Well as of last night I have officially entered the reef world with the purchase of my first coral.
At the advice of the LFS I started out with a candy coral (good price) which is suppose to be pretty easy and should do ok in my current lighting while I upgrade. I placed it in top 1/4 of tank directly under t-5 fixture.
I plan to take it real slow since I still need more lighting and want to watch my CB closely to see how it reacts.
Below are some basic I pulled up on the candy (cane) coral
Care Level: Easy
Light: Moderate
Water Flow: Medium
Placement: All
Tank Conditions: 72-78°F; sg 1.023-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4; dKH 8-12
Color Form: Brown/Green, Green
Temperament: Peaceful
Ideal Supplements: Calcium, Strontium, Trace Elements
Origin: Fiji
Family: Faviidae
Yes, I do plan to add more lightning in the near future I am just spacing it out over time. I have elected to go with the new corallife slim double T-5 fixtures and plan to get 2-3 more. They are only 56w, but what I have learned is they are almost the equivalent to a PC 130w because of the high output.
My question is about adding supplements. I have used trace element 1x per week in between pwc in the past, but nothing else with the belief that pwc replace much of what is lost.
As you can see above others supplements are recommended for this coral. I have also been leary about adding supplements with the idea you should not add anything for which you do not test.
My reading tells me the Calcium and Strontium are probably a good idea and I picked up a bottle of each. The bottles recommend dosing twice a week, but I think I would start out once a week into the pump area of the sump. Thoughts?
Then, what about iodine? I see some other corals may need that as well as it is recommended for inverts. Honestly my inverts such a the shrimp molt regularly and I am not sure about this.
What about testing? If I follow the recommendations or less is it going to be necessary?
I am a newbie to corals and any help is appreciated.
TIA,
At the advice of the LFS I started out with a candy coral (good price) which is suppose to be pretty easy and should do ok in my current lighting while I upgrade. I placed it in top 1/4 of tank directly under t-5 fixture.
I plan to take it real slow since I still need more lighting and want to watch my CB closely to see how it reacts.
Below are some basic I pulled up on the candy (cane) coral
Care Level: Easy
Light: Moderate
Water Flow: Medium
Placement: All
Tank Conditions: 72-78°F; sg 1.023-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4; dKH 8-12
Color Form: Brown/Green, Green
Temperament: Peaceful
Ideal Supplements: Calcium, Strontium, Trace Elements
Origin: Fiji
Family: Faviidae
Yes, I do plan to add more lightning in the near future I am just spacing it out over time. I have elected to go with the new corallife slim double T-5 fixtures and plan to get 2-3 more. They are only 56w, but what I have learned is they are almost the equivalent to a PC 130w because of the high output.
My question is about adding supplements. I have used trace element 1x per week in between pwc in the past, but nothing else with the belief that pwc replace much of what is lost.
As you can see above others supplements are recommended for this coral. I have also been leary about adding supplements with the idea you should not add anything for which you do not test.
My reading tells me the Calcium and Strontium are probably a good idea and I picked up a bottle of each. The bottles recommend dosing twice a week, but I think I would start out once a week into the pump area of the sump. Thoughts?
Then, what about iodine? I see some other corals may need that as well as it is recommended for inverts. Honestly my inverts such a the shrimp molt regularly and I am not sure about this.
What about testing? If I follow the recommendations or less is it going to be necessary?
I am a newbie to corals and any help is appreciated.
TIA,