Anxious to put coarls in

[aldo]

Hi

My tank is now 6 weeks old.
All my # are where they should be.
My lights 3 power glo 1 athenic blue.
How will I know when it's the time to put corals in?
What should I start with?

Thank's
aldo as a lime

 

[steve-s]

Sorry to put a damper on things but a 6 week tank is not really ready for corals at this point. Even though the numbers may be fine, you really should give it a few more month to mature. After about 3- 4 months you could look into some soft corals and/or shrooms, 6+ month for LPS and closer to a year for SPS and clams.

All my # are where they should be.
My lights 3 power glo 1 athenic blue.

That said, could you provide some detailed info about your lights and the tank itself? Are these NO bulbs?

Also have you reduced your fish stocks in this 66 gal tank yet?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Zack]

Steve
The power glo are NO bulbs seen them at petco. I think in a fewmore weeks you could try like a mushroom or two.

 

[toddwess]

Sorry to put a damper on things but a 6 week tank is not really ready for corals at this point. Even though the numbers may be fine, you really should give it a few more month to mature. After about 3- 4 months you could look into some soft corals and/or shrooms, 6+ month for LPS and closer to a year for SPS and clams.

All my # are where they should be.
My lights 3 power glo 1 athenic blue.

That said, could you provide some detailed info about your lights and the tank itself? Are these NO bulbs?

Also have you reduced your fish stocks in this 66 gal tank yet?

Cheers
Steve

Okay, now I'm scared.

Not only have I added two hard corals to my 4-week old tank, but I got a meat-coral, a button coral and one flaming-red scalop too. (Okay, and two mushroom corals as well.)

They are all thriving now. I hand-feed them raw brine shrimp (a totally cool experience) and they are doing well.

I say, if you have the chance - WAIT. Let your tank mature. Allow yourself time to get used to the tank. Steve is an excellent source of info and I recommend you take his advice. I added my corals before I knew better and I wish I had waited. They are doing fine - granted- but I should have waited.

Give it a few more weeks, and get used to checking the water quality and what-not, and then add the corals. It WILL be worth the wait!!

Todd

 

[ReefLady]

I really can't add any more to what Steve has said. Patience is extremely important in this hobby. A stable and mature tank is key to the survivability of many creatures.

Before you even adventure into the world of corals, you're likely going to want to upgrade your lighting considerably. You also want to buy good calcium & alkalinity test kits, and monitor those levels for at least a couple months.

A tank that is 6 weeks old is still very likely to go through some serious algae blooms - much easier to eradicate and control without corals in the tank.

Spend the few months reading up on the corals you want to keep. You will be glad you did. Buy the book "Aquarium Corals" by Eric Borneman, and read it cover to cover. It's well worth it.

and one flaming-red scalop too.

Todd ~ keep an eye on that scallop. If it decides to move, let it be (even if it goes where you can't see it) - if they move, they're moving to conditions that are better for them. They don't have a fantastic survivability record in captivity. If you're interested, here's a great article on them:

Flame Scallops ~ Rob Toonen, Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine

HTH,

 

[aldo]

Reeflady

Thank's as for my lights ---2 Ho power glow 40w 18000k 2 athenic blue
is all i can afford .
I though I would not buy coral that need HIGH CONCENTRATION of light but stay with medium light corals.
Will it work?
(Please say yes )

aldo as a lime

 

[ReefLady]

2 Ho power glow 40w 18000k 2 athenic blue
is all i can afford .
I though I would not buy coral that need HIGH CONCENTRATION of light but stay with medium light corals.
Will it work?
(Please say yes )

Well .... I hate to be the *rain on your parade* person, but, well, no.

"Watts per gallon" is somewhat of an archaic, and not particularly accurate way of measuring lighting needs for a reef, but for "medium - light" corals, you still want to think in the area of around 3-4 watts per gallon.

With NO lighting (Power glows), I'd say maybe try a few mushrooms - toward the middle-to-top of the tank. There are a lot of mushroom varieties and colors. I'd still wait a few months to add these, and add only one or two at a time to see how they do.

Good luck!

 

[kidafius]

How long before anenomes?

 

[reefrunner69]

How long before anenomes?

It is typically recommended that you give yourself and your tank a year to mature before you attempt anemones. In the wild these animals are, for all intenets and purposes, immortal, yet they tend to die rather quickly in home aquariums. This is due to several reasons (collection, transport and storage top the list), but inexperience or unsuitable tanks are up there too.

 

[aldo]

Time to show off.

Well .... I hate to be the *rain on your parade* person, but, well, no.

Reeflady,
The quote is something you said to me a few months back but with your generous and patient help and also a few other advisors within the club, I have come a long way and owe the results to all of you.

Again, I say many many thanks and I am proud to be a member of this club.

If I am successful in attaching the photos, you will all see what you taught me. Here goes!
Aldo

 

[aldo]

guess it diden't work .
If some one can tell me how i will try again.
aldo

 

[steve-s]

Make sure the photo file size is less than 100kb. <<Here>> is a step by step tutorial that should help...

Cheers
Steve

 

[aldo]

Hi Steve,
I was able to get my pictures in to My galerie but when i try to send as attachment no deal.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong????????????
Would you please have a look there and tell me what you think.
Thanks
aldo

 

[steve-s]

Tank looks great

Once they are in the gallery you can link to them with the phpBB code

Like this....

I think the problem is the file size if you are trying to upload them with your post. They must be smaller than 100 kb. The gallery allows for pics upto 250 kb.

On a side note though, I would strongly suggest choosing between one of the two tangs. Even though small now, they will not cohabitae for long in a 66 gal tank. Wow that's a small regal 8O

Cheers
Steve

 

[aldo]

Thanks Steve
It feels good to know you approve of the TANK.
Soon as i find out how to reduce the KB of a picture i guess it will work,
by the way what is a" REGAL 80" ?

Thanks again.
aldo (i'm still learning and getting better)

 

[steve-s]

by the way what is a" REGAL 80" ?

It was meant to be:

Regal 8O

Cheers
Steve