Adding Soft Corals

Sparty00 · 04/27/2007, 12:01 PM

How soon after a cycle can you start adding corals?

Are their better types to add in the beginning?

My plan is to have mainly soft corals as I am not planning on upgrading my lighting to MH for sometime.

hmello@bermexin · 04/27/2007, 12:07 PM

Hey Sparty I am in New Baltimore, MI. What LFS are you using?
Is it the 65 gallon you are talking about in you sig? You have enough rock and sand? Have you gone through a cycle that has had a spike in ammonia and nitrates and are now at zero? If so have you done the first water change to bring your nitrates down. Do you have a CUC?

WHEW!!!!
Your first soft corals most likely should be like mushroom, zoanthids, green start polyps.

How about some pics?

Sparty00 · 04/27/2007, 12:26 PM

Hi Henry.

As far as pic's I will try to get some posted although right now my camera does a horrible job taking pictures.

It is 65 gal, I put in 60lbs. cured Live Rock that was quite porous, I also added 35lbs. of base rock.

I never really had an actual cycle probably due to the fact I had cured LR. I have been testing my water parameters at least every other day. Below are the results of those tests.

Am - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrates - 20

Nitrates were about 40 one week after I added the LR and Sand. Am & Trites have been 0 in all of my testing. I have performed several water changes to help reduce trates. One 20%, followed by two 10% water changes. Two weeks after setup I posted and based on recommendations decided to add some food to help with cycle. Once again saw no spike in either Am or Nitrites.

I added 2 Chromis 10 days ago, and been testing water parameters each day and during my tests did not see any spike in Am or Nitrites.

I started testing for Calcium recently and my reading for that is 390.

I am currently using KEE's as LFS, also have been to I believe Moby Dick's as well in Waterford.

Hope this answered most of your questions...

Sparty00 · 04/27/2007, 12:35 PM

Also will add that I have begun to add cleaning crew. Have added the following thus far.

30 Blue Leg Hermits
4 Mexican Turbo Snails

hmello@bermexin · 04/27/2007, 12:42 PM

Sounds like you are doing okay. Start with something small, acouple of zoanthids and mushrooms. Then sit back and contiune to do some testing. If all is going well in a couple of weeks then you can add some other corals. I like Kee's, nice and clean, good family atmosphere but kind of expensive. the have the one frag tank that sits in the middle of the room on the left where you can usally find some decent frags for $15.00 a bpc. I would start there if I were you. Another store to try is Reales Reef in the shopping center on the southwest corner of 22 mile and Hayes. He has a small frag tank in the back that usually has some fairly inexpensive frags in it. He has also hosted some frag swaps where you can go to get some good deals.

Sparty00 · 04/27/2007, 12:46 PM

Thanks for the info !

You are correct Kee's is nice, but they are pricy for some things.

Randall_James · 04/27/2007, 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sparty00
How soon after a cycle can you start adding corals?

Are their better types to add in the beginning?

My plan is to have mainly soft corals as I am not planning on upgrading my lighting to MH for sometime.

Corals do not put much load on a system and so they can go in within 30 day of cycle if you are inclined to do so.

I would start with maybe mushrooms or Zoanthids. Mushrooms are probably one of the easiest to take care of.

Leathers are pretty hardy but they can cause aleopathy issues later (chemical warefar) if you have any LPS/SPS additions IME.

and dont forget to post pics

drummereef · 04/27/2007, 01:20 PM

I agree. As long as the sytem is totally stable and has been for a couple weeks you are ok to start adding corals. Like Randall said, add the most hearty corals on your list first and take it from there. Monitor their progress and if everything looks/tests good then go ahead with the rest of your stocking list.

papagimp · 04/27/2007, 01:30 PM

Just keep in mind that if you are adding corals now with the intention of adding further livestock later, such as more fish, do this slowly. Corals dobn't add much bioload, but the fish will. And if your tank gets overloaded quickly, amminoa or nitrite and nitrates may rise, these can harm delicate corals.

Sparty00 · 04/27/2007, 01:35 PM

Thanks everyone for comments / suggestions !!!

How do I post pic's? I am truly a newbie

hmello@bermexin · 04/27/2007, 01:38 PM

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=531326

Go here and learn SPARTY................

Sparty00 · 04/27/2007, 02:09 PM

Here are a couple of pic's, I know they are a little blurry, but it will give you a general idea....

