Good Coral Choices for Medium Lighting Reef Tanks

The corals that you select for a marine aquarium will have a large impact on your light requirements, or vice versa. Medium reef lighting is generally regarded as being between 3 watts and 5 watts of light per gallon. Combining the right corals with the right reef lighting setup is important in ensuring that the corals thrive in your marine reef aquarium set-up.

  1. Mushroom corals

    • Mushroom corals are ideal coral choices for beginning reef enthusiasts and they are hardy. These corals need adequate space, especially when they have long tentacles because they have a tendency to be aggressive. Some mushroom coral choices to consider include Hairy, Bulls Eye, Green Fluorescent, Red, Green Striped, Blue, Spotted, Lavender, Ricordea, Flower and Elephant Ear.

    Soft corals

    • Soft corals are generally less aggressive than harder corals but still need adequate space to prevent aggression when existing in an aquarium with hard corals. Soft corals tend to grow quite rapidly in aquariums and are regarded as being relatively hardy, which makes them a good choice for new reef aquariums and medium reef lighting situations. Some choices to consider when it comes to soft corals include Cauliflower Colt, Pipe Organ, Carnation Tree, Tree, Kenyan Tree, Blue Ridge, Christmas Tree and Flower Tree.

    Leather corals

    • Like some soft corals, leather coral varieties are lacking an exoskeleton. They vary greatly in shape, color and form. They are commonly brown and gray colors, but some leather corals are available in brighter colors as a result of symbiotic zooanthellae that list within the animal. Some choices to consider when it comes to leather corals include Yellow Fiji Leather, Toadstool Mushroom Leather, Devil's Hand Leather, Cabbage Leather, Thin Finger Leather, Spaghetti Finger Leather, Young Blushing Finger and Green Finger Leather.