My Fisrt Corals...

[1234-fishy-freind]

Ok, so now my tank is going well, ( see my sig for the joural ) , now i want to get some corals put in there. This is a part of reef keeping that im quite afraid of because i dont want to get one and have it die on me and polute everything.
stats are -
-ammonia 0
-nitrite 0
-nitrate 0-5
-calcium 430
-ph around 8-8.2
-phosphate 0-0.1

So i would like recomendations as to what i should start with. Somthing easy and interesting.

thanks

 

[Colin_T]

What sort of lights and water movement do you have on the tank, and how tall is the tank?
The reason I ask is because corals need good light and variable water movement. They will not tolerate having a powerhead blasting away at them, nor will they tolerate insufficient light from a single grolux fluoro.

The lights should be at least daylight globes or preferably globes with a 10,000Kelvin (K) rating. If the tank is taller than 18 inches then you will be better off using metal halide lights, again use 10,000K globes in the halides. If the tank is only 18 inches high you can use fluorescent lights but you will need a couple of globes. Fluoros are available in standard, T8 and T5. T5 globes are available in a standard form, and a high output form that produces more light compared to standard and T8 globes.

Water movement can be provided by powerheads but there should be a number of pumps in the tank and have them on timers so they come on and off throughout the day. Don't have the outlets of the pumps facing at any of the corals because it will kill them. You can get attachments to fit on the outlets of most powerheads. A company called Hydor does a rotating thing that creates variable water movement and it will set you back about $30. The unit goes onto most power heads and is worth having.
A company called Tunze do programmable powerheads and you buy a control box that runs the pumps. They can be programmed to come on and off at regular intervals. Tunze are good quite but expensive.

Your PH is too low and needs to be around 8.4-8.5 and the calcium needs to stay above 400ppm.

Good corals to try include Hammer corals (euphillia sp), Blastomussa, Corallimorphs, Daisy & Button corals, Fungias (mushroom corals) and Leather corals. Leather corals are a soft coral and tend to release chemicals into the water which can affect other corals. The other corals are hard corals (due to having a calcium based skeleton) and will release some chemicals but nowhere near as much as soft corals. The chemicals released are the coral's way of fighting off intruders to their patch. They are generally not toxic to fish but over time can build up and cause problems. Regular water changes will dilute the chemicals and Protien skimmers usually strip the chemicals out of the water.

Corals to avoid include Goniopora, Acroporas, Dendronepthya (brightly coloured soft coral) and Gorgonias or seafans.

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

For my lighting i have 3 150wat metal halide bulbs over the tank so lighting isnt a problem.
As for water movment, i have 5 powerheads which all blow water out at differnt speeds. In the tank there are areas of fast flow and slow flow.
And the ph reading i got was when i tested it this morning just as the lights came on and i was told that is rises during daylight hours.
Calcium level seems to be in good shape too.

 

[nanocubeking]

What kind of corals do you want? Hard soft lps?
If you want to do hard a montipora would be a good choice or a small peice of acropora.

As for softies mushrooms are very easy so are zoos. A xenia is very easy and fun to watch.

And lps's... hammer corals are very hardy nice corals favias are neat too. Frogspawn. A plate coral too. Like Adam.Crouch has. An orange fungia plate.

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

I was going for a mixture. My lfs has a hammer coral and i think there has some xenia too. I like the many different colour varities of zoos too.

I think i will track down a nice big bunch of zoanthinds first, then work up to xenia and hammer coral.

 

[Colin_T]

the Ph shouldn't fluctuate in a marine tank due to the large amount of calcium based rocks in the tank. Also seawater has a lot of general & carbonate hardness brought about by the disolved minerals in it.

 

[Musho3210]

your ph is perfect, mine has gone down to 7.8 with no visible effects at all. Leave it there, and dont fiddle with it.

I would get:
Shrooms
Lots of Zoas
A brain coral
Bubble
A type of leather maybe
Candycane
Frogspawn/torch/hammer

You can pretty much get almost all softies and lps with those lights, as well as some sps. But wait a while before you get sps.


