Setting my Tank up for success for first corals

shew · Oct 1, 2020

Hey all,

As the title says, I want to make sure I'm starting off on the right foot with my tank. I have a 20g cube, good flow, already cycled, been up almost a month now. Tank is currently empty, but I'm looking to add a pair of clownfish next week. I want to take advantage of WWC's fragtoberfest this weekend, but I don't want to rush into anything my tank isn't ready for. Since I'm a beginner, I want to start with the easier corals (LPS/softies). I really like long polyp toadstool leathers and lobos.

Currently I only test for Ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. 0 for ammo/nitrites, nitrates range from 20 - 40 ppm

Here's a few questions I had before I start the coral process:

is it too soon to add even hardy corals?
What steps should I take to ensure success for my first coral tankmates?
Should I be testing for calc/alk/phosphate/mag right now before I have any corals? (these all seem quite expensive so I'd rather not buy now if i don't have to)
for my CUC, should I drop them in along with my corals, or wait until I see the ugly phase begin to develop? Also, I see a lot of debate on CUCs so any suggestions are great
- planning to do a snail or two and a blue legged hermit krab to start. I'd rather add just enough versus too much and have things die unnecessarily

Thank you!

Reverend Turtle · Oct 1, 2020

I recently setup a 20 gallon. On day 3 I added 13 frags, mainly brains and cyphastrea. On day 4 I added a small pair of clowns, 2 nassarius snails, 2 blue leg hermits, and 2 astrea snails. It's been 3 weeks now. I am getting some algae growing which I expected, but the corals all look fantastic for the most part. I have a couple of mushroom frags that don't seem to happy.
As for testing, I don't, not right now. I dose brightwell code A and B a couple of times a week. If I notice the corals seem to be unhappy, I'll test then.

Edit: I don't advise doing this, this isn't my first rodeo, that was back in 1985.

Pistondog · Oct 1, 2020

shew said:
Hey all,

As the title says, I want to make sure I'm starting off on the right foot with my tank. I have a 20g cube, good flow, already cycled, been up almost a month now. Tank is currently empty, but I'm looking to add a pair of clownfish next week. I want to take advantage of WWC's fragtoberfest this weekend, but I don't want to rush into anything my tank isn't ready for. Since I'm a beginner, I want to start with the easier corals (LPS/softies). I really like long polyp toadstool leathers and lobos.

Currently I only test for Ammonia/nitrites/nitrates. 0 for ammo/nitrites, nitrates range from 20 - 40 ppm

Here's a few questions I had before I start the coral process:

is it too soon to add even hardy corals?

What steps should I take to ensure success for my first coral tankmates?

Should I be testing for calc/alk/phosphate/mag right now before I have any corals? (these all seem quite expensive so I'd rather not buy now if i don't have to)

for my CUC, should I drop them in along with my corals, or wait until I see the ugly phase begin to develop? Also, I see a lot of debate on CUCs so any suggestions are great

planning to do a snail or two and a blue legged hermit krab to start. I'd rather add just enough versus too much and have things die unnecessarily

Thank you!

20 to 40 is a little high.
When the h2o params are stable, add the cuc.
Risk to adding corals is only their demise = $$.

Oropher · Oct 1, 2020

I think it's best to wait for ugly phase to pass before adding coral.

scabbedwings616 · Oct 2, 2020

I would suggest you hold off till you get thru the ugly phase of your tank. i would get a small cuc for right now to help out with the eventual ugly phase. You could probably do a leather or gsp to start off but you could probably get from a local reefer.

as for testing you should get in a habit of testing now and at the same time. It’s all about consistency and creating habits. I would be testing it to learn what your tank likes and doesn’t like. Just keep it consistent and things will be happy in your tank.

SPR1968 · Oct 2, 2020

Provided your water parameters are stable and correct you can add corals straight away, so you need to get test kits for, magnesium calcium and in particular alkalinity

This is a good general guide as to were they want to be

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

While its empty you could do a few water changes to get your nitrates down to a target of say 5 and also try to keep phosphate below 0.03 and you will avoid many of the issues you read about.

I would hold off on the CUC for a while, unless you think there is enough ‘food’ in the tank for them or they could starve