Looking To purchase Hard Corals. Info, Help, Needed??

[xxnonamexx]

I have a 55gal. 450Watt 20K CoralLife MH, 3 1W Lunar Lights, Live sand 4in DSB, over 75lbs. Live Rock, 1 Cinnamon Clownfish, Magenta Dottyback, Kole Tang, Cardinalfish, snails, crabs, Feather Duster, Sabae Purple Tipped Anenome, 1 White Leather Coral, Red Sun polyp, assorted polyps, Kenya trees, Devil's hand, 2 Assorted Color Plate Corals, Star Polyps, Frogspawn, Fox Coral, Flat Brain, Green Bubble Coral, Mushrooms, Green Star Polyps, Wet/Dry filter, Protein Skimmer, Heater. I am interested in trying Hard Corals they look beautiful and with the MH I think they should look great. Any ideas on what to purchase? Care? Thanks

 

[Phyl]

Kenya trees are tough stingers and leathers produce some nasty toxic warfare so you'll have to run carbon and keep the kenyas at bay. Once you get started I think the digitatas are generally more forgiving than most hard corals so they're probably a good place to start. Monti Cap is also an easy grower.

The best way, IMO is to start with some frags of things as the price per piece is low enough and most of these are aquacultured so they're a bit more forgiving in that regard as well. Then you'll see what does best with the flow in your tank and what doesn't do so well (SPS want 10-20gph turnover in the tank). I have a couple of unhappy acro frags in my main right now but a stock tank full of hard corals and LPSs that are stock corals for the NJRC that are all very happy. There are 3 leathers in my main and I think the toxins are more than the SPS care for.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[xxnonamexx]

Thanks for the info now about the toxic warfare you were talking about I am miunderstanding the kenya trees have been in my tank for 3 months and are doing fine. I have a WD filter with carbon in it and also the PS has carbon in it as well. Any places you prefer online that sell the hard frags? I am upgrading my flow with a Mag 12 pump soon.

 

[flamingonhot]

if you want some sites i would try liveaquaria.net or thatpetplace.com's live fish part of theyre site.

 

[Phyl]

My preference for frags is local reef clubs. That's really the best place to get them. You can get just about anything (standard) for 10$ a frag. NJ has one, and I'm sure there are some in the city. As for the Kenya it touched a green/purple monti cap in my tank and the coral had RTNd in less than 24 hours. Dead as a door nail. You just have to be careful what they have access to!

Hope that clears it up a little.

 

[hcuellart]

I would say you already have an interesting mix in your tank, just whatever you do, leave a lot of space for the SPS corals to grow. Your tank sounds quite crowded already...

 

[xxnonamexx]

http://flickr.com/photos/59422509@N00/ Check out my tank. I see alot of 55 gals more crowded then mine. What should I do? Thanks

 

[hcuellart]

Nice setup. Chemical warfare can take over a year, sometimes two for you to notice and when you do notice, its too late most of the times. I like to leave at least 6" between corals so that they have minimum contact between them.

In your case you already have quite a population of softies and LPS, I see you even have an anemone. This combination can last for a year, maybe two, but slowly your coral population may start going downhill.

In my experience, to handle this so called coral gardens where you see SPS, LPS and softies together, you need a super efficient skimmer and still corals will not thrive, they might survive at best...

What I can recommend best is focus on maybe one or two groups of cnidarians but not more.

Well I don't want to discourage you or anything, this is just my opinion...

 

[xxnonamexx]

Thanks for the opinion everything helps. Great advice. What should I do with my setup? I have no stoneies or Hard corals but would love to start getting into them. I see 55gal. with tons of corals crowding the tank. What should I do to prevent chemical warfare? Should I add more rock? I tried moving things away but I feel there is no room lol. Any suggestions? Thanks again for everything. Also do you have a pic of your tank?

 

[hcuellart]

Well you already have stonies, well LPS, but stonies still. SPS corals are somewhat less aggressive but can suffer in the long term as I said before. If you already have a skimmer and is an efficient one, then you could as well give it a shot.

Adding live rock is always good but that will not contribute into placing more corals, in fact it will add to your bioload.

Try not to move corals around so much, once placed somewhere, it is better to leave it in its place so that it will not suffer unnecessary stress from all the movement, changing lighting conditions, etc.

The skimmer is of major relevance in successful reef aquaria.

No I don't have a pic of my setup but I will upload as soon as I can get a hold of a nice digital camera, I am kind of old school and still shoot with 35mm film...

 

[saberry]

... Any places you prefer online that sell the hard frags?

You might want to check out www.fragsncrabs.com

 

[Phyl]

Adding live rock is always good but that will not contribute into placing more corals, in fact it will add to your bioload.

Could you explain this please? It goes against everything I've ever heard and can't imagine how it would be true. Maybe that's part of old school thoughts?

 

[ellisz]

I have had leathers, zoos, LPS and SPS(Monti and Acros) in my tank for about a year now. I have done some massive pruning on the leathers and pretty much removed all but 2 as of late though. I do run carbon 24/7 but as long as you give them space, you can have a mixed reef. I would try Montipora Digitata and maybe a Cap. These SPS are more forgiving.

I have seen nice growth in my acros, torts and Montis even with my leathers. I had a sinularia leather that spanned about 12" across. I fragged it and it is still in my system but it is downstairs in my frag tank. I do have a Devils hand and a toadstool in my display still.

It is easier to have a more species specific tank.

HTH

 

[xxnonamexx]

Thanks for the info I have the red sea deluxe protein skimmer supposed to be one of the best. I understand I shouldn't change much but Should I make a final change to prevent chemical warfare? Thankjs

 

[ellisz]

You can't prevent the chemical warfare. In a mixed reef it will happen. The carbon just helps keep everything happy. Some corals do it more than others though.

 

[hcuellart]

Phyl, what I wanted to state here was that with adding live rock would not mean that you would be able to add more corals... You would have a better biological filtration indeed but you would increase your biolad thus needing a bigger and more efficient skimmer... Maybe I did not make myself clear on this fact

Yes, like ellisz stated, carbon is really important (I totally forgot about carbon), and I would suggest having maybe 2 oz in your tank and change it weekly. This and heavy skimming are what successfull reefkeepers rely on...

 

[ellisz]

Adding LR and/or corals does not add to you bioload though. I believe that is what Phyl was questioning.

 

[Phyl]

with adding live rock would not mean that you would be able to add more corals... You would have a better biological filtration indeed but you would increase your biolad thus needing a bigger and more efficient skimmer

That's what I thought you were saying. I don't agree that rock is adding to your bioload (processing it? Yes; adding to it? No).

Heavy skimming is indeed helpful, regardless!

 

[hcuellart]

LR would not increase your bioload, more corals would... Well at least I thought corals added to your bioload, I may be wrong...