Those are all good beginner ones, you may want to wait just a little while longer before you get the brain and bubble.

Calcium is perfect

 

[1234-fishy-freind]

Thanks for the list Musho3210.

I will be going to get my first coral then this weekend when i have some money. I will most likely some zoas first.

 

[Lynden]

the Ph shouldn't fluctuate in a marine tank due to the large amount of calcium based rocks in the tank. Also seawater has a lot of general & carbonate hardness brought about by the disolved minerals in it.

Oh but it does.

In tanks heavily stocked with photosynthetic life (corals, algae, clams, nems) CO2 will deplete during the day as it is photosynthesized to create energy in the form of sugar. The result is, as acidic CO2 depletes, the pH rises. But at night, photosynthesis shuts down and all that remains is cellular respiration, which produces CO2 as a waste product. End result, the pH drops. In tanks without a means to control it, the pH can swing very widely from day to night. Luckily, organisms can typically deal with a pH fluctuation as long as other values (such as hardness) do not swing with it.

Back to the original question, I agree with Musho on the list. I always advise caution when mixing hard and soft corals as softies can be quite noxious to the former. Ways to deal with this include carbon, water changes and protein skimming. It is typically not much to worry about.

P.S.
your pH is fine.

 

[Colin_T]

I have to disagree with you Lynden. The PH in a marine tank should not fluctuate at all. It certainly doesn't in the ocean. There is so much water in the ocean passing over corals and algae that the amount of CO2 they absorb makes absolutely no difference to the PH. Also there is so much dissolved carbonates in a marine tank it should prevent the PH dropping. Marine tanks should have significant surface turbulence which will keep CO2 and oxygen levels stable limiting the effects of excess oxygen raising the PH during the day and dropping it at night. Protein skimming will help as well.
I have tested the PH of seawater at various times through the day and night and the PH has always been the same regardless of what time the samples where taken.
In my opinion, anyone who keeps a marine tank with a PH below 8.3 is stressing their fish and forcing them to live in unnatural conditions. Marine fish evolved in a stable envirnment over millions of years and the oceans have been extremely stable during that time. Most marine fish still resemble their ancient ancesotrs.

 

[SkiFletch]

I think we're mincing hairs here between theory, practice, experience and reality.

Yes, in theory we are trying to create a miniature slice of the sea, and in reality the pH of the sea does not change much, if at all.

Yes, in theory we should all have great flowrate, wonderful surface agitation, wavemakers, and 10 mile high skimmers to create the best gas exchange possible. However in reality, the practices of keeping a practical marine tank often lead to some modicum of pH swing. Many design and cost limitations are to be factored in here, each one unique to each person's system.

Now out of experience I can tell you that a swing of 0.2pH in a 24 hour period (as Lynden said) does not seem to affect most corals or invertebrates too seriously. I'm sure they would enjoy the ideal theoretical sea we are trying to create, but they can tolerate a slightly less than ideal amount of pH stability. What my own experience has shown me is that if carbonate levels are sufficient, overall coral health is also sufficient (as always there's exceptions to the rule) despite some pH swing. Growth may not be phenomenal, but the corals do not suffer or recede. My own tank with a sump, BIG skimmer, Ozone, and so much surface agitatoin that salt creep is a continuing major nuisance will even swing 0.1 or 0.2 units of pH per day.

Point bieng, we try to create the ideal but realize we're only human and our tanks are a drop in the proverbial ocean

 

[Colin_T]

and our tanks are a drop in the proverbial ocean

lol, quite literally.
good choice of words, well said.

 

[Lynden]

pH does swing in tanks, no doubt about that. Whether it does or not in the ocean depends on the area. Some tidal pools can swing massively, but the open ocean and some reefs do not... that stated in an attempt to not incite another giant debate and have myself be disqualified from moderatorship... again. To say that pH cannot be below x value in a marine tank is false.

 

[nanocubeking]

and our tanks are a drop in the proverbial ocean

lol, quite literally.
good choice of words, well said.

LOL