Coral Farming at home: How to start?

[UnderseaOddities]

There wasnt internet back then only petco and ich no lfs for 100mile Pittsburgh or clevland closest ones all trial and error

Many ppl used dechlore tap bk then and it would mark fish for death all the heavy metals just polluting the water, many were clueless bk then, inverts surely wouldnt survive it until I got my first ro unit in 07

 

[UnderseaOddities]

With no experience in saltwater and reef keeping you're going to have a hard time just keeping corals alive in the beginning let alone thriving to the point of being able to frag them especially in a new system.

My advice would be to just start with a tank you like and give corals a shot after you learn how to hold your water parameters steady. Once you get a few fish and can keep your nitrates phosphates and salinity within range soft corals are always a great place to start. theyre the easiest to care for, grow, and can be quite easy to frag when the time comes. If they do well and your alkalinity, calcium and magnesium have been staying in range you can move onto lps like hammers, bubbles, chalices etc. Once you add them or even sps youll eventually have to start dosing for alk, cal, and mg to keep those parameters stable. And lastly when you feel ready acropora and some of the touchier sps should be your last additions.

Only after you have a thriving reef with atleast 1-2 years under your belt would i recommend looking into a frag tank or growout system.

+1 that's solid advice were all so caught up in what cost what or brandwhoring we lose focus on what's important at the end of the day it's a fish tank whether u dropped 35k into a automate system or u spent 300$ and u do all the work by hands and your eyes and brain

It's supposed to bring you joy if you're constantly having to worry about a 3500$ meat coral and if its gonna live or die this week if your apex does something funky that's not joy its stress but some people like a challenge they find joy in that....

But then theirs othercpeople that dont do it for the clout they do it for the love and that's what's important it doesnt matter if u have a tank full of leathers that grow like weeds or a tank fully of 500$ 1/4 in nub of insert ridiculous name some flavor chaser put on a 25 year old stick he claims is new and his diver pulled of crock island last spring and is the flavor of the week that month


It doesnt matter what it is as long as it bring you joy and happiness

 

[Johnykiwi]

With no experience in saltwater and reef keeping you're going to have a hard time just keeping corals alive in the beginning let alone thriving to the point of being able to frag them especially in a new system.

My advice would be to just start with a tank you like and give corals a shot after you learn how to hold your water parameters steady. Once you get a few fish and can keep your nitrates phosphates and salinity within range soft corals are always a great place to start. theyre the easiest to care for, grow, and can be quite easy to frag when the time comes. If they do well and your alkalinity, calcium and magnesium have been staying in range you can move onto lps like hammers, bubbles, chalices etc. Once you add them or even sps youll eventually have to start dosing for alk, cal, and mg to keep those parameters stable. And lastly when you feel ready acropora and some of the touchier sps should be your last additions.

Only after you have a thriving reef with atleast 1-2 years under your belt would i recommend looking into a frag tank or growout system.

I'll do that then. Start small with a display tank, learn the art of saltwater aquariums and not rush into it

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Then if it works out look into stock tanks to hold water and buy like 100lbs of dry liverock online

You'll need to hold alot of water so 150g to 300g Stock tubs are cost effective as sumps refugium or just staging areas for holding rocks corals or just water

And botanicare floodtable are great for growing coral

Ibc totes like landscapers dye mulch can also be a good resevoir for holding or mixing water

It would probably be 150$ for a 150g stocktub and 189$ for a 115g botanicare floodtable

You could also try 50g lowboys

Or active aqua 2x4 deep flood tables for 89$ shipped directly to you house

It's also good to have a few sterilite totes on deck to to fit coral when rearranging, to dip, and to acclimate new pieces

 

[TheDragonsReef]

I'll do that then. Start small with a display tank, learn the art of saltwater aquariums and not rush into it

Thats the best way to go in my opinion. Nothing happens fast in this hobby, its all about patience, taking it slow and learning as you go. If you find you really enjoy it its not too hard to get into fragging when coral are already growing well in your display tank. Just frag over growth, sell or trade those frags for new corals, and keep adding to the collection.

 

[kiran]

I had to turn someone away who came to my garage coral farm because he had only set up the tank a few weeks prior and was wanting to spend 4-500 with me. Really hard to sit there and turn down the money when it’s being waved in your face, but I had to tell him to slow down, especially after hearing “I’ve only lost 1 clown and the corals look fine”.

We need more people like you in the hobby. My LFS steered me in the wrong direction and I paid for it by not getting advice here first or doing my own research.

 

[Johnykiwi]

Thats the best way to go in my opinion. Nothing happens fast in this hobby, its all about patience, taking it slow and learning as you go. If you find you really enjoy it its not too hard to get into fragging when coral are already growing well in your display tank. Just frag over growth, sell or trade those frags for new corals, and keep adding to the collection.

What tank would you recommend? I was looking at something like the Waterbox cube 20, but I'm open to other ideas. Should I go bigger?

 

[damsels are not mean]

Don't set up a "coral farm" yet. Set up a personal tank and choose corals that are easy to frag without expensive tools. Beginner-level SPS like pocillopora, stylophora, etc. as well as branching LPS and some encrusting/matting soft corals like zoas, GSP, etc.
Keep the display happy and sell some frags when things start thriving. Make sure you actually want to farm corals before you blow a bunch of money on something that you can't enjoy if the business doesn't work out.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

What tank would you recommend? I was looking at something like the Waterbox cube 20, but I'm open to other ideas. Should I go bigger?

Depends what your budget is but i usually try to steer beginners towards something around 40 gallons. Any smaller really limits your fish selection and smaller tanks are more difficult to keep steady parameters in.

