Corals

[Shelbytwp123]

Sooo I am newbie and want to eventually have corals, anemone ..... how long does the tank have to be running game in order to even consider corals and anemone? And what should and newbie like myself really start with as far as corals and/or anemone? Any beginner friendly ones or is the case of mistakes will be made the question is how bad and how expensive.. please feel free to educate me bc I need to know these things

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

I'd wait at least a couple weeks after cycling before adding coral just to ensure the tank is established. Some easier corals include: zoanthids, palys, green star polyps, anthelia (invasive) Kenya tree (invasive) Xenia (invasive) mushrooms, any leather corals. Most are relatively cheap (<$30) with the exception of larger colonies, high end zoanthids/ palys and mushrooms.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

You will want to wait at least 6 months before adding an anemone. They can be very sensitive and need higher amounts of light and flow. You have to consider that the anemone may move around after you place it in the tank, so it decides it's permanent home. While moving around, nem's are prone to stinging any other coral it comes in contact with so you may want to leave a large open space if you still want one down the road

 

[Jason mack]

Welcome , well if Your tank has cycle you could put in a couple of clownfish and Some eaay corals like toadstools or frogspawn or hammers or pulsing Xenia , that would be a good start and you Will get Some movenent too look at in Your tank .. after 6 months or so you could add a small bubble tip anamone . Happy reefing

 

[Shelbytwp123]

Nice so by next month I potentially could be dropping in my 1st coral .... now I know each coral will need to be ether closer or further from the light right, sooo what's the best way for me to read/learn/ask on which coral loves what placement

 

[Shelbytwp123]

Welcome , well if Your tank has cycle you could put in a couple of clownfish and Some eaay corals like toadstools or frogspawn or hammers or pulsing Xenia , that would be a good start and you Will get Some movenent too look at in Your tank .. after 6 months or so you could add a small bubble tip anamone . Happy reefing

Yeah Clowns are the small but than again whole purpose of reef is to enjoy watching life grow. Have been checking water perimeters and salinity every day for couple weeks and all is as perfect as it will be I think. I stasted the cycle with BioSpira x2 naff for 150 gal of water and live rock in refuge only

 

[Jason mack]

Two weeks is not long in a cycle .. unless you used live sand and live rock too start , you could dose ammonia 1 ppm too the tank and test after 24 hrs if Your ammonia is 0 Your good , if you started with dry rock iT can take 6 weeks or longer too cycle

 

[Jason mack]

The key too success if doing everything slowly , adding fish one or two at a time and waiting a few weeks before adding more .. same With corals ,

 

[Shelbytwp123]

Where do I get the ammonia to test that out?

 

[Jason mack]

You can buy ammonia at your local supermarket , just make sure it's pure ammonia no addatives, you can also buy cleaning vinegar there too for cleaning and disinfecting equipment

 

[Shelbytwp123]

And another thing not in regards to coral but clowns it's self. Feeding them...... frozen brine shrimp? Bad or not? They only have been in tank maybe 4-5 days and don't seem to be going good crazy at feeding time which is 4 pm every day. I also have Hikaru sinking 1mm pallets otw... but anyways is this normal for new pair of clowns and are they going be bit more aggressive feeders with time? Just want to me sure they going to be ok

 

[Shelbytwp123]

You can buy ammonia at your local supermarket , just make sure it's pure ammonia no addatives, you can also buy cleaning vinegar there too for cleaning and disinfecting equipment

Great thank you will do that today after work and see how well cycled my tank is.Btw can you tell me how much ammonia to add to bring it up to 1ppm bc don't want to mess up and hurt the clowns

 

[Shelbytwp123]

Also Petco has 1$ per Gallon say going to go get 10 gal QT tank and will have Aquaclear 30 HOB for QT set up will cycle with BIOSPIRA and live rock

 

[Jason mack]

I don't know the size of your system but start by adding something like 10 ml at a time wait 15-30 mins test and add again I'm not sure but I think I used like 100-125 ml on my 90 gallon .. start low don't do too much at once, when you've done a couple you should be able too work out how much you will need too add .

 

[Shelbytwp123]

Ok. It's 40 gal DT 20 high sump half way full

 

[Jason mack]

Ok nice .. let us know how it goes .. also read thread ...

• The microbiology of reef tank cycling.
• By Brandon429
• It's in new too saltwater forum on page 3

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

And another thing not in regards to coral but clowns it's self. Feeding them...... frozen brine shrimp? Bad or not? They only have been in tank maybe 4-5 days and don't seem to be going good crazy at feeding time which is 4 pm every day. I also have Hikaru sinking 1mm pallets otw... but anyways is this normal for new pair of clowns and are they going be bit more aggressive feeders with time? Just want to me sure they going to be ok

I wouldn't feed brine as their primary diet.. bribe shrimp are like potato chips for humans, they taste good and full us up, but have very little nutrition. You'll want to feed something more like PE mysis, limpits reef blend, LRS, or preferably a varied diet with multiple foods. Most clowns will start eating within the first week of being introduced, but not all fish are the same.

 

[Jason mack]

Try mixing in some garlic guard with the frozen food !!