Which Corals to go with first?

[Onify]

I'm not adding corals yet, but I would like to have a general idea on what to get first. I have a 25 Gallon High tank with One misbar clwonfish, two red legged hermits, one turbo snail, and a bumblebee. I have about 2 lbs of LR and 25 lbs of Dryrock. Good filtration and temp, PH levels are good and all that. I have had the tank all together for around a month now, and I added the clownfish about 3 and a half weeks ago and the CUCs about two weeks ago. I do not think it's fully cycled, but again, What corals would be good? And how much longer?

 

[bribo12]

Soft corals are usually a good hardy first choice. Zoanthids, mushrooms, leathers, etc are all good. What lights do you have and what are your parameters? No idea on your cycle without knowing the parameters.


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[Onify]

My light, oh I forgot to say, I'm using a Coralife T5HO with a 10k daytime light and a ATI coral plus light blub. My parameters are PH: 8.1, Salinity 27, Uh... Nitraites are good. I forget what they were but the pet store I go to tested a baggy of water a brought in and everything was great.

 

[Sniperhank]

Get yourself a master test kit so you can keep an eye on your own nitrates. API tests will do. If you get into the area of testing for phosphates, alkalinity, and calcium you'll want better brand if tests.


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[Onify]

Okay will do, I do have my own PH test kit and Salinity testing Hydrometer, But that's it. I'll look into that

 

[54seaweed]

if you dont think the tank is cycled than why is there fish in already?

 

[Onify]

Because I used a product called bio-spira. Look it up. It makes it fish ready.

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[Sniperhank]

Because I used a product called bio-spira. Look it up. It makes it fish ready.

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This stuff is supposed to cycle your tank, which makes it fish ready. If you choose to believe that it works or not is up to you. All I know is that whatever is in there has a shelf life that can expire and still get sold if not checked, which may be some of the doubt with the product.
Either way, if you aren't getting any ammonia or nitrite readings when you test then you are cycled.

 

[Onify]

Then I'm gonna get it tested again to see if I am or not. Thank you ox

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[Sniperhank]

You should invest in a basic API master kit so you can do your own test for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I wouldn't use API for any other tests, but it does what you need for these basic 3.

 

[Onify]

Okay. I don't have the money right now for it. So I'll have my LFS do it for free. But I'll get one soon

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[RickkyBobby]

There are no short cuts to cycling a tank or anything in this hobby. you have to make 100% sure it ready before any live stock is added..Nothing in the hobby happens quickly or bad things happen. Also, this hobby is expensive and every time you turn around you need something else.. you should also have a refractometer to test your salinity instead of a hydrometer. I see you have a 25 gallon tank.. the smaller the tank the harder it is to keep your parameters in check, because you have less water than say a 120 gallon tank , any small nitrate problem in your tank is going kill fish and or corals, where as a larger tank you wouldn't hardly see any effects at all. If any. Smaller tanks are the hardest to keep stable .they can go out of whack very quickly and you lose everything . Good luck

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

There are no short cuts to cycling a tank or anything in this hobby. you have to make 100% sure it ready before any live stock is added..Nothing in the hobby happens quickly or bad things happen. Also, this hobby is expensive and every time you turn around you need something else.. you should also have a refractometer to test your salinity instead of a hydrometer. I see you have a 25 gallon tank.. the smaller the tank the harder it is to keep your parameters in check, because you have less water than say a 120 gallon tank , any small nitrate problem in your tank is going kill fish and or corals, where as a larger tank you wouldn't hardly see any effects at all. If any. Smaller tanks are the hardest to keep stable .they can go out of whack very quickly and you lose everything . Good luck

I get sick of seeing this, nanos aren't any harder than a 120. If something goes wrong in your 120 can you do a 50% wc (or even 2 back to back) because I can easily do that in my nano. No matter what the tank size it's about hoe you stock/maintain the tank that can cause problems, not because it's a 28 gallon tank.

 

[RickkyBobby]

yes a 28 gallon.. when i first started..once i went to a 65 with a 20 gallon sump things were a lot more forgiving..I had to stay on top of the nano constantly and for myself who was new to the hobby at the time and didnt know much about the hobby, i had thought to start smaller would be safer., I had lost a few fish and i was always fighting nitrates.. I only had 2 clowns in it at the time. Now i could do it from what Ive learned over the years but the biggest thing i learned was too slow down, dont rush. But from what i see sometimes, when someone gets a tank , they are already to stock it with fish and corals after 2 weeks..lol. Bigger tanks are more forgiving is basically my point. thats all, especially to a new tank owner that has never done it

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

I agree with you there, but that has a lot less to do with tank size and more with proper husbandry habits.

 

[RickkyBobby]

agreed. just trying to help out a new guy so he will enjoy the hobby and not hate it

 

[Onify]

Well so far everything is going great. I just had the water tested. I'm fully cycled. CX and I got an algae eating blenny

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