Oneslowsaleen Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 My tank is a 29BC little over two weeks old. Ph-8.2 Alk -12 or 4.3 meg/L Nitrites-0 Nitrates-10 Ammonia-0 The only thing in the tank is 5 turbo snails and 5 hermits. When would be good to add my first coral? Link to comment
GMay Posted September 22, 2015 Share Posted September 22, 2015 In would waite for at least another 4 to 6 weeks. Your system is still very new. How much live rock do you have? Other than the snails and crabs do you have any other live stock? Best advice is to go slow. Time is on your side if you add things over a period of months, not days and weeks. This is the hardest part of the hobby. Happy Reefing! Link to comment
Oneslowsaleen Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 No other life stock yet. I would say I have around 22 lbs or so of rocks ( didn't weigh it ). I ordered a couple of tonga branches that I may put in there as well. I'm dying to put something in the tank ,lol. Link to comment
yomon347 Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 Throw in some cheap zoa, shroom, or xenia frags. They should be fine. I would not add any LPS or SPS for another 6 weeks and would not even think about adding an anemone until 6-9 months into it, most suggest 12 months. Link to comment
Oneslowsaleen Posted September 23, 2015 Author Share Posted September 23, 2015 I wanna do mostly zoas/palys , a Dendro, and possibly a sun coral. Maybe my next trip I'll pick up couple frags to start. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 You can add coral once you can provide for it's needs: - Lighting - Flow - Tank makes (appropriate ones that won't eat it or destroy it) - Water parameters within typical ranges - Food source (not all corals are photosynthetic and even the ones that are can benefit from feeding. Inverts such as anemones to a degree rely on the fauna of your tank as a food source as well - so they can benefit from being in a more mature tank) So there's no magical time you have to wait before adding anything to your tank... A tank that's 6 weeks old is not vastly different from a tank that's 6 month's old. As long as you understand what's going on in your tank you can add corals. The reason many people suggest to beginners to go slow is because it will take time for you, as a reef keeper, to get the hang of things. You would be surprised at how long it takes most people to settle into a routine. Things like determining the right amount of food to give, how often to do water changes and how much, dosing, determining what equipment is needed, etc take on the order of weeks or months for most people. A reef thrives on stability - and it takes most beginners a several weeks or months to know enough to keep their tank stable. The other part of the reason is just to let people work out their noob mistakes before getting that show coral... For example plenty of well intentioned reefers have set up a tank and a month later decide they want more rock so they add uncured rock or insufficiently cured rock and experience several livestock deaths shortly after... So in summary yes it's best to go slow but there's no magical timeframe you must wait out, as it really just depends on the person and how good they are at keeping a tank stable. So base the decision to buy coral on that - how good is your tank maintenance and ability to solve any problems that may arise? Link to comment
Oneslowsaleen Posted September 24, 2015 Author Share Posted September 24, 2015 Well I had a 125 gallon reef but I bought it off a friend 2 years running , we just had to move it (what a PIA). All I did was maintain it I did a decent job , I had to tear it down sell everything fast cause hurricane sandy was heading my way. It turned my house in to a Long Island biotope. I just never started from scratch. As far as what you mentioned I upgraded a lot of stuff right from the start - retro fit lights from nano reef box - tunze 9001 skimmer - powerhead -Intank media basket n fuge -ATO I got a test kit for ph, , alk.,nitrates, nitrates, and ammonia Should I get phosphate,calcium, and magnesium test kit ? I am on top of my maintenance Link to comment
ajmckay Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Cool sounds like you have a good setup. I personally want to get some additional test kits - believe it or not I've never been much of a tester. I have the basic ammonia, nitrite, & ALK kits but that's about it. I probably test ALK the most because once you set the tank up there's not really any need to test ammonia. By now I know what kinds of things could result in ammonia in the tank and I'm careful to avoid those things. So honestly it's up to you... If you keep up on your water changes honestly you probably shouldn't need to dose in a tank that size. So why test calcium & magnesium? Phosphate kits would be nice - but only to a point. Testing for phosphates while a tank is is overrun with algae doesn't really tell you anything - but it can be helpful to know how much phosphates you have while setting up your feeding routine and to help discover a phosphate problem before it causes difficult issues with algae. Link to comment
