placing frags/corals?

[reefjunky]

after CM's tank at reef central and then seeing lunchbox here i had to do it. i started a 10g nano after having all trigger tanks for a few years.i have 20lbs LR prizm skimmer and a buddha refugium on the way and a 65w pc(going to upgrade to the 96wquad hood). but anyway i traded some LR for some corals the other day and i had 5-6 heart attacks being my first time with corals. acclimated slowly then started with the gel super glue and im sure i looked like a super noob.but anyway i got em in some fell and had to be moved back, what im trying to say is when i get more is it ok to pull the rock out that already has corals on it to place new ones? how about just give me some good examples of how to place new corals to a tank because im obviously terrible at it.

Toad stool leather, green sinularia, green minipora capricornis, zooanthids (button polyps) ricordia and various mushrooms, cabbage leather is what i added the other day.i need lots of zoos

in the future.

[Aiptasia]

All at once?

 

That's a heck of a lot of biomass to add to the tank so soon. First, is the tank completely cycled including the LR curing out? It takes four to six weeks to completely cure the tank and cycle it out. Second, how are you dealing with nitrates? If you're going to use the refugium for that, you better make sure that it is also cycled out and has a few different type of good DOC feeding algaes in it. If it's a fairly deep refugium (sump or Hang on at 12" deep or so) you could also try adding a mangrove pod. With that much biomass so soon, i'm worried your nitrates are going to skyrocket. The skimmer isn't going to be able to get it all. Please tell me you have a jaubert plenum or at least 3"-5" of substrate at the bottom of the tank.

 

With nano-reefs, balance is super critical. The tank should have cycled with the lights on a 10/14 cycle for at least six weeks with reef janitors (crabs/snails) in place. You should have used a good thick nitrate reducing substrate (deep sand) or plenum during your setup, to set up a zone where bacteria can feed on the nitrates.

 

If you don't have a good test kit, go out and get one. At a minimum, you'll need:

 

marine pH

alkalinity

calcium

ammonia

nitrite

nitrate

 

A good marine master test kit from Red Sea, Salifert, Hagen or Lamotte will help you monitor the chemical composition of the water daily. In the natural reef environment, the by-products of digestion (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate) should be zero. The problem is, corals and other reef inverts are sensitive to concentrations of ammonia and nitrite above 2 ppm and nitrate over 5-10 ppm. As a reef aquarist, your goal should be to aim for as close to zero as you can for all of these nitrogenous wastes.

 

If you crank up the skimmer, you can help eliminate some of the ammonia causing substances before they can be reduced to nitrates. I have a prizm myself, and I hope you got the deluxe unit. If not, go ahead and buy the supplimental surface overflow and media basket. The scum you want to suck from the water will settle in the top 2" of tank water, so you need the surface overflow. The media basket is triangular, and you're probably going to need to fill it with a nitrogen adsorbing resin like seachem's purigen or hypersorb. Get a small mesh bag (4") to put the media in, because this kind of resin is very fine. It can be re-charged and the seachem ones actually turn color when exhausted.

 

Of course, this is all moot provided the tank was cycled properly, but it doesn't sound that way. It sounds like you already have the corals in the tank, even before your equipment/LR has arrived.

 

You should add your corals gradually, one or two at a time, and some people even use a quarantine tank before putting them in a display tank. You should acclimate them by putting them in a new styrofoam cooler or tupperware container with their shipping water, and slowly dripping tank water in the container with them (one drop/second). When the container is filled, pour out some of the water and continue letting it drip in. After 45 minutes of this dripping/pouring, the coral should be acclimated for the tank.

 

Depending on the species of coral you're trying to keep will determine how you should position it in the tank. You'll find if you do a little research, there are deep water corals, mid water corals and top water corals. Placement in the tank on your LR should keep that in consideration. Also, some corals like a lot of good strong water movement, especially SPS corals, so you're going to need a powerhead or two in the tank to jet water over them. Aqua-clear mini jets would be a good choice for this tank. Not only will it provide the corals with circulating water, it will prevent dead water zones in your tank, wash away wastes from the corals themselves, etc. Coralife and Seachem also make wave timers that can alternate your powerheads on and off at 30 second to 20 minute intervals, to mimic the movements of tide water. Osci-wave also makes an economical powerhead mover that will slowly turn your powerheads 90 degrees, back and fourth, to blow water around. Since space is at a premium, try to get two powerheads in there rated at 10 tank volumes per hour with an external wave timer.

 

96 watts seems like a lot of light for this tank, but it really isn't. Go with the deep to mid water coral species of corals and you'll do better. The leathers, the zooanthis and the mushrooms should occupy lower levels of the tank. The ricordea loves strong light so you should move it up near the top. Just research the corals as you place them and even ask your LFS or internet pet shop where they've been placed in their tanks and what their lighting has been like. When in doubt, start them low in the tank and gradually move them higher every four days to see how they adjust.

 

This is a lot to take in, but don't make the mistake of overloading a brand new setup with a bunch of corals. Not all of your corals will take, and you need to keep a careful watch for death and necrosis. A dead coral can quickly send nitrates skyrocketing and cause the tank to crash. Patience and gradual additions of one to two corals every 3 weeks or so is the way to go.

[Reefer_Buddha]

damn dude, look into writing novels. Anway you wont necessarily need nirtrite and ammonia kits, after the tank cycles they're pretty much useless unless something dies in the tank and you see a rise in ammonia. Id add a few frags over a few weeks time. Dont just dump a ton of em in at once, it will throw your levels way off.

[reefjunky]

hmmm i dont know how to respond.my question was about placing corals.the tank is not new.i took LS and LR from a tank that has been running in my living room for 3 years.the refugium i ordered from reefer_buddha is going to get LS some LR rubble and chaetomorpha/ulva, or graciliara.as for my water quality it is pristine after running for a month.i have not changed the water one time and i have not had any signs of amm/nitrite or nitrate.

i am adding kalk so far.so back to my question about placing corals.is it ok to tak a rock out of the tank that already has corals on it?i used super glue gel.i really just want a good example of how some experienced reefers place corals.

lol buddha

thx

[Reefer_Buddha]

well i put something in my tank and think "hmm that looks good" then a week later i have my arm in there moving it again. For things that are photosynthetic like zoos/shrooms etc you want em a little higher near the surface. I have my ricordia mid level with my shrooms and zoos. I have candy cane on the sand and sarcophyton, xenia on the sand as well. I put my GSP near the top. You can use super glue gel, it will dry underwater. Otherwise just rubberband whatever you want to a rock, almost everything will attach itself in time. You can take stuff outta tanks that already has corals on it, just be sure if youre switching tanks to acclimate it correctly. Also remember if you frag something in your tank to keep it in a high current area, speeds up the healing process.

[reefjunky]

thats what i was looking for thx RB

[Aiptasia]

Hmm, maybe if i'd known that up front I wouldn't have ranted.

 

Like Jessie Jackson on Saturday Night Live, "the statement is moot!"

[nanocat]

That's a lot of good advice. However I'll admit that I keep all three tanks at the same temp. and salinity and I swap corals from one tank to another all the time and don't bother to acclimate them. No problems in 6 weeks now. YMMV. I also don't see corals as "bioload" IME. I've added some 1 at a time, and others (frag pak) 10 at a time. At no time have my nitrates moved. The tanks are 8 wks, 5wks, and 4wks old. I share livesand and LR between them, occasionally moving a rock when I decide to move something. I think I'm done with all three tanks as far as aquascaping, so the moving has stopped.

 

Now that's just been my experience, and I have no idea if it will be OK for your tank. Better safe than sorry if you are concerned...just follow Aptasia's good advice