for corals?
i have a canister filter and a seaclone protein skimmer up and runnning in my 55. my fish are fine, and are the inverts. not exactly sure of the specific preameters. but i know the pH is at least 8.1, prolly higher, my specific gravity is normal. the temp will soon be regulated with the addition of a new heater and monitor. my long tentacle anemone is just fine, so does that mean my tank would be okay for corals? for now just softies i think.
am i ready?
10 posts
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fihsboy - Posts: 1837
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm
What kinda lighting are you running? If your lighting is sufficient, get you some palys or some zoos......great starter corals. You could even get a ricordea as long as your lighting is sufficient. Just dose some calcium and alkalinity if your not doing so now, and you will be fine. I highly recommend Oceans Blend Part 1 and Part 2. I dose my tank EVERY night with this stuff and my rocks are turning PURE purple, im loving it! and so are my corals. Its got all the trace elements in it already and its fairly cheap about 30 bucks for the 2 gallon set. With my 29 gallon the set lasts me about 3 to 4 months. :) As long as your lighting is okay though. GO for it. you have the set up. :) They have several size sets, so if you just want to try it at first, but the bigger you go the cheaper it is. I say go for it! have fun with it too!
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puffedupseagull - Posts: 623
- Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 8:38 am
I agree with Fishboy. Dont get excited when you walk into the shop and buy every smart looking coral, the pretty ones are generally the harder ones. Buy a couple easy ones like Fishboy suggests, my first was a soft toadstool medium size, which can give you good indication with its polyp extension weather its happy or getting the shits. the further out the polyps the happier generally is. Most corals will be unhappy for a couple days to a week when first put in new tanks. wait and watch. If they are happy, open and stuff, then consider more. As far as supplimenting corals, dont get so worked up about having to feed them everything on the market. Once again as fishboy explained, I only supplement calcium and sometimes alk, So Trial and error. See what they like, some like nothing, and some are yuppie bastards that want everything available to them.
Hope this helps and Good Luck
Hope this helps and Good Luck
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schigara - Posts: 468
- Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 5:42 pm
PH is not, directly, a good measure for keeping coral. The most important measurement is alkalinity. Some of the best SPS tanks in the world vary from 7.8-8.4 during a 24 hour period. Softies and LPS are more forgiving.
Coral can adapt to calcium changes, PH swings, and temp swings but they will not be happy with unstable alkalinity.
Coral can adapt to calcium changes, PH swings, and temp swings but they will not be happy with unstable alkalinity.
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fihsboy - Posts: 1837
- Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm
kalkwasser is an amazing way to dose your alkalinity and calcium at the same time during the night. only thing that sucks is its a pain in the A@# to keep up with. I just recently took a swing at it and ewwie, you have to clean the sludge out and check on it every day. its a pain. for sure. but it works and it works with flying colors! I swear by Oceans Blend. Its got everything and its relatively cheap. I used to dose everything seperatly, but now i just dose those two thing and BAM everything is in my tank that I need.
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saltwaterpimp - Posts: 1307
- Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:22 am
puffedupseagull.. do you test for calcium/alkilinity ? you will cause a imbalance if you only add calcium and not alkilinity, the 2 work together , you need to dose them close to the same time and equal amount of both(unless you have low alkilinity)..shigara is 100% right alkilinity needs to be stable and 2 part or the drip is the best way .
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singapore - Posts: 238
- Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:47 pm
so this kalkwasser thing...i know i probably sound stupid...but i have no idea what it is. or how it works...could someone help me out?