First coral?

[Notsolostfish]

My tank is 1 months old. Its cycled and i have 1 bicolor blenny and 2 darwin clowns its 36 gallons. Running with g5 radion blue light. And i was wondering if i can have 1 coral for now like a zoa? Or i have to wait 2-3 months? Thanks.

 

[ilikefish69]

Coral it up !! Zoas are a great starting coral. Look at mushrooms, as well. Both very forgiving. Continue to move slow and reach out for help, you are doing the right thing!
One of my first corals was a giant green hairy mushroom. My two clownfish ended up being hosted by it. They have since moved on to their respective anemones but that is also an easy, cheap, forgiving coral.

Do not listen to anyone who says GSP it is horrible and you will regret it. lol

 

[Piscans]

My tank is 1 months old. Its cycled and i have 1 bicolor blenny and 2 darwin clowns its 36 gallons. Running with g5 radion blue light. And i was wondering if i can have 1 coral for now like a zoa? Or i have to wait 2-3 months? Thanks.

get a paly colony, a kenya tree colony, and a zoa colony, and a xenia colony. id add some white light to the spectrum. dont have 1 coral under raw blue light. it dosent look very good or natural. get some colonies of really cheap coral colonies are much hardier (a big colony of acro is more resistant to change than 1 zoa polyp. & it will fill in quickly.

 

[Baronen]

The part about this hobby that I was surprised to figure out was how hardy most coral are (provided the tank is at least cycled, and you have a decent light and flow). I’ve ordered live rock shipped overnight and the coral attached to the rock always rebound. I’ve added some shrooms, zoas and candy canes to a tank the same day the rock arrived and they thrived through the cycle.

some sps and a few LPS are a different story though

 

[dstockwell]

Where is the best place to find colonies instead of small frags.

 

[LeDart]

Where is the best place to find colonies instead of small frags.

Check out some LFS and online retailers, or even tank-breakdowns, colonies are going to be a lot more expensive, but you get a head start. I would start off by checking out a couple of LFS, but you can also immediately go online. Do your research before ever buying a coral, Zoanthids are typically easy, but some can be extremely difficult to keep or care for. Another good coral to start off with is a GSP, these grow like a weed, so you will need a rock away from all the other corals. Xenias are another awesome coral, same for Kenya trees, and so on. You should also check out mushrooms as they are also easier to care for, but yet again, do your research.

 

[DIFish]

Where is the best place to find colonies instead of small frags.

Probably location dependent but local hobbyist who sell corals usually have much larger “frags” and better prices on the larger pieces too. Got a 20 polp Zoa “frag” for the same price as online vendors 2 polp frags.

Also OP, advice here is good and as long as parameters are somewhat stable most zoas will do fine, some might even prefer higher nitrate.

 

[Mschmidt]

another vote to the "you should be fine" category. just know that your tank is still settling in and that means there will be nutrient shifts. some more sensitive coral won't like that, but any of the ones listed above will be fine. Make sure you have some detectable nitrates and phosphates for the soft coral.

 

[keithw283]

Where is the best place to find colonies instead of small frags.

As far as corals go, I've never had a problem anywhere I've ordered online. I've gone through WWC, TSA and Tidal Gardens. I'm sure many people have experience with other places but these are just who I've ordered through. Also, you are definitely going to notice a price difference between a big colony and a small frag. I get the allure behind getting a colony because I'm sure we've all been there when first starting out of not wanting that tiny frag but there is also something to be said about getting that frag and growing it out to a big colony on your own. Besides, you may want to start with a couple starter frags to make sure your tank is ready before a colony

 

[keithw283]

Probably location dependent but local hobbyist who sell corals usually have much larger “frags” and better prices on the larger pieces too. Got a 20 polp Zoa “frag” for the same price as online vendors 2 polp frags.

Also OP, advice here is good and as long as parameters are somewhat stable most zoas will do fine, some might even prefer higher nitrate.

+1. Local hobbyist would be the better way to go. I didn't think of that since I don't interact as much with the local hobbyists but me and a buddy swap corals once we have something that is growing out bigger than we want

 

[vetteguy53081]

My tank is 1 months old. Its cycled and i have 1 bicolor blenny and 2 darwin clowns its 36 gallons. Running with g5 radion blue light. And i was wondering if i can have 1 coral for now like a zoa? Or i have to wait 2-3 months? Thanks.