 

[damsels are not mean]

It is not profitable. Too many people doing it already. At best, you break even. Do it because you enjoy the hobby, not because you want to make a profit. Good luck.

Profit margins are pretty high on coral growing for the most part... Especially if you get the special color morphs of things like zoas. By far the greatest risk/cost is shipping.

 

[Johnykiwi]

Don't set up a "coral farm" yet. Set up a personal tank and choose corals that are easy to frag without expensive tools. Beginner-level SPS like pocillopora, stylophora, etc. as well as branching LPS and some encrusting/matting soft corals like zoas, GSP, etc.
Keep the display happy and sell some frags when things start thriving. Make sure you actually want to farm corals before you blow a bunch of money on something that you can't enjoy if the business doesn't work out.

after reading all the replies I gonna steer in this direction. Setting up a Display tank first so I can make sure that I will enjoy the hobby before investing the money.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

To me that looks like a wate of 300$

Redsea and waterbox are overated on anything smaller than their 160s
Theirs no sense in paying 299 for something that isnt drilled imo

Prefabs are overglorfied I dropped 200$ on the fluval flex when it dropped for my mom and I was disappointed probably could got a 2x2 piece o acrylic painted with krylon black caulked in added a return pump and locline and had my own cube for 90$

I'd say go for a 29g or 40g breeder for first tank bought new

And run t5 and hob or canister

If u can buy a large use one try to go for a 120 or 125 as these give u alot of breathing room as a beginner and u can still farm coral in it once u get better and more dedicated and into a eminence rythm / routine

Then try to do pvc overflow that u dont gotta drill if u go for the 120 or 125

 

[Johnykiwi]

To me that looks like a wate of 300$

Redsea and waterbox are overate on anything smaller than their 160s
Theirs no sense in paying 299 for something that isnt drilled imo

I'd say go for a 29g or 40g breeder for first tank bought new

If u can buy a large use one try to go for a 120 or 125 as these give u alot of breathing room as a beginner and u can still farm coral in it once u get better and more dedicated and into a eminence rythm / routine

thanks for the suggestion, I was thinking also of a 49g shallow, but I'm not sure yet

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Those make awesome tanks 50g lowboy 49g shallow 60g lagoon

 

[Johnykiwi]

Those make awesome tanks 50g lowboy 49g shallow 60g lagoon

for this size tank, what would to best filtration type be?

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

We need more people like you in the hobby. My LFS steered me in the wrong direction and I paid for it by not getting advice here first or doing my own research.

It’s happened to me in the past so frequently I can’t imagine passing that on. I started as a 20 year old kid working at a liquor store 15 years ago and you’d be appalled at the things I brought home to my biocube 29 that the LFS suggested. You don’t earn a customer by just letting them go home and kill something hoping they’ll keep trying. Depressing and will kill any passion. Thank you for the kind words though! I am only one dude but I try to do the right thing

 

[HeyLookItsCaps]

What tank would you recommend? I was looking at something like the Waterbox cube 20, but I'm open to other ideas. Should I go bigger?

If you’re anywhere near Texas, I can help you with the tanks/hardware. I break down peoples tanks for them and transfer their livestock when they want an upgrade or pay them for their stuff if they’re getting out of the hobby. I have a couple I’m cleaning up and getting ready to sell. There’s also probably more guys like me around where you live or maybe someone wanting out of the hobby or never used it. I am a marketplace nut and I find cool reef stuff that just needs a little TLC all the time.

if budget is loose or a non issue there’s a lot of great turn key setups out there. Waterbox, Red Sea, Cade, etc. I would say 40+ gallons also, I started with a 29 and it does require more attention than say my current 120 gallon. Devils advocate argument is that a small tank will teach you very quickly on the dos and donts with keeping fish/coral. Don’t let all of us reef dorks scare you with info or put you off though, you’re building a box that needs to hold water, after that you’ll learn as you go. You won’t buy “the totally wrong” setup in my opinion, and we’re always here to help

 

[attiland]

Hi. Recently I've wondered about growing/farming coral but I have no idea of what I would need. I have never owned a saltwater tank before but was planning on getting one anyway as a display tank and thought that growing coral could be fun and profitable (could be wrong, but thats why I'm here). So I was just wondering what I would need to create a hopefully successful coral farm.

I have read this like 6 times to see where is the clue that this is just a joke. I mean you haven’t even had a tank yet now you go farming?

So is it a good idea to set up a DT, which I use to learn how everything works, and eventually if I still want to and feel confident I can use that tank to start propagating. If I were to do this I was thinking of creating a shallow reef DT (Danny's Aquariums has inspired me), not too big as to be intimidating and expensive, but not too small either. Or should I set up a nano saltwater tank. What would you recommend for me to do?

The only way to learn is set up a DT.

It's supposed to bring you joy if you're constantly having to worry about a 3500$ meat coral and if its gonna live or die this week if your apex does something funky that's not joy its stress but some people like a challenge they find joy in that....

APEX is overpriced hobby electrics and for sure not used in individual operations.

 

[3429810]

APEX is overpriced hobby electrics and for sure not used in individual operations.

Do you mean a single tank as individual operations? Because if so it is for sure used that way. I’ll agree it’s overpriced but so is everything in this hobby because there realistically aren’t enough people into reefing for it to be possible. Unfortunately niche hobbies bring high price points especially on anything higher end.

 

[attiland]

Do you mean a single tank as individual operations? Because if so it is for sure used that way. I’ll agree it’s overpriced but so is everything in this hobby because there realistically aren’t enough people into reefing for it to be possible. Unfortunately niche hobbies bring high price points especially on anything higher end.

That was an auto correct issue from industrial I haven’t spotted