Salt Water Reef Tank - Corals

[Braveheartw1]

Hello everyone,
I’m new to the hobby. I purchased and setup a Red Sea 90 gallon tank (including sump) on 4/1/2022. So far everything is going great. I have about 14 salt water fish, 20 zoanthid, 3 Frogspawn coral, 1 hammer head coral, 10 Acans, and 1 neon green toadstool. Everything was quarantined and has been placed in there own area. I think of salt water reef tanks (from the research) like the pirates of the Caribbean. Everything is more of a guideline than a hard rule. (Being an engineer this is driving me crazy). Between water quality, par, tank place, who can play with who, how close, how big, and how fast. I‘m really having a hard time figuring out which corals to add and how close. I want a tank that will look great and filled in, in about 3-5 years. I also want a tank that I’m not going to have to go in and cut back coral every 2-3 weeks to stop wars. My question is what are some good site to research this information. Many sites have part, but not all which makes it hard. Also any inputs to which coral I should look at adding next. Thanks

 

[Lavey29]

Your scape looks nice. Since you have a 4 month old tank you might want to slow down as you experience various ugly phases the first year. Generally after that your tank becomes much more stable and opens up much more coral options. I think starting with softs and easy LPS as you have was wise but maybe see how they thrive over the next few months and ugly stages pass then start planning your next multi coral purchase. I would definitely hold off on SPS till at least 10 months or a year.

 

[Braveheartw1]

I agree, I’ve already had 1 ugly stage, but I’m sure my tank is not done. I’m currently not planning on adding any more fish and no more coral for a minimum of 4-6 months. But the more research,input, and tank placement I can get in the mean time the better off I will be. FYI, I’m 59 years old and had a salt water fish tank in my 30’s that did well, but so much has changed in the past 30 years

 

[Lavey29]

I agree, I’ve already had 1 ugly stage, but I’m sure my tank is not done. I’m currently not planning on adding any more fish and no more coral for a minimum of 4-6 months. But the more research,input, and tank placement I can get in the mean time the better off I will be. FYI, I’m 59 years old and had a salt water fish tank in my 30’s that did well, but so much has changed in the past 30 years

I think the only thing I would watch out for is the 20 zoas. These things are pretty and a good starter coral but they can become invasive and take over space that you would like to have for other corals. I made this mistake and now have to make adjustments because of zoa invasion.

 

[Braveheartw1]

I think the only thing I would watch out for is the 20 zoas. These things are pretty and a good starter coral but they can become invasive and take over space that you would like to have for other corals. I made this mistake and now have to make adjustments because of zoa invasion.

Lol. I wish I could fast forward and see what the tank will look like in the future. I put almost all my zoanthids on coral on the sand. I put 4 zoanthids per coral so hopefully I can move and adjust. Thanks for the input