Top 5 Best Corals for Beginners

Posted by gerard on March 10, 2010 under Aquarium Info, Reef Info | 11 Comments to Read

Ok so your new to the saltwater aquarium hobby and now you want to start to build your reef and load it up with coral frags.  That’s awesome!  You are going to love it.  But as with my “Top 5 fish for beginners” post I will also state here to take it slow.

Here’s what you shouldn’t do first.  Go out and buy a 150W-250W metal halide or T5 lighting system for 300+ dollars so you can put some hard corals in your tank.  If you have a basic setup with Power Compacts that is fine for soft corals.  Let’s start with some soft corals and work our way up.

This list of coral’s all have a few things in common.  They are all pretty hardy.  As long as you keep your water parameters good, you shouldn’t have any issues.  Just remember a couple things when it comes to care and food.  Buy yourself a bottle of Seachem Reef Iodide (I have been putting about 1.5ML in my 29 gallon biocube 2 times a week for the past year) and a bottle Two Little Fishies Marine Snow.  (I have been doing 1 capful 3 times a week in my 29 gallon biocube.)

These coral’s do not require calcium to live.  They do not need high powered metal halide or T5 lighting.  A stock 29 gallon biocube can support all these coral’s.

Do your water changes every 2 weeks and your coral will spread like wildfire.  Take your time, work slowly until you feel comfortable with your corals.  If they are thriving then great.  Then you can work your way up to the hard corals and upgrade your lighting system.

Top 5 coral’s for beginners:

1. Zoanthid’s
2. Star Polyp’s
3. Xenia
4. Leather
5. Mushroom Coral

Current USA Solana XL

Posted by gerard on March 13, 2009 under Products & Reviews | Be the First to Comment

Current just released 2 new versions of the Solana.  They call it the Solana XL.  Both 60 gallon and 67 gallon’s are available.  Not sure about the price yet.  If anyone knows please fill us in.  Keep reading for the spec’s.

read more....

Solaris LED Lighting System

Posted by gerard on October 29, 2008 under Products & Reviews | Be the First to Comment

NEW I-5 Series Solaris LED Illumination System

The Solaris is the first LED System designed to replace Metal Halide and Fluorescent lighting for the Aquarium Reef Tanks. PFO Lighting started shipping the original G series in September of 2006.

In September 2008 they completely redesigned the entire fixture and moved manufacturing from China to USA.

Primary Design Changes between the Chinese made G, H4, early I-4 models:

1. Made in USA with LEDs produced from Phillips Lumileds that are manufactured in Malaysia.
2. LEDS were changed from 25 K2 driven at 1000ma to 30 Rebels driven at 800 ma.
3. Drive circuit has been changed to monitor and control both current and voltage.  (Patent Pending).
4. Power Supply Manufacturer has been changed and installed in a larger enclosure and drives at 24V DC.
5. All Chinese hand soldered control board, distribution boards, and LED boards have been changed to surface mount machine wave soldered in USA.
6. All mounting hardware has been changed to black oxide covered Stainless Steel.
7. Fan Guards are now cut into end plates for a better look and eliminate rust potential.
8. LCD display has been updated and has a blue background.
9. All wiring is contained in internal wire holder.
10. Acrylic Lens is designed for easy removal for cleaning.
11. USA designed packaging for UPS approved shipping.
12. All units are UPC labeled.
13. All circuit boards have latching quick disconnects for easy assembly and secure connections when shipping.
14. 100% testing and burn in for 48 hours.

The new I5 series produces PAR light output levels equal to a 400W MH 15k.  It uses 40% less energy than the 400W MH 15k fixtures it replaces.  The life of the LEDs is approximately 50,000 hours, so it almost eliminates metal halide and fluorescent bulb replacements. All heat is radiated up and away from the tank; therefore, it does not heat the water like Metal Halides or Fluorescents. This eliminates the need for Chillers. The room air conditioner needs to work ½ as much since the light fixture produces only ½ the heat of Metal Halides which saves even more energy over traditional lighting methods.

There is a built in microprocessor that controls the I5 series Solaris. This not only eliminates timers, but it allows the unit to dim the actinic blue LEDs, white LEDs, Lunar actinic blue LEDs and Lunar White LEDs independently from 0-100%.  This dimming capability opens many opportunities. The light can be adjusted from 6.5K to 22K, or anywhere in between, to set the ideal color temperature. Sunrise, Daylight, Cloud Cover, Sunset, and the lunar cycle, can all be set independently.

Coral Growth has been outstanding with the new lights. There is excellent water penetration of the light.

See more at www.solarisled.com

Coral o’ the day | Zoanthids

Posted by gerard on October 2, 2008 under Reef Info | Be the First to Comment

Zoanthids are my first foray into soft coral.  I chose to start with them because they are very colorful and from what I hear, they are easy to take care of.  While I am still waiting for them to grow, they supposedly grow rather rapidly.

A couple things you are going to want to make sure of are:

1. That you have enough light in your aquarium.  If you have a nano aquarium and are running power compacts or metal halide’s you should be fine for these types of soft coral.  

2. They do require phytoplankton for food so you should make sure you have that on hand as well.  Usually you can buy that by the bottle at your local fish store.

3. Lastly you will want to check your iodine/iodide levels to make sure they are in safe ranges.  I use Seachem’s Reef Iodide which is a safer alternative to iodine.

Other than that so far things are going well.  My little frags are still going strong after 2 weeks.  I’ll keep you all posted.

Buy at saltwaterfish.com. 

Photo courtesy of saltwaterfish.com