazycouch]

Start with Duncan’s. Easy and fast growing IME.

i don’t like duncans so much /: is this a beggars cant be chooser type of scenario? any runner ups?

 

[samnaz]

i don’t like duncans so much /: is this a beggars cant be chooser type of scenario? any runner ups?

Nah, don’t put anything in your tank if you don’t like it! How do you like Euphyllias? Branching type, not wall, can be relatively easy. Frogspawn was one of my first corals, first LPS, and it did just fine.

 

[Paul31733]

I have had low nitrates. Been building them up. I am at 2 ppm now and my hammers look great. Im sure one of the more experienced people on here could tell you better. Or you could always search the forum with the keyword hammer coral!!

 

[Paul31733]

I think its also worth saying I have heard branching hammers are more forgiving than hammer wall corals (only know from reading not from experience!!)

 

[Saminpa]

i have a lot of hermits! and i personally don’t find duncans so interesting v.v what would you say about bubbles?

Hermit are ok, I have lots. It was emerald crabs that chewed apart corals for me. I have no experience with bubbles. One of my other favorite lps I have is an Alveopora.

 

[Picasso Clown]

My first coral ever was an acan lord... not too hard ime as long as nothing eats them. Favia, blastos, enchinata, hammers, frogspawn, elegance, they’re all pretty easy. If you want something that has the same needs as a lps but isn’t as expensive or aggressive (as some of them are) then get some cloves. Same requirements ime and helps you get your feeding schedule down. After that I’d definitely try some acan lords as those are the easiest true lps ime. Elegance corals you basically treat like a BTA/LTA except they don’t move around on you. Good luck!

clove polyps (rainbow)

All my clove varieties under white lights, with some Xenia to the left

Elegance coral and a purple tip hammer

just some regular Duncan on the left side and a red/green blasto on the right

Little bit of a better pic of the Duncan on the left and my four varieties of acan lords on the right of the clam. You can catch a glimpse of the hammer garden in the lower right hand corner

A FTS from above, just to kinda give a little context as to where I have everything lighting wise.

 

[Alanna102499]

Just some target feeding, here are some videos you can search for...

Lobo:


Elegance:

 

[lazycouch]

My first coral ever was an acan lord... not too hard ime as long as nothing eats them. Favia, blastos, enchinata, hammers, frogspawn, elegance, they’re all pretty easy. If you want something that has the same needs as a lps but isn’t as expensive or aggressive (as some of them are) then get some cloves. Same requirements ime and helps you get your feeding schedule down. After that I’d definitely try some acan lords as those are the easiest true lps ime. Elegance corals you basically treat like a BTA/LTA except they don’t move around on you. Good luck!

clove polyps (rainbow)

All my clove varieties under white lights, with some Xenia to the left

Elegance coral and a purple tip hammer

just some regular Duncan on the left side and a red/green blasto on the right

Little bit of a better pic of the Duncan on the left and my four varieties of acan lords on the right of the clam. You can catch a glimpse of the hammer garden in the lower right hand corner

A FTS from above, just to kinda give a little context as to where I have everything lighting wise.

thanks a lot for the info!! beautiful collection. i was tempted on getting cloves, my lfs has a good colony of rainbows for $120 though ! flowerpot is also cool to me. what are you nitrates at if i may ask? i think my biggest anxiety is my tank is usually 15-20ppm and that the lps wouldn’t be so happy about it..