Martin reefer Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 ++++ on more rock and at least another 4 weeks- patience is important in this hobby Link to comment
RyanR1212 Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Throw a toad stool or zenia in there and see how it works out! If it dies, its only a $5 coral and it wont be the last thing to die. If it does well, keep doing what you are doing and be patient. Don't be stupid and add a bunch of expensive corals and fish. Also, add more rock. You can get cool critters on there that will do well in increasing the biological filtration. Link to comment
Oneslowsaleen Posted October 17, 2015 Author Share Posted October 17, 2015 Well the 22 lbs is a guess I added two more small pieces a Tonga branch and piece Tonga shelf . I really wish I weighed it to know what I have in there. I added a few cheap frags , and a Dendro . Also got a free have dead sun coral that I been I slowly reviving . Everything seems to healthy and the tank is real clean. I posted a picture of my my tank maybe you can help me out with guessing on how much rock I have Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 I want a sun coral too. Are they difficult? I need to scrape algae off the rocks first. It's not going to be easy. I also want a zoa garden. Keep us up to date with your corals ? Link to comment
righttirefire Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 IF your parameters are set and you're comfortable throw in a 3 headed zoa frag. Personally, I feel they are the strongest and most rewarding. I buy single and double head polyps from my LFS that are detached from their colonies. I get them about $1, I've spent hours picking out the ones I want, but I have a good relationship with the owners. I wouldn't worry about "designer" zoas but a nice appealing frag to test the waters... couple weeks add another frag. Pretty soon you'll be comfortable. Sorry for the blue light but this is my current zoa garden This was the start of my original zoa garden... most 9f them melted away... :/ some are on my rock pictured above Link to comment
Oneslowsaleen Posted October 18, 2015 Author Share Posted October 18, 2015 I want a sun coral too. Are they difficult? I need to scrape algae off the rocks first. It's not going to be easy. I also want a zoa garden. Keep us up to date with your corals ? The main thing with sun corals or Dendros is they need to be fed. I put a bottle around my sun coral everyday he has made a lot of recovery in the three days I had him . Picture 1 is day 1 , picture 2 is day 3 after feeding..IF your parameters are set and you're comfortable throw in a 3 headed zoa frag. Personally, I feel they are the strongest and most rewarding. I buy single and double head polyps from my LFS that are detached from their colonies. I get them about $1, I've spent hours picking out the ones I want, but I have a good relationship with the owners. I wouldn't worry about "designer" zoas but a nice appealing frag to test the waters... couple weeks add another frag. Pretty soon you'll be comfortable.Sorry for the blue light but this is my current zoa garden This was the start of my original zoa garden... most 9f them melted away... :/ some are on my rock pictured above[/quote Zoas are my favorite so far I wanna do a zoa garden , I got a few polyps on one rock . That are doing real well will post pictures soon! Link to comment
righttirefire Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Good luck with non-photo corals. I don't have the schedule to keep them... maybe one day. I got some new zoas today. That haven't opened. I'll post a picture when they open Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Thank you for your help. How many times do you feed them per day?, the sun corals, The bottle thing is a good idea. My eldest son has one and has had no problem with them. They are really beautiful and bright. How did you get them on the rock? Link to comment
righttirefire Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 Start with a couple polyps and add some new to expand your garden. You don't need big colonies. They grow Link to comment
Oneslowsaleen Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Beginning of my zoa garden. Link to comment
righttirefire Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Awesome... give them a week to settle in. And maybe wait another 2-4 weeks to let your system settle and observe Link to comment
Hammerstone Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Start with a couple polyps and add some new to expand your garden. You don't need big colonies. They grow thank you for your response. I'll get little polyps when I'm ready. I love your garden. I can't wait to start making my garden!!! Link to comment
Oneslowsaleen Posted October 21, 2015 Author Share Posted October 21, 2015 Thank you for your help. How many times do you feed them per day?, the sun corals, The bottle thing is a good idea. My eldest son has one and has had no problem with them. They are really beautiful and bright. How did you get them on the rock? The sun corals came on the rock, as far as feeding I feed sun corals once a day of blood worms, calms, and mysis shrimp. I also feed feed my Dendro once every two days. Link to comment
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