Beginner coral.

[Jordan berry]

I want to start adding coral in my 90 gallon tank. I have tons of water flow and plenty of light for anything. Everyone recomendations leathers, mushrooms and some polyps because they don't need special feedings and they don't require much light or flow. I don't mind feeding and the others won't be much of an issue. I don't want anything that will take over my tank. The things I am worried about are fluctuating water conditions. My temp ranges almost 1 degree from 77- 78. My ph seems a little low at just over 8.1 with very little change. I've been running a phosban reactor but can't keep my phosphates at 0. I keep getting about a .25 reefing on the api kit which is there first color. Should I get a better test kit? Knowing all of that should I get some beginner corals or do I need to figure out my heat ph and phosphate problems first?

 

[RareEarthCorals]

Your Ph and Phos is fine and chasing those numbers will drive you crazy. Ph between 7.8 and 8.5 is more than acceptable. Phos between .25 and .50 anything below those numbers and you will keep the scourge at bay. Start putting some LPS and softies for now you ready to start the journey!

 

[RareEarthCorals]

Oh and temps between 78-82 are more than acceptable.

 

[StevenBell]

There are several species of coral that are amazing fr beginners.Mushrooms, tree corals,zooanthids,leathers(to name a few)grow nice and come in an amazing color variety and are worth looking into.

 

[Tahoe61]

If able you can get the Hanna Checker Ultra low phosphate kit, much better than an API.

I agree with above pH and other values are in line.

Good beginner corals are the Euphyllia family, Hammer, Torch, Frogspawn. For soft corals for beginners that are not invasive would be the Sacrcophytons such as Toadstool, and Cabbage coral, also a few Sinularia.

 

[Jordan berry]

Awesome thanks guys. Reading 100's of posts people were saying phosphates should be under .05 and that .25 was way too much. I know I am part of the problem from feeding my cuc an algae wafer or 2 every other day to over feeding my tank to get a pebble in front of a stupid fish's face so he'll eat it. I just vacuumed my sand for the first time and did about a 30 gallon water change in my 90 gallon tank so hopefully that will bring it back to where it needs to be. For weekly water changes of 20 gallons or so should I just vacuum to remove the water I'm replacing?

 

[Tahoe61]

If you keep a shallow sand bed then it's fine to vacuum with each water change. I do partial vacuuming of my sand with water changes.

 

[Jordan berry]

My nitrates are also around 20. Is this a problem?

 

[RareEarthCorals]

I do water changes every six to eight weeks. You will hear alot of noise regarding Phos at or near zero. Ok, but your corals and tank will do fine at .25 or .50. Try to keep it as low as possible and you will do fine. I have three months vested and no Cyano and no green algae, doesnt mean I wont see it but for now it is not an issue. Stay on top of it with Phosguard or whatever you are comfortable with and you will do fine. Thirty gallon changes should be infrequent. Aged tank water isnt a bad thing if you keep your parameters in check and your tank clean. Feed less and enjoy more.

 

[RareEarthCorals]

Your Nitrates are high but not terrible. I keep mine at or around zero by using matrix. Pond martix is permeable rock, think lava rock. It allows nitrification to occur just like live rock does but at a much higher level. You can purchase two liters for you size tank, drop it in the sump, keep it dark and away from oxygen. When you clean your tank rinse it off with tank water and drop it back in. It will help you maintain your nitrates.

 

[BaritoneJP]

Your Nitrates are high but not terrible. I keep mine at or around zero by using matrix. Pond martix is permeable rock, think lava rock. It allows nitrification to occur just like live rock does but at a much higher level. You can purchase two liters for you size tank, drop it in the sump, keep it dark and away from oxygen. When you clean your tank rinse it off with tank water and drop it back in. It will help you maintain your nitrates.

I use Matrix but I'm not sure I'm getting a higher nitrification; tell me more about keeping it away from oxygen? (I'm wondering if I'm using it correctly.)

 

[Jordan berry]

Would it work in a bag inside the part of the sump with my return pump? That would be the least amount of oxygen/light.

 

[Russellaqua]

I've found many brain corals like Platygyra, Favia, and Favites are good for beginners as well. I agree with the Euphyllia mentioned above as well.

 

[RareEarthCorals]

Just keeping it submerged, I have it in the darkest part of my sump and fully submerged. I have a liter of Matrix in a nylon bag. Set it and forget it. Takes six to eight weeks for the bacterial colony to be at optimal levels.

 

[RareEarthCorals]

Forgot to ask how old is your tank and how long are you past your cycle?

 

[RareEarthCorals]

This is the Martix Im talking about.

 

[Jordan berry]

My tank is a month old. It only took a week to cycle but I have been taking it slow because I used half live rock and half life rock from caribsea and wanted to make sure the life rock wouldn't have a "second cycle" it never did. Diatoms have been around for about 2 weeks and seem to show up on glass daily. I say diatoms because it's a brownish tint left on the glass.

 

[Jordan berry]

Is some algae normal? I have 2 dime sized pieces of hair algae a rock with a little green algae and some coraline algae growing on the live rock.

 

[Tahoe61]

Different algae and Cyanobacteria blooms are definitely common for the first 3-4 months.
You can attempt to decrease severity of blooms by using only RO/DI water, make sure if you're buying water that it's also low in nutrient and phosphates.
You can leave lights off.
Manual removal works in a pinch, such as the use of a mag float.

 

[Jordan berry]

Yeah. I have 1 fish in there atm using a 6 stage 150 gpd ro/di filter and a phosban reactor to limit the algae but I have to clean my glass every day. I only have 22 snails with 4 being nasarius and 6 little bumblebee snails and 12 astrea and 8 hermits. Maybe the algae issue is I need to up my cuc.