more coral questions!

[mannyfern09]

sorry for bothering so much lately .. i was wondering ive had my light on my tank for a while now so i really do not remember which light exact it was i do remember it was the satelitte brand... (maybe this one.. Compact Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: Single Satellite Compact Fluorescent Fixtures ) .. can i put any of those hard corals that i see most people have.. such as acropora coral (one guy at the fish store told me they are beter with metal halides but can be placed high in the tank).. and the leaf plate coral and cup coral. can i keep these 2 in my tank? depending on your answer i will buy corals ASAP! lol thankk you!!

[melosu58]

Leaf plate

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...71&pcatid=1471

Cup coral
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...521&pcatid=521

Acropora
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...743&pcatid=743

It looks like the cup coral and the plate coral are moderate light corals. The acro`s are high light corals. All are rated as difficult.

[mannyfern09]

for a red monti cap ( Saltwater Aquarium Corals for Marine Reef Aquariums: Red Candy Cap Coral - Aquacultured ) .. with my power compacts it would be fine if i place it on the upper level of the tank.. and will feeding it cyclopleez be enuff food for it or will i need to go out and buy some zooplankton? thanks guyss

[ccCapt]

Monti caps are one of the lower light demanding SPS, but PC lighting is very weak. You may be OK with it as high up as you can get it.
It doesn't need to be feed, especially zooplankton which is way too big for it. SPS corals, generally speaking, need intense lighting, proper levels of ca and alk and high flow.

[melosu58]

I dont target feed mine either. I do as Larry said above. I really dont have a large selection of SPS corals either. Just the easy ones like pavona coral, red cap, green cap and blue millipora.

[mannyfern09]

are the green cap an expensive coral? and wil they eventually out grwo my tnak becuase i see pictures of it everywhere and they look very bigg!!

[mandown123]

i have a valid question i think. What makes these corals easier to keep in a mature tank? What about a tanks properties when it matures in specific is conducive to good coral health? Is it just observation? i.e. - the coral has just traditionally done better in systems X months/years old? or is there some kind of specific water properties that aid the growth/health?

[mandown123]

i ask because i put in ricordia yuma when my tank was a month old and they withered away pretty promptly i must say. i felt pretty bad about it - even though all normal params were golden. weird

[Ziggy953]

The reason most of us say that coral needs a mature tank is beacuse the tank will have gone through the PH swings and levels of CA and Alk will be generally stable. Also a mature tank is going to have the biological filter to handle the bio load of the tank and keep the water parameters stable.

With SPS corals under PC lighting you will not get the intense colors you see in peoples tanks. SPS corals need that high light to maintain their color. I have PC lighting over my Frag tank and I only keep my SPS frags in there long enough for them to start encrusting on the plug or rock and then they are moved back into my display to color up for selling.

[melosu58]

The thing about a mature tank is that it is pretty stable. When you have a newer tank it will tend to not be as stable. It is still going through some of the cycling problems and the nitrates and nitrites and ammonia in the tank. A mature tank has a good strong growth of nitrifying bacteria that keeps the cycle stable and your readings are not bouncing all around. It`s always good for corals if they are in that stable enviornment.

[mandown123]

gotcha... all that makes sense and is what i assumed but i was wondering if any other elements were present... thanks guys