When to do the coral thing?

[revhtree]

I was wondering: How do you know when your tank is ready for coral, besides lighting?

What are the all around water specs. needed to add coral?

I have lost xenia, and avipora. The only thing I have been able to keep are some green polyps, that have spread a split, and 1 mushroom that hasnt done jack in 2 months. :?

 

[srgetz]

are your nitrates 0-10? ph 8.3? temp stable at 80-82? have you tried measuring salinity with a refractometer? I thought my sg was 1.025 and it was closer to 1.030 when measured with a refractometer. From what I've seen, cheaper hydrometers are usually .005 lower than actual. Are you using RO? you could try a nice leather...the one in my pic there is my first coral...

 

[revhtree]

All answers to your questions are yes, except a refractormeter. I guess it is time to get one.

 

[ellisz]

I have a deep 6 swing arm and I have quite a few corals. As long as the water is good and the placement is to the corals liking, you should be fine with most softies. I had a 4x55 on my 75 gal and I had an assortment of leathers, zoos, star polyps and xenia. I even added a hammer, candy cane and a lobo brain right before I added the MH's. They were doing fine.

On my tank, some corals(leathers and zoos) were slow growers but seems like at the 6-7 month mark the corals just started growing like crazy. My xenia has spilts every 3-4 weeks and my zoos are growing like crazy.

For the shrooms, try putting them in a different spot. They might like more/less light or more/less flow. I have a few in the shade and some right under the MH. They both love where they are at.

HTH

 

[lando]

I think you could give it a try now. I would not worry to much about the xenia. It is one of those mystery corals and are hit or miss. Most wild caught xenia do not ship well. The cultured stuff does a little better. You can to tanks with ideal water conditions and xenia will thrive in one and die in the other. Who knows. I can't seem to kill mine. Avipora can also be challenging, although better then the gonipora. You might want to look at toad stool leathers, finger leathers, trumpets, torch and hammer. Those are all hearty wih good track records. Good luck! Lando

 

[Brisc0]

Hey Rev, sounds to me like your nearly ready to roll. What kind of light and circulation do you have going on in there?

 

[revhtree]

Thanks for all the help!!

I am going to upgrade my lighting by mid september. I am refinancing my house and the tank is getting alot of upgrading. I am also getting a bunch coral frags and goodies.

Anyway, I have 2 65w blue pc, and 2 55w white pc. I know that will limit me right now alot.

As for circulation, I have to powerheads, an emporor 400, protein skimmer.

The 105pds of lr is my filtration, but I am using the emporor for more flow.

So what do you think?

PS. I will be adding a sump in sept to.

 

[jackdp]

Sounds like you are on track for some beginner corals. I started with a Sinularia Finger leather, they're hardy and can be quite beautiful. Mine was about the size of a grapefruit when I bought it and it has since grown in the last year and half to the size of a volleyball. Mushrooms are easy, and most LPS are hardy and don't require MH lighting. Good luck. BTW I've always used a Deep six hydrometer without problems.

 

[Brisc0]

I think your headed down the right road Rev. The sump will make you much happier and the light upgrades will remove restrictions from what you can keep. Have you thought out if you want a softie or stonie tank? A lot of people get so involved in getting the tank ready for corals that they forget the most important step. Write out a list with your "must have", "would be cool to have", and "yea right, like I could have" corals, find out how those things get along and then come up with your all star list. From that point resist any impulse coral buys and start the hunt for the corals you want the most. I would not just add softies right now because you can keep them if you plan to have stonies later, etc. Best wishes, keep us updated.