Welcome any comments...go easy on me though

Full Tank Photo

Left Side Closeup

IMG]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u105/sparty00/100_1569.jpg[/IMG]

Right Side Closeup

hmello@bermexin · 04/27/2007, 02:13 PM

Love it Sparty. Great looking rock wall. How long has it been up?

Sparty00 · 04/27/2007, 02:15 PM

Thanks about 5 weeks.

SaltyDr · 04/27/2007, 02:27 PM

That is pretty porous live rock. Looks good so far. Keep up the good work.

Randall_James · 04/27/2007, 03:00 PM

what is your lighting exactly? trying to figure out that deep blue

Sparty00 · 04/27/2007, 03:07 PM

Could be partly due to camera & blue background.

Have T5 lighting

2 10,000K
2 Actinic

Randall_James · 04/27/2007, 03:08 PM

ahh ok, it is the background

Randall_James · 04/29/2007, 07:46 AM

hey btw where did you get your rock from? That stuff is ultra light and very porous. Some of the best stuff I have seen but I never know what it is being sold as. Thanks

Here is 10lbs of the stuff I used for a 60G column tank a while back. (wet this stuff is around 55lbs) I purchased it as dead reef bones and it fit in 2 five gallon salt buckets (well sort of)

Sparty00 · 04/29/2007, 08:26 PM

Hi Randall,

Got that rock from LFS, it was sold as Fiji Premium Cured LR. The more I look at it, I think it is the same as some of the "Fused" Fiji LR I have seen online.

It is extremely light and porous, and so far I am very happy with it. My only complaint has been that several of the peices were fairly brittle and I broke a couple during my aquascaping which I have changed about 6 times already.

I am in Michigan, if you want specifics for the store let me know.

Ritten · 04/29/2007, 08:53 PM

Nice aquascaping! You are off to a great start.

Randall_James · 04/29/2007, 09:40 PM

Ok so how much a pound ? I paid 2.50 a pound for this dead rock, pricey but I just could not resist the stuff it was so nice

Sparty00 · 04/29/2007, 09:51 PM

4.99 - 6.99 per lb.

04/27/2007, 12:01 PM	#1
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Adding Soft Corals How soon after a cycle can you start adding corals? Are their better types to add in the beginning? My plan is to have mainly soft corals as I am not planning on upgrading my lighting to MH for sometime.

04/27/2007, 12:07 PM	#2
hmello@bermexin Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,205	Hey Sparty I am in New Baltimore, MI. What LFS are you using? Is it the 65 gallon you are talking about in you sig? You have enough rock and sand? Have you gone through a cycle that has had a spike in ammonia and nitrates and are now at zero? If so have you done the first water change to bring your nitrates down. Do you have a CUC? WHEW!!!! Your first soft corals most likely should be like mushroom, zoanthids, green start polyps. How about some pics? __________________ Henry Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known. Current Tank Info: 29g BioCube, AI SOL 12" Super Blue

04/27/2007, 12:42 PM	#5
hmello@bermexin Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,205	Sounds like you are doing okay. Start with something small, acouple of zoanthids and mushrooms. Then sit back and contiune to do some testing. If all is going well in a couple of weeks then you can add some other corals. I like Kee's, nice and clean, good family atmosphere but kind of expensive. the have the one frag tank that sits in the middle of the room on the left where you can usally find some decent frags for $15.00 a bpc. I would start there if I were you. Another store to try is Reales Reef in the shopping center on the southwest corner of 22 mile and Hayes. He has a small frag tank in the back that usually has some fairly inexpensive frags in it. He has also hosted some frag swaps where you can go to get some good deals. __________________ Henry Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known. Current Tank Info: 29g BioCube, AI SOL 12" Super Blue

04/27/2007, 01:20 PM	#8
drummereef Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: STL Posts: 14,754	I agree. As long as the sytem is totally stable and has been for a couple weeks you are ok to start adding corals. Like Randall said, add the most hearty corals on your list first and take it from there. Monitor their progress and if everything looks/tests good then go ahead with the rest of your stocking list. __________________ -Brett 180g Marineland Starfire In-Wall 278 gallon system

04/27/2007, 01:30 PM	#9
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	Just keep in mind that if you are adding corals now with the intention of adding further livestock later, such as more fish, do this slowly. Corals dobn't add much bioload, but the fish will. And if your tank gets overloaded quickly, amminoa or nitrite and nitrates may rise, these can harm delicate corals. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

