newbie reef starter

[SH4N]

Ive had salt water fish for about 9 months now, i have a few corals and have now decided that i want to seriously go into corals. I really dont know much so all your input would be greatly appreciated. my lfs told me to put Seachem Reef Plus and Seachem Iodine in my tank once a week and Marine Snow plankton food once a week. i've just read on a seachem iodine product online "Iodine is as toxic as chlorine and should never be used in a reef system." ?! should i be not putting this in my tank?

other then Seachem Reef Plus, Seachem Iodine and Marine Snow - what else should I be purchasing for a succesful reef aquariam? links are also welcome please thanks for all your time

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

My advice is don't buy anything. All the corals should be fine with frequent water changes, the odd coral does need feeding (like suncorals), but most do great under the right lighting. Some corals don't need to be fed but can be fed to encourage faster growth, like anemones or the duncan coral. Each coral will require research on it's care.

What lighting do you have?? I'd save your money and get a killer light fixture instead of any additives.

Oh and iodine can be added but i wouldn't do it weekly, maybe monthly (if that). There is no test for it that i know of so it could be easily overdosed.

In my opinion adding additives just pollutes the water and ends up throwing the balance off in all areas.

 

[SH4N]

thanks for your reply. since i've only recently decided to get into more corals i still have my cheap aquariam lights, but i've gone into the city and met with an marine aquariam specialist who is currently making lights for my tank, i think metal halide lamps is what he said. wont get them till a week or so though. do you have any advice? or and helpful websites i could view?

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

Saltwater Reef Aquariums: Live Coral for Saltwater Coral Reef Aquariums

Live Coral - Reef Aquarium Live Corals

These are my two favorite sites to research and look up coral/fish. They give difficulty levels, light requirement, flow requirements, ect. Aquatic connection I've heard is not good to order from though (I don't order online ever). They both have the same information pretty much. If you want to further research a coral its always good to type it into google followed by the word care eg "birds nest coral care". Just try a few variations similar to that and you can find lots of good info and even some older threads from other people which are always useful.


With metal halides you should be able to keep any coral, depending on what you are getting exactly for the light fixture.


Any pictures of your current setup??? What fish do you have now?

 

[SH4N]

thanks a lot for the links i will look through them now. i dont have full tank shots only individual fish pictures.
i have 2 black Ocellaris clown fish, 1 blue tang and 1 red corris wrasse. also a blue starfish and a few hermits/snails

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

Oh that's too bad, i love picss!

The red corris wrasse might get annoying, we have one and he will constantly flip corals over to find worms/bugs. This is not a daily occurrence or anything since we have found some ways to trick him, like it helps if we put corals like our brains closer to the rock so it looks like they are part of it, and of course glue all the frags down. He might eventually eat the star fish too, I'm not 100% sure on that since we haven't tried a starfish with ours in a long time.

 

[SH4N]

thanks for the advice! is your coris still a juvenille?

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

Nope we've had him for umm I dont know haha, at least five years. He was a juvenile when we got him and we have recently moved him to a larger tank where he has lost almost all of his white stripes and his tail is getting a lot of blue spots. I will post a picture when i get home from work today.

 

[Smitty]

Just to add in another word in here I also don't think it is needed to add anything. Just regular water changes should work for the corals.

What size tank do you have?

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

Yah what size is the tank? I thought it was 90 gallons for some reason but can't find that now haha.

Here some pics of my corris, they aren't very good ones i just snapped a few yesterday quickly.

 

[carey]

Love them Kelsey! I so wish I had a nice big tank!

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

Love them Kelsey! I so wish I had a nice big tank!

Thanks! haha its going to suck when i have to move out, I guess I'll need to set up my own big tank!!

 

[SH4N]

really nice pics! i love the coral in the first pic left of your coris!
my tank is 80 gal

 

[0o.Kelsey.o0]

Thanks Carey!

Awe yours is starting to turn blue and loose his stripes too! I hope mine is a male, they've got that extra green stripe.

And that coral in the first piece is a huge rock of pulsing xenia, we keep it isolated form the rest in front and it's awesome, i love watching them pulse.

Oh and nice clowns! I want to put a pair in our tank of the pure black ones but am hesitant due to the maroon clown.