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New tank direction


Xj reefing

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I have lost over a quarter of my corals over the last couple of months. These losses were from high salinity, high nutrients, and other issues that I thought I solved. Now I am experiencing more losses which is even more heart breaking as these corals have been the ones to last throughout all the stress. I am now considering shifting away from lps and going more in the direction of softies. Of coarse I will still have a few lps like my bleeding apple scoly and some Gonis and euphyllia but mostly the tank would be leathers, zoas and mushrooms. I may add in a few gorgs. Tell me what you think about this new approach and how I should go about flow and lighting.

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1 hour ago, Xj reefing said:

I have lost over a quarter of my corals over the last couple of months. These losses were from high salinity, high nutrients, and other issues that I thought I solved. Now I am experiencing more losses which is even more heart breaking as these corals have been the ones to last throughout all the stress. I am now considering shifting away from lps and going more in the direction of softies. Of coarse I will still have a few lps like my bleeding apple scoly and some Gonis and euphyllia but mostly the tank would be leathers, zoas and mushrooms. I may add in a few gorgs. Tell me what you think about this new approach and how I should go about flow and lighting.

Softies sound like a good idea. There are many types out there - especially if you're talking about shrooms. What is your main goal though? Stability? More relaxed reefing? 

 

I think there were several previous featured tanks that were softy-based and they looked lovely. Need to skim through those older write ups again. 🤔

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7 hours ago, Xj reefing said:

I have lost over a quarter of my corals over the last couple of months. These losses were from high salinity, high nutrients, and other issues that I thought I solved.

What specifically do you think you solved that you do not now think is solved?

 

Nutrients and salinity are measurable 

Salinity - easily solved with refractometer.  Mix up sw and top off tank once or twice a day with RO/DI water.  Always test mixed water before adding when doing W/C

Nutrients - measure and stock accordingly - or dose or remove nutrients via skimmer, W/C, or macroalgae.  Got to measure to know what needs to be addressed. 

 

Do you have a proper light source for the corals you've chosen?

 

There's a definite learning curve in the hobby, but ultimately there are some basics that keep things humming as you learn.

 

Proper light for your coral

Proper flow for your coral choices

Stability of water parameters ( some species are more sensitive )

Alk, Mag, Ca, etc supplements via water changes or dosing for stony corals

Nutrients for your coral to grow and keep away nuisance growth.

CUC 

 

If you stick with easy corals, the above should get you started in the right direction.  Got to measure weekly to know what's going on in your tank.  Read up and learn about the corals you are adding to know proper care requirements.  


Nothing wrong with softies as you learn / new tank stabilizes.  If I lost all my Hammers I'd be frustrated too.  Been lucky with corals a new reefer myself, only lost 1 cheap coral out of the gate.  but I feel your pain.

 

If you're more specific about problems you think you're having will likely get better advice on resolving them. 

 

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The water parameters are as follows

alk-8.4

mag-140p

cal-440

phos-0.4

nitrate-16 (down from 40 a few weeks ago)

ph-8.2

salinity-1.026

the reason I am thinking is going softies is for a more relaxed experience and that their more tolerant to nutrients. In my first tank hammers went crazy but when I upgraded tanks everything was great for a few months and then it just started going down hill.

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4 hours ago, Jakesaw said:

What specifically do you think you solved that you do not now think is solved?

 

Nutrients and salinity are measurable 

Salinity - easily solved with refractometer.  Mix up sw and top off tank once or twice a day with RO/DI water.  Always test mixed water before adding when doing W/C

Nutrients - measure and stock accordingly - or dose or remove nutrients via skimmer, W/C, or macroalgae.  Got to measure to know what needs to be addressed. 

 

Do you have a proper light source for the corals you've chosen?

 

There's a definite learning curve in the hobby, but ultimately there are some basics that keep things humming as you learn.

 

Proper light for your coral

Proper flow for your coral choices

Stability of water parameters ( some species are more sensitive )

Alk, Mag, Ca, etc supplements via water changes or dosing for stony corals

Nutrients for your coral to grow and keep away nuisance growth.

CUC 

 

If you stick with easy corals, the above should get you started in the right direction.  Got to measure weekly to know what's going on in your tank.  Read up and learn about the corals you are adding to know proper care requirements.  


Nothing wrong with softies as you learn / new tank stabilizes.  If I lost all my Hammers I'd be frustrated too.  Been lucky with corals a new reefer myself, only lost 1 cheap coral out of the gate.  but I feel your pain.

 

If you're more specific about problems you think you're having will likely get better advice on resolving them. 

 

I don't think it's a bad shout to kick back off with softies.. if I'm honest, sometimes it's more about getting into the routine as well as learning.. softies are much more forgiving... Let me tell you. 