04/27/2007, 12:26 PM	#3
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Hi Henry. As far as pic's I will try to get some posted although right now my camera does a horrible job taking pictures. It is 65 gal, I put in 60lbs. cured Live Rock that was quite porous, I also added 35lbs. of base rock. I never really had an actual cycle probably due to the fact I had cured LR. I have been testing my water parameters at least every other day. Below are the results of those tests. Am - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrates - 20 Nitrates were about 40 one week after I added the LR and Sand. Am & Trites have been 0 in all of my testing. I have performed several water changes to help reduce trates. One 20%, followed by two 10% water changes. Two weeks after setup I posted and based on recommendations decided to add some food to help with cycle. Once again saw no spike in either Am or Nitrites. I added 2 Chromis 10 days ago, and been testing water parameters each day and during my tests did not see any spike in Am or Nitrites. I started testing for Calcium recently and my reading for that is 390. I am currently using KEE's as LFS, also have been to I believe Moby Dick's as well in Waterford. Hope this answered most of your questions...

04/27/2007, 12:35 PM	#4
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Also will add that I have begun to add cleaning crew. Have added the following thus far. 30 Blue Leg Hermits 4 Mexican Turbo Snails

04/27/2007, 12:46 PM	#6
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Thanks for the info ! You are correct Kee's is nice, but they are pricy for some things.

04/27/2007, 01:35 PM	#10
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Thanks everyone for comments / suggestions !!! How do I post pic's? I am truly a newbie

04/27/2007, 01:38 PM	#11
hmello@bermexin Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,205	http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=531326 Go here and learn SPARTY................ __________________ Henry Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known. Current Tank Info: 29g BioCube, AI SOL 12" Super Blue

04/27/2007, 02:09 PM	#12
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Here are a couple of pic's, I know they are a little blurry, but it will give you a general idea.... Welcome any comments...go easy on me though Full Tank Photo Left Side Closeup IMG]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u105/sparty00/100_1569.jpg[/IMG] Right Side Closeup

04/27/2007, 02:13 PM	#13
hmello@bermexin Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,205	Love it Sparty. Great looking rock wall. How long has it been up? __________________ Henry Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known. Current Tank Info: 29g BioCube, AI SOL 12" Super Blue

04/27/2007, 02:15 PM	#14
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Thanks about 5 weeks.

04/27/2007, 02:27 PM	#15
SaltyDr Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Southwest Florida Posts: 1,191	That is pretty porous live rock. Looks good so far. Keep up the good work.

04/27/2007, 03:00 PM	#16
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	what is your lighting exactly? trying to figure out that deep blue __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"

04/27/2007, 03:07 PM	#17
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Could be partly due to camera & blue background. Have T5 lighting 2 10,000K 2 Actinic

04/27/2007, 03:08 PM	#18
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	ahh ok, it is the background __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"

04/29/2007, 07:46 AM	#19
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	hey btw where did you get your rock from? That stuff is ultra light and very porous. Some of the best stuff I have seen but I never know what it is being sold as. Thanks Here is 10lbs of the stuff I used for a 60G column tank a while back. (wet this stuff is around 55lbs) I purchased it as dead reef bones and it fit in 2 five gallon salt buckets (well sort of) __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"

04/29/2007, 08:26 PM	#20
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	Hi Randall, Got that rock from LFS, it was sold as Fiji Premium Cured LR. The more I look at it, I think it is the same as some of the "Fused" Fiji LR I have seen online. It is extremely light and porous, and so far I am very happy with it. My only complaint has been that several of the peices were fairly brittle and I broke a couple during my aquascaping which I have changed about 6 times already. I am in Michigan, if you want specifics for the store let me know.

04/29/2007, 08:53 PM	#21
Ritten Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 2,164	Nice aquascaping! You are off to a great start.

04/29/2007, 09:40 PM	#22
Randall_James Premium Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 6,727	Ok so how much a pound ? I paid 2.50 a pound for this dead rock, pricey but I just could not resist the stuff it was so nice __________________ "It's a dog eat dog world and I feel like I am wearing milkbone underwear"

04/29/2007, 09:51 PM	#23
Sparty00 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Rochester, MI Posts: 272	4.99 - 6.99 per lb.