By all means yes. . . Just assure you acclimate it well assuring the salinity matches that of the tank

 

[Mschmidt]

local reefers probably have some frags or colonies you could get for a reasonable price, if not free. Online, I've loved what I got from WWC (live sale in the banner ad), Living reef Orlando, tidal gardens, sbb corals (they are having a sale now with some amazing pieces).

 

[Lavey29]

Where is the best place to find colonies instead of small frags.

Colonies don't ship well. Change of environment stresses them hard that's why frags adjust better to new systems.

 

[Spare time]

Just to help you out in the future, you should use the search function. Many, and I'd argue most, of your posts have been asked hundreds if not more times on the forum here. This would be a good tool for you.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Just to help you out in the future, you should use the search function. Many, and I'd argue most, of your posts have been asked hundreds if not more times on the forum here. This would be a good tool for you.

Oh my bad i thought u can help me in your "spare time"

 

[LeDart]

Oh my bad i thought u can help me in your "spare time"

nice roast lol

 

[Spare time]

Oh my bad i thought u can help me in your "spare time"

I did. And not just me, but every other use who has posted the answer to the same question made on a new thread thousands of times.

I wish someone would add up thousands of repeated posts on here asking "Is my cycle stuck?" "First coral?" "When can I add pods?" "When to add refugium?" "Is 17 Nitrate a lot?" "How much salt?" "How to do a water change?" (All of these you have asked). Many of your posts have been answered thousands of times before and you could get answers almost immediately through the search function. Just ask @brandon429 how many times he has to answer the same question over and over again about a cycle being stuck (to the point where I laugh whenever I see those posts pop up because I know brandon's cycling spidey sense is going off)

You have a post asking how much salt to add to water. I can guarantee you that a 5 second search on here or google will provide an answer (or likely on the actual bucket of salt itself). I'm trying to help you out here since I sincerely don't know if you know how to use the search function or not. I'm genuinely not trying to be offensive here, but rather I think people should learn to search function on here before asking since some questions are extremely repetitive.

 

[kevgib67]

Where is the best place to find colonies instead of small frags.

Corals.com has large mixed zoa colonies and mushroom colonies.

 

[ilikefish69]

for what it's worth I use the hybrid approach when deciding if a new post is necessary. I like the community aspect of new posts, we can all come together at our digital workplaces (Is reef2reef still online when we're not at work? I've never checked...) and have a nice discussion about something we all thoroughly enjoy. if we all just read old posts then eventually there would be no reason to post anything new that being said I also use the search function if I am not getting enough attention (ya I said it lol) or the topic is an extremely high-traffic topic that gets a lot of communicative attention around here. We should encourage new activity around here I believe rather than encouraging silent lurkers. just my .02

 

[Rick's Reviews]

I did. And not just me, but every other use who has posted the answer to the same question made on a new thread thousands of times.

I wish someone would add up thousands of repeated posts on here asking "Is my cycle stuck?" "First coral?" "When can I add pods?" "When to add refugium?" "Is 17 Nitrate a lot?" "How much salt?" "How to do a water change?" (All of these you have asked). Many of your posts have been answered thousands of times before and you could get answers almost immediately through the search function. Just ask @brandon429 how many times he has to answer the same question over and over again about a cycle being stuck (to the point where I laugh whenever I see those posts pop up because I know brandon's cycling spidey sense is going off)

You have a post asking how much salt to add to water. I can guarantee you that a 5 second search on here or google will provide an answer (or likely on the actual bucket of salt itself). I'm trying to help you out here since I sincerely don't know if you know how to use the search function or not. I'm genuinely not trying to be offensive here, but rather I think people should learn to search function on here before asking since some questions are extremely repetitive.

For me to ask a question and get a reply within short period of time, often many replies is more reassuring then searching '1000' different answers/ and some time at length and may still remain unsure. I do agree that research is key but it's actually nice to receive a message back in quick succession to a question that may seem 'repeated' to reef2reef community but the 'question' is only asked once by the Op
It may be 100 people asking the same question but each question is asked by one individual person just seeking advice and reasurance so it's not really hard questions to answer as it's repeated many times

But to answer this one person's questions will help them as an individual
(Just my thoughts)