Help me pick a centerpiece coral for my tank

[Anonymous]

Okay folks, if you hit the link in my sig you'll see my nano build thread. About halfway down the first page, you can see the (dead) rockwork I put together. Later pics show live rock kinda pitched in there which will be transferred to the sump here shortly leaving the more open structure. The lighting is 130 or so watts 50/50 actinic /10k for reference. The water has finally leveled out and I'm ready to start stocking. The icky bloom pictured laterin that thread has burnt itself out thankfully :lol:

The foreground will have various zoas, duncanops and a small euphyllia sp. towards the back for depth. The left side will be some palys and rics. The curving high shelf towards the left side (masking the overflow) is earmarked for xenia. The far right is still indeterminate (high flow, mebbe GSP as it does okay under those conditions).

What I wanted opinions on was what will should be in the middle section. Midway through the tank is a shelf I built, the pic is deceiving as it is only 7" or so from the lights and is in a moderate/high flow area. So, I want something that will eventually fill that space without being too overpowering and like that type environment.

First thought was a Seriatopora (birds nest) as those are (relatively) easy to grow and frag should it get outta control. Any other thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

Something not brown


I would try to find a really nice color digitata if you want a no-frills type sps.

 

[Anonymous]

I would second the Digis. You can get some nice colors if you look around. You could consider acans.

 

[camaroracer214]

You could consider acans.

wouldn't acans in a low budget nano be an oxymoron? of course i love acans and they make great center pieces. get a plating montipora...like orange or purple. i also like digis. they grow quickly, are very hardy, and look good.

 

[Anonymous]

The low budget part only applies to the hardware :lol: . Acans are beautiful but oh so pricey! Nevering having kept much in the way of SPS, would a digi like the tank conditions-it ain't gonna be nutrient poor for sure.

 

[Ben1]

What about an Elegance Coral I know some healthy ones have been coming in recently. I think chip got a frag from edensgatecorals.com

 

[pcardone]

frogspawn an anenome

 

[Anonymous]

Well I originally thought some sort of acan, or low growing LPS but unless I read your thread wrong it looks like your "center piece" is that flat rock near the bottom with a pillar to the left of it? I just think something that grows tall (digitata is fairly fast growing) would be a nice candidate to give you a nice contrast between "dead" pillar and living pillar (Coral)

 

[Anonymous]

Well I originally thought some sort of acan, or low growing LPS but unless I read your thread wrong it looks like your "center piece" is that flat rock near the bottom with a pillar to the left of it? I just think something that grows tall (digitata is fairly fast growing) would be a nice candidate to give you a nice contrast between "dead" pillar and living pillar (Coral)

The dead pillar on the left will be covered with encrusting goodies like xenia and palys, so I think you guys are right, a tall growing digi would be nice. It's a high light/flow area, so that limits things a bit.

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

A nice green capnella or sinularia imo would make a nice centerpiece in that tank. Both grow reasonably tall and have both good color and motion. Some of the nicer ones seem a bit more delicate than your average softie not to mention sometimes pricy.

 

[Anonymous]

yellow fiji leather

 

[Anonymous]

yellow fiji leather

yeah, I love those too, that is a definate addition just a matter of where. shoulda started a bigger tank.

 

[Anonymous]

http://marinefarmers.blogspot.com/2007/ ... laria.html

 

[Anonymous]

The blue variety of that is very attractive, and there is a local guy who grows/frags it. When the tank stabilizes I'm sure I can fit that in too

 

[liquid]

I second the "yellow Fiji leather".

Shane

 

[Anonymous]

I second the "yellow Fiji leather".

Shane

Just added one a month ago and it already doubled in size. Love the look. I also love my bubble coral.

 

[Anonymous]

I second the "yellow Fiji leather".

Shane

These do really well with high light and flow , was one of the few softies I kept in with SPS that seemed to thrive alongside them.

Watch out for the 'crud' they shed periodically - it can really irritate / sicken neighboring corals if it lands on them.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm, in a 20 that may be a problem. Not a lot of space...

 

[Anonymous]

Just got back from vacation and haven't had time to clean it up, but snapped this picture so you'll get an idea of the space I am talking about. Got to get some more sandsifting critters, that red gack on the sand is unattractive :lol:

The spot I'm talking about is the table like piece in the middle.