 

Fair play to you @Xj reefing nothing wrong with wanting to maximize on the enjoyment of reefing... It's a bit more demand looking after a large tank and I'm in board with less work more enjoyment mate 👍🏼

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where's the gfo in this equation above/unstated but that's the 99% reaction to what's considered high nutrients, as stated by non digital test kits that rarely agree with one another on test kit comparison posts. 

 

where's the gfo or biopellet/carbon dosing reaction portion of the descrip

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12 minutes ago, brandon429 said:

where's the gfo in this equation above/unstated but that's the 99% reaction to what's considered high nutrients, as stated by non digital test kits that rarely agree with one another on test kit comparison posts. 

 

where's the gfo or biopellet/carbon dosing reaction portion of the descrip

Do agree with most of the time, when I understand what your going on about 🤣 (you have a unique style of writing I often have to re-read! )

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No Carbon dosing or anything like that. @Murphych I agree with you it is more demand looking after a large tank. I’m actually pretty exited to possibly do softies and gorgs as I feel like it wil represent what we see in nature more than hammers and one rock and the gonis and lobos on another and so on

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I am switching to mostly softies as well as I need a more relaxed style. It’s actually really fun and soft corals are hard to find these days so it is a bit of a scavenger hunt to get the more rare ones like weeping willow, yellow Fiji, Japanese nepthea, yellow Stereonephthya, etc

 

 

They still like a lot of flow (helps shed and prevent infection) and plenty of light I’ll make them grow fast. 

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49 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

I am switching to mostly softies as well as I need a more relaxed style. It’s actually really fun and soft corals are hard to find these days so it is a bit of a scavenger hunt to get the more rare ones like weeping willow, yellow Fiji, Japanese nepthea, yellow Stereonephthya, etc

 

 

They still like a lot of flow (helps shed and prevent infection) and plenty of light I’ll make them grow fast. 

Great I am glad I won’t have to fiddle to much with lighting and flow. I don’t think I will be going for many rare corals all cheap common ones that still have nice colour

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I highly recommened going the softie route.  When I moved, it was about a 10 hour drive, so although I wanted to keep my tank I realized I did not want to risk trying to move all of my euphylia and sps.  I also knew I would have limited time and wouldn't be able to maintain my previous setup which relied on consistent water changes, dosing and testing. I sold all LPS and SPS off, except for my my duncan, which has been with me since the beginning.  I only kept my leathers, mushrooms, xenia, gsp, and palys.  

 

Overall, I am really happy with the new tank.  I love the ease of maintaining a soft coral tank and I prefer the color and textures of soft coral.  
 

As far as leathers, I have found they really enjoy strong flow; mine are literally blasted with flow.  I have a nero 3 that pushes about 700 gph at its current setting> It is placed neatly between two large leathers (toadstool and lony polyp toadstool), with parts of each coral in the direct line of fire, and the polyps are whipping in the flow.  Both leathers are happy, growing, and consistnely open unless they are shedding.  

 

tl;dr

 

Me like softie tank.  Me say do!

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less than bread

I've moved more towards softies and other "beginner" corals. I still have a few LPS (acans and torches) that are doing fine, but I got a few SPS frags to try out and they've all died. I would like to keep them but the work involved to do it is probably beyond what I'd like for right now with a busy life outside of reef keeping. I've learned to embrace the fact that just because some corals are easier to take care of than others doesn't make them any less stunning or enjoyable. The more relaxed approach has definitely helped me enjoy the hobby more and I don't think it's a requirement in reef keeping to always strive to learn to keep increasingly difficult corals. 

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51 minutes ago, less than bread said:

but I got a few SPS frags to try out and they've all died. I would like to keep them but the work involved to do it is probably beyond what I'd like for right now with a busy life outside of reef keeping. 

I've got a Green Birdsnest SPS that is pretty easy to keep.  I only grabbed it b/c LFS gave me a good price on the frag.  I consider myself a beginner with easy care habits, and it's doing fine in my 10 gallon.  

 

Still a fairly new coral for me, bu tit seems to be a fast grower so far

 

IMG_20220214_124736.thumb.jpg.cc7087032a41d1e2dd3088a39b700eb3.jpgIMG_20220214_124824.thumb.jpg.90e74e2f930e1d92ff8c3f247f7983bf.jpg

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48 minutes ago, Jakesaw said:

I've got a Green Birdsnest SPS that is pretty easy to keep.  I only grabbed it b/c LFS gave me a good price on the frag.  I consider myself a beginner with easy care habits, and it's doing fine in my 10 gallon.  

 

Still a fairly new coral for me, bu tit seems to be a fast grower so far

Look more like a green pocillopora than a birdsnest (seriatopora).

It could be a seriatopora caliendrum 🤔

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4 minutes ago, M. Tournesol said:

Look more like a green pocillopora than a birdsnest (seriatopora).

It could be a seriatopora caliendrum 🤔

I think you are correct - thanks!!

 

 

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