Coral??

[cms722]

So I want to put corals in my tank, but everywhere I look I see everyone talking about supplementing this or feeding them that. It seems like there is soooo much that goes into keeping corals that I'm beginning to wonder if I even want to have them. It seems so complicated. How do you guys keep up with what you feed your fish and corals, on top of what you do and don't add to your water? Its so confusing.

 

[lilduud]

well usually you start out wth easy basic corals like softies and perhaps lps... easier corals are only optional feeders, you can feed them pretty much anything you feed your fish as a basic meal, or they can survive off of strong lights alone. it really depends on what kind of coral you want and how much work your willing to do. many corals dont need any feeding what so ever to survive but more difficult corals need special care and some actually dont like the light. what kind of lights do you have on your tank? and what kind of corals are you interested in keeping?

 

[lilduud]

ps for hard corals you will need to keep the calc, alk, mag, iodine etc levels higher than in a fowlr.... at least if you want to see growth ;)

 

[cms722]

Right now I just have two 18k t5 bulbs on the tank. When I get some money saved up I'm getting more. But they are really bright and brand new. I like alot of the soft corals. And those are the easier ones right? I like the frogspawn, bubble coral, the hammers. I don't know all of the specific names. I think one was called a candy cane coral? I'm not too interested in the hard coral right now. I like the flow-y look that all the softies have

 

[lilduud]

All of the corals mentioned are hard corals actually, they are Lps (large polyp stonies) but they are among the easier stony corals. Wht is the wattage or length of your bulbs? Tht won't be enough for even most soft corals unfortunately, I woul recommend at least a four bulb 48 inch t5 fixture, that will allow you to keep pretty much any coral you'd be interest in.

 

[Bifferwine]

Most corals don't need to be fed, and most don't need the water supplemented with anything as long as you are doing regular water changes. :)

 

[cms722]

What wattage would I need? I'm not sure what my bulbs are. I'd have to check. I got them with the tank stand when I bought it. But they are at least 48". I think they're actually longer, as they cover almost the entire length of my tank. But I definitely plan on getting better lights before I get corals. I'm just trying to learn it all right now. I had no idea that those corals I listed were hard corals lol. I thought if they were able to move and flow then they were soft. Makes sense to me hehe. Where should I start then? My tank is all cycled and has a few things in it. I just don't want to end up killing something that I got.

 

[navyguyame]

If your tank is a standard 55 gallon then it is 48 inches long.

 

[Sir Alex]

This would be a good fixture: Current USA Nova Extreme T5HO Fixtures

With regular water changes and these lights, you will be able to keep soft and LPS corals without any special care.

For SPS you should feed filter food every once in a while and keep calcium levels above 400.

 

[jcegt87]

i agree with biff here regular water changes are for the most part enough unless you have alot of corals , some salts that are used to mix for your water changes have the calcium needed for your corals to grow amoungs other supplements , as i stated unless you have or plan to keep a heavy stock of calcium hungry corals you should be ok , just get the necesary tests to check out your parameters , if you see that your cal/alk ect are low than regular water changes are not suffice and you may need to add supplements but ne careful not to over do it

 

[Jmck]

I really need to make a keeping corals article hahaha. To microsoft word!

 

[yvr]

If you keep up with water changes generally your trace elements should be replenished as long as you don't keep too many corals that require and utilize higher concentrations of trace elements. Using a good quality reef salt like Tropic Marin, will help keep the trace elements in check. Once you increase the coral bio load and the Ca, Mg, trace elements etc. become depleted faster than you can replace them via your normal water change routine you will have to start dosing as required to the levels where you want them to be. Don't forget to test for Ca, Mg, Alk regularly and for anything you dose in your tank.

 

[Sir Alex]

This is a good article on keeping corals.

Acropora's Coral Guide - Nano-Reef.com Forums

 

[jcegt87]

great article ...this coming from a person that doesnt like to read articles very informative

 

[Sir Alex]

...this coming from a person that doesnt like to read articles very informative

.....


What's that supposed to mean, I like articles! :confused:

 

[jcegt87]

.....


What's that supposed to mean, I like articles! :confused:

haha not you i meant me :Di hate to read long articles they usually make me sleepy but this is great:Cheers:

and honestly ill be reading it cause i had alot of questions for the corals i wanna keep in my 10G nano

 

[Sir Alex]

haha not you i meant me :Di hate to read long articles they usually make me sleepy but this is great:Cheers:

Oh, lol. I thought you meant I don't like articles... :oops:

 

[cms722]

Ok thanks everyone. I was worried for a bit that it might be too much for me. But knowing that most of the corals will be fine with regular water changes and proper lighting makes me happy. Off to research corals! Hehe

 

[Waddi]

My corals are doing fine. I change water 20% bi-weekly (Was tempted to say winning!) :frustrat: Hahaha