Is my tank ready for LPS corals

BeanAnimal

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Thank you for the advice!
Patience is the best thing that you can practice. The biological environment just takes time to mature as things come and go and get replaced by other things. In the meantime just work on your testing and maintenance practices while slowly adding fish and corals.
 
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modom1207

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Do you know how long it was actually in their tanks? I only ask because when we speak of "live rock" it usually implies rock that has been in the ocean or in an established system for quite some time. Nitrifying bacteria is the easy part... it's all the other bacteria, algae, archaea, etc that makes live rock "live" and beneficial.
No, I don’t know how long it was there unfortunately. They had a really large selection in several very large “tanks” (more like giant ponds with filtration and whatnot) in a room to get it from. I assume it would’ve been in there for at least several weeks or months because I can’t see their store having that much volume for it to constantly be purchased. I may be wrong, though.
 

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I have live sand and 16 lbs of live rock in there. I just added bacteria yesterday, but I had a media cartridge in there from a previous tank with lots of good bacteria already. I have one Duncan in there right now and he seems happy. I put him in about a week ago. He’s been open and his color has become more neon since I put him in the tank. Are my parameters good enough to go ahead and throw in some mushroom coral? I believe my PAR is between 90-220 at various places in the tank based off what the tank and light manufacturer said, but I don’t want to rent the measuring tool right now haha
You could definitely throw in a mushroom, but I would get a rhodactis, discosoma, or richordea florida. Stay away from richordea yuma for now, they require higher light and flow and are generally more picky. The only reason I ended up getting yumas is because I didn't understand the difference. Also mushrooms, especially discosoma grow and reproduce very fast, make sure to keep them isolated from your main rock work.
 
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modom1207

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You could definitely throw in a mushroom, but I would get a rhodactis, discosoma, or richordea florida. Stay away from richordea yuma for now, they require higher light and flow and are generally more picky. The only reason I ended up getting yumas is because I didn't understand the difference. Also mushrooms, especially discosoma grow and reproduce very fast, make sure to keep them isolated from your main rock work.
I’ve had my eye on the richordea Florida since I started looking at different types. If I provide some coral food for them, would that be enough to keep them alive or would the food sway the balance of my tank? I haven’t been feeding the Duncan I have because I saw where it can get the majority of its nourishment from the tank lights.
 
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modom1207

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If the rock came to you wet out of a big tank at the LFS and there’s signs of life on it you almost certainly have copepods in there already. I’d wait a little before actually adding them.

They’ll also come in on snails, crabs, corals and so on. Realistically, over time you couldn’t keep them out of your system even if you tried.
This is helpful. Thank you!
 
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modom1207

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It's more about the stability than any specific numbers. A brand new, smaller tank is likely going to be unstable for a while.
**mushrooms aren't LPS (they actually aren't formally coral either, but that's a different discussion). They are considered soft corals in the hobby and discosomas are usually easy (although they do prefer higher nutrients than you currently have, IME).

*You say you added "live rock" - where did you got it and was it actually wet?
What is a good number for my nutrients for the future?
 

BeanAnimal

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You could definitely throw in a mushroom, but I would get a rhodactis, discosoma, or richordea florida. Stay away from richordea yuma for now, they require higher light and flow and are generally more picky. The only reason I ended up getting yumas is because I didn't understand the difference. Also mushrooms, especially discosoma grow and reproduce very fast, make sure to keep them isolated from your main rock work.
The only thing on that list even remotely not invasive is the Florida. I honestly wish (nothing personal) shrooms and other invasive softies were not the default suggestion for new reef keepers. Easy, sure but a nightmare in a mixed reef once they take hold.
 

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I’ve had my eye on the richordea Florida since I started looking at different types. If I provide some coral food for them, would that be enough to keep them alive or would the food sway the balance of my tank? I haven’t been feeding the Duncan I have because I saw where it can get the majority of its nourishment from the tank lights.
Feeding is not necessary for these corals, but I feed every coral in my tank. It's like the difference between eating two meals a day and eating three meals a day, will you survive? Yes Will you go to bed hungry? Yes. Corals that are fed grow much faster. I've gotten a new polyp almost every week from my goniapora since I started feeding it. You can broadcast feed something like red sea ab+ or spot feed with frozen foods. Lps and softies aren't picky they will also accept fish pellets.
 

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What is a good number for my nutrients for the future?
For stony corals:

Calcium 400-450

Alk: 8-12 but pick a value and stick with it. Alk swings aren’t good even if they’re within values that are good. Alk stability probably won’t be an issue for a while as you need a fair quantity of stony corals to consume it.

Magnesium: 1400ish

Nitrates: Not zero. Generally recommended values are 5-10ish, but some people successfully run a lot higher than that.

