My first coral (pics)

[dmilne85]

looking good! im always a fan of the less rockwork in the tank. it leaves a lot more open space for fish to swim and the corals to grow. I like your taking it slow apporach, you will definatly save some money on corals that way. i cant remember how many i lost trying to rush my first reef. As long as your good with keeping your calcium and alkalinity stable i would say you could even try more demanding corals such as SPS.

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by red13miller
What kind of wrasse is that?

That is a Cirrhilabrus rubrisquamis.

Common names are Rosy-scales Fairy Wrasse, Red Velvet Wrasse, Strawberry Fairy Wrasse, or Rubrisquamis Wrasse.

[edited to add more common names]

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by dmilne85
looking good! im always a fan of the less rockwork in the tank. it leaves a lot more open space for fish to swim and the corals to grow. I like your taking it slow apporach, you will definatly save some money on corals that way. i cant remember how many i lost trying to rush my first reef. As long as your good with keeping your calcium and alkalinity stable i would say you could even try more demanding corals such as SPS.

Thanks. I am not sure what coral to put in next. I like the look of the Goniopora (flowerpots), but I understand they are more difficult to keep. So I might wait until I have a few more corals to ensure my levels are stable (same goes for SPS). Plus my clowns might host in it and I understand this is not good for Goniopora (I think the frogspawn can handle it if they decide to host in it). Maybe I will get an elegance or a toadstool or a leather.

Recommendations are always welcome

I know the next fish is a royal gramma. My 5 year old daughter picked that out at the fish store as our next fish (she pronounced it like one would say grandma).

[Mavrk]

Here are some pics after the coral came out wider than ever and with my new black background (I should have cleaned the glass first and it is a bit overexposed, but you get the idea). The background is only taped for now, but I will attach it sooner or later.

[CeeGee]

My gramma is a great fish. I think you will really like one.

I think you should stop now and really think about what you want your tank to look like a few years down the road before buying any more corals. Lots of people buy things that are "easier" at first only to find that they take over the tank or are not what they really want once they get the experience to take care of the harder species.

How about a nice open brain? They are similar in care to your frogspawn.

If you have the right lighting and keep your water up to par there is no reason why you can't keep the harder species such as SPS in the near future.

I would stay away from both the goniopora and the elegance all together though. Neither have a good track record these days regardless of ones "skill". There are too many other beautiful corals to choose from instead.

The frogspawn looks great. If it stops opening as well as it is doing now suspect that your water quality is declining.

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by CeeGee
My gramma is a great fish. I think you will really like one.

I think you should stop now and really think about what you want your tank to look like a few years down the road before buying any more corals. Lots of people buy things that are "easier" at first only to find that they take over the tank or are not what they really want once they get the experience to take care of the harder species.

How about a nice open brain? They are similar in care to your frogspawn.

If you have the right lighting and keep your water up to par there is no reason why you can't keep the harder species such as SPS in the near future.

I would stay away from both the goniopora and the elegance all together though. Neither have a good track record these days regardless of ones "skill". There are too many other beautiful corals to choose from instead.

The frogspawn looks great. If it stops opening as well as it is doing now suspect that your water quality is declining.

After a few days with my frogspawn, I can see what you mean. I really like how it looks and am pleased with my purchase, but I can see it will grow pretty fast and is really expanding.

The open brains look nice. The one question I have is about flow. I have a good amount of flow in my tank. As I recall open brains require lower flow. Is this not accurate? They go on the substrate right?

[iwishtofish]

That's a fantastic looking coral, Mavrk!

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by iwishtofish
That's a fantastic looking coral, Mavrk!

Thanks. My tanks have always been FOWLR. I am excited to finally go reef. Of course a good camera helps

[HBtank]

One of the "easier" corals I still have have in my tank, even after moving beyond most LPS onto SPS, is my closed brain.

Both Favia and Favites have similar light requirements to your frogspawn. They like to be fed, like your froggy. And I think they are one of the more beautiful corals. I love their patterns, round shape, texture, and they can be amazingly colored.

They are slow growers IMO, and a coral you could really end up keeping for a long time tring to grow out..

Here is mine, just a bit hungry



I also really like Candy Canes (Caulastrea), another early coral I got that I have no plans on giving up. All the euphylia are great, but in the end they just grew to big for my small tank as I switched to SPS. Sweepers got to me.. Some other LPS I like are Turbinaria (pagoda Cup), pectinia and open brains.

[Fuegofish777]

your frogspawn looks great. if the link you provided is correct you have an icecap retro with individual reflectors. basically you do have HO t-5s and do have plenty of light. where you moved the frogspawn is a very good spot. if you think you have medium flow it is probably ok for an open brain on the sand. IME begginners who think they have mid-higher flows in fact have just adequate flow. Not putting you down...just noting what i did. i would definitely stay away from goniopora...at least for now. your other choices: candy cane, pagodas, and open brains are all good choices.
Good luck,
Sam

[CeeGee]

just find a spot where the flow isn't as high and a open brain should do fine. Check out Naka's tank which is high flow and he has a beautiful open brain that he ordered from japan (I think he got it from japan at any rate).

I would have to agree with the candy cane as well. They have done really well for me. I would get the bright green variety like they have at atlantis. A couple of heads will soon turn into a large colony if fed properly.

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by Fuegofish777
your frogspawn looks great. if the link you provided is correct you have an icecap retro with individual reflectors. basically you do have HO t-5s and do have plenty of light. where you moved the frogspawn is a very good spot. if you think you have medium flow it is probably ok for an open brain on the sand. IME begginners who think they have mid-higher flows in fact have just adequate flow. Not putting you down...just noting what i did. i would definitely stay away from goniopora...at least for now. your other choices: candy cane, pagodas, and open brains are all good choices.
Good luck,
Sam

Yes I do have HO T5s with individual Icecap reflectors. I figured it was easier to provide the link in case there was any questions

I would say that I have medium flow, but not high since things are pretty dispersed. I don't know what constitutes the different levels, but I don't think it would be classified as low (which is what I thought they might need). I have 2 Koralia 4's and a Mag 7 return pump. The tank is a 90.

In my 17 years of saltwater tanks (on and off... mostly off I guess), this is turning out to be my favorite project. Maybe because it is my first reef tank (also because of all the advice I am getting from this site).

[Fuegofish777]

Reef tanks are a beautiful, addictive, amazing, addictive, time consuming, and addictive thing....

open brains can do fine in medium flow too, so if you choose out a spot that isnt especially "low" it should be ok anyways. (discerning between high, medium, and low flows seems to be personal preference at times ) Good luck with the reef, im sure you'll enjoy the process

[AkaSlyGuy]

Just wanted to say nice frogspawn. I have always liked frogspawn. I have one I would like to show you. It has been pretty happy with me for around 6 years. Just to give you an idea of growth, when I got it it had 2-3 heads (small heads) and had broken off of a larger piece that a LFS got in the day I was there. They sold it to me for $20. I could sure make a nice return on this investment if I wanted to My clown will attach when I get near it, they love it too. The tank is 100g

Joe

During the day:



At Night:

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by AkaSlyGuy
Just wanted to say nice frogspawn. I have always liked frogspawn. I have one I would like to show you. It has been pretty happy with me for around 6 years. Just to give you an idea of growth, when I got it it had 2-3 heads (small heads) and had broken off of a larger piece that a LFS got in the day I was there. They sold it to me for $20. I could sure make a nice return on this investment if I wanted to My clown will attach when I get near it, they love it too. The tank is 100g

Joe

During the day:



At Night:

Wow, that is simply amazing. It makes me think twice about fragging that piece of of mine. Maybe some day my clowns will adopt it like yours did. Thank you for sharing. I love the pictures.