[webbster45]

hey i just started my reef tank and was wonderign what are a few cheap yet beautiful corals i could add to my 75 gal tank at a beginners level?
how powerful must my light be?
what are some other techniques and information ill need in order to successfully maintain coral and allow it to grow

[CSeaSee]

If you've got Power Compact lights, go for some mushrooms or zoanthid polyps, or some green star polyps. They are all hardy and easy to keep. Make sure you have a couple of powerheads in your tank for circulation.

[bongobrian]

Hi webbster!

I agree with CSea, soft corals are the easiest and most hardy. As for the lighting for your reef, you'll want to shoot for at least 5 watts per gallon. So just add up the total wattage of all your bulbs, and divide it by 75. Obviously having more than 5 watts/gal is fine too. In my tank I'm running about 8 watts per gallon.

If you do in fact have enough light, you could also try some easy LPS corals such as Caulastrea, Wellsophyllia, and Euphyllia, but definitely do your research before going out and buying anything.

[dibenni]

what is your current lighting - that will better help us advise you on what you could keep without upgrading.

the corals carl mentioned are all pretty simple and do not require strong lighting. however i have kept others too under compact flourecents - the key is to place them high enough on your live rock so that they are closer to the lights - those include brain corals and trumpet/candycane corals.

you could also keep sun polyps, which actually prefer less light and are brightly colored, they are a little more difficult only because they require spot feeding - but that is not really that difficult as long as they are placed in an easily accessible spot.

i have upgraded to the aquactinics tx5 fixture for my 55 gallon, but a similar fixture would probably be adequate for your 75 gallon and allow you to keep most of the common home aquarium corals.

[dibenni]

fyi - brian and i were clearly responding at the same time. the corals he listed are the scientific names for the ones that i suggested, i usually use the common names as that is what they will be called by your lfs and both can be used to find them on most websites.

[dibenni]

also, the 5 watts per gallon rule is partially true and partially a myth. there are many threads on this forum debating this rule. it is a good start - but you must remember that the output from regular flourescent lights, compact flourescent lights, t5 flourescent lights, metal halides, etc. all with the same wattage is actually different. if you do plan to upgrade your lighting - do some reading on the lighting forum - there is some great stuff and ultimately lead me to my recent upgrade to the tx5 fixture.

[bongobrian]

dibenni is correct about the lighting. The 5 watts per gallon is just a starting point, and a very loose guideline. Just keep in mind that different types of bulbs produce different output. So for example if you take a regular flourescent bulb and a power compact of the same wattage, the PC will actually give you about 3.5 times more lumen power. You would get even more from a metal halide. Also, actinic bulbs produce much less output than a daylight bulb.

Like dibenni said it would be great if you could post what kind of lighting you are using, then we can give you a better recommendation for what corals you can keep successfully.

[CSeaSee]

And even identical lights will project more or less light into the tank, depending on the reflector. As much information on your lights as you can find is good- a picture is great!