Coral Placement Suggestions and General Questions

[crabgrass]

Hi All - starting to populate my tank with some corals. This is my first tank and have been adding basically random corals incrementally over the last few months. I would like some general suggestions on long term placement of them + some health. A few tank details:

Ammonia/Nitrite - 0
Nitrate 10-25 (and dropping)
Alk - 10.5 (currently dosing TM dosing, and working on lower amount - targeting Alk to 8 - 8.5)
Lighting - AI Prime 16 (~12-14 inches above tank)
Temp - 78
Salinity - 1.025
Two power heads in the back, directing water generally down and towards back of tank
Tank exploded with that Neon Green algae about a month ago. Its starting to turn purple/pink, so guessing its just the pre-stages corraline algae?

Corals (going left to right)
- Mushrooms - I think these are in the right spot. Planning on keeping these isolated to darker side of tank and grow up the left column

- Monti - my kid picked this out, not my first choice (lol). Keeping it in high flow at the very top.

- Xenia - Trying to isolate it on a mini rock. It was growing like a week until Nitrates started dropping in my tank. TBH, I had it in the tank initially, but am afraid it will take over - and may not be a keeper.

- Zoas (3 different frags)- These are almost all closed up, no matter where I put them. They were thriving until the Nitrates dropped below 25 and Alk > 10 (both happened around the same time). Working on getting Alk down, but lower Nitrates might be the real problem. Suggestions on where I should be placing them?? The one on the far right is just temporarily sitting there.

- Duncan - Seems to be thriving in its current spot. Growing in size + grew a new head.

- Scoly - is this thing dead? or is it actually a Scoly? It was green under the lights before, but seem to be brown/rust color now. I have moved it around, a bit to see if more light/change in flow will help. Possibly effective by Alk/Nitrate swing?

- Favia - Seems to be OK, but I know it has venomous tenticles (which come out daily for feeding). Is there a better spot for it longer term?

- Hammer/Frammer - Purchased with one dead head. The good head seems to be OK. Can I cut off the dead head, or will it regrow? it is attached/cemented to the rock right now.

- OctoSpawn - Seems healthy, doign good. Looking for suggestions on the long term spot for it - I havent attached it, and in its current spot is going to cause longer term crowding issues. When its fully extended, it tenticles can almost touch the hammer, which is probably not a good thing

- CandyCane - Same story as OctoSpawn. Seems OK. But longer term is going to have mega crowding issues. Could I put it at the bottom of the tank - or will lighting be a problem?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi All - starting to populate my tank with some corals. This is my first tank and have been adding basically random corals incrementally over the last few months. I would like some general suggestions on long term placement of them + some health. A few tank details:

Ammonia/Nitrite - 0
Nitrate 10-25 (and dropping)
Alk - 10.5 (currently dosing TM dosing, and working on lower amount - targeting Alk to 8 - 8.5)
Lighting - AI Prime 16 (~12-14 inches above tank)
Temp - 78
Salinity - 1.025
Two power heads in the back, directing water generally down and towards back of tank

Corals (going left to right)
- Mushrooms - I think these are in the right spot. Planning on keeping these isolated to darker side of tank and grow up the left column

- Monti - my kid picked this out, not my first choice (lol). Keeping it in high flow at the very top.

- Xenia - Trying to isolate it on a mini rock. It was growing like a week until Nitrates started dropping in my tank. TBH, I had it in the tank initially, but am afraid it will take over - and may not be a keeper.

- Zoas (3 different frags)- These are almost all closed up, no matter where I put them. They were thriving until the Nitrates dropped below 25 and Alk > 10 (both happened around the same time). Working on getting Alk down, but lower Nitrates might be the real problem. Suggestions on where I should be placing them?? The one on the far right is just temporarily sitting there.

- Duncan - Seems to be thriving in its current spot. Growing in size + grew a new head.

- Scoly - is this thing dead? or is it actually a Scoly? It was green under the lights before, but seem to be brown/rust color now. I have moved it around, a bit to see if more light/change in flow will help. Possibly effective by Alk/Nitrate swing?

- Favia - Seems to be OK, but I know it has venomous tenticles (which come out daily for feeding). Is there a better