Phosphates: Not zero. Generally recommend values are 0.03 to 0.1, some folks successfully run a lot higher
 

BeanAnimal

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Yes, that's why I told op to separate them from the main rock. Also removal isn't all that hard with this method https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/safe-and-easy-diy-way-to-remove-nems.861213/
Sorry, but I have a tank full of them and 20+ years of dealing with them in my tank and numerous club members tanks that would disagree. They by no means stay put on a rock and are not easy to remove by any stretch of the imagination…. At least from where I sit :)
 
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modom1207

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For stony corals:

Calcium 400-450

Alk: 8-12 but pick a value and stick with it. Alk swings aren’t good even if they’re within values that are good. Alk stability probably won’t be an issue for a while as you need a fair quantity of stony corals to consume it.

Magnesium: 1400ish

Nitrates: Not zero. Generally recommended values are 5-10ish, but some people successfully run a lot higher than that.

Phosphates: Not zero. Generally recommend values are 0.03 to 0.1, some folks successfully run a lot higher
So by this standard, my phosphates are currently high at .25. What would possibly cause that?

My nitrates are good, probably closer to 5 than 3. I didn’t check my magnesium, so I’ll pick up some strips for those. I tested my calcium with an actual kit and its levels were 460. Is a little high good? dKh is at 9, so good on that front too. Without having tested my magnesium, the only thing that I can tell that is off are the phosphates right now. I have not yet done a water change, but would a water change be beneficial at eliminating some phosphates at this point?
 

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I would not obsess about nitrate or phosphate at this point or feeding coral, well meaning people can easily lead you down a path of dominos…. Just patience and slow deliberate additions. Test water, watch tank maturity evolve.
 

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So by this standard, my phosphates are currently high at .25. What would possibly cause that?
Don't even worry about it right now. First off its not too high. I have tanks I have to dose NO3 and PO4 occasionally to stay above 0. Another tank runs NO3 10-15 and PO4 over 0.3. I much rather have higher numbers vs too low. I would let the tank mature and see where things settle on their own in a few month. Trying to tweak things to early has a very good chance of creating problems later.

EDIT : I have pods in all of my tanks. I have never purchased any.
 

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I would not obsess about nitrate or phosphate at this point or feeding coral, well meaning people can easily lead you down a path of dominos…. Just patience and slow deliberate additions. Test water, watch tank maturity evolve.
Agreed 100%

Especially for a tank starting out as until the ecosystem stabilizes the numbers are going to be all over the place.

My intent was more “these are the commonly recommended values, but people can be successful with higher values”. Personally I don’t really sweat over these other than checking to make sure they don’t bottom out, as I run a fairly lightly stocked tank with a lot of coral and macroalgae.

My 2c: These tanks are extremely complex ecosystems and there are a ton of processes going on we can’t measure. To me the recommended values are a protocol that in general gives good results but doesn’t necessarily need to be followed if another configuration works.
 
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modom1207

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Agreed 100%

Especially for a tank starting out as until the ecosystem stabilizes the numbers are going to be all over the place.

My intent was more “these are the commonly recommended values, but people can be successful with higher values”. Personally I don’t really sweat over these other than checking to make sure they don’t bottom out, as I run a fairly lightly stocked tank with a lot of coral and macroalgae.

My 2c: These tanks are extremely complex ecosystems and there are a ton of processes going on we can’t measure. To me the recommended values are a protocol that in general gives good results but doesn’t necessarily need to be followed if another configuration works.
Thank you for providing this insight! I appreciate all the feedback I’ve received on this forum. When google can’t, R2R can! for now, I think I’ll pull the trigger on a couple Florida shrooms. If they don’t fare well, then at least I’ve learned something from the process. I think I am vigilant enough to keep them alive, though, hopefully lol. I’ve kept at least 40 houseplants alive and free of parasites for about half a decade now. I know aquatic plants are a different story but perhaps the houseplants have earned me enough of a green thumb to move to something more challenging like corals and mushrooms
 
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modom1207

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Don't even worry about it right now. First off its not too high. I have tanks I have to dose NO3 and PO4 occasionally to stay above 0. Another tank runs NO3 10-15 and PO4 over 0.3. I much rather have higher numbers vs too low. I would let the tank mature and see where things settle on their own in a few month. Trying to tweak things to early has a very good chance of creating problems later.

EDIT : I have pods in all of my tanks. I have never purchased any.
Thank you!! This makes me feel more at ease
 
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modom1207

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I would not obsess about nitrate or phosphate at this point or feeding coral, well meaning people can easily lead you down a path of dominos…. Just patience and slow deliberate additions. Test water, watch tank maturity evolve.
Thank you! You’ve been super helpful on each thread I’ve posted!! I really appreciate it!!
 

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So by this standard, my phosphates are currently high at .25. What would possibly cause that?

My nitrates are good, probably closer to 5 than 3. I didn’t check my magnesium, so I’ll pick up some strips for those. I tested my calcium with an actual kit and its levels were 460. Is a little high good? dKh is at 9, so good on that front too. Without having tested my magnesium, the only thing that I can tell that is off are the phosphates right now. I have not yet done a water change, but would a water change be beneficial at eliminating some phosphates at this point?
Don't worry about your phosphates you'll likely do more harm trying to lower them. 0.25 is perfectly fine for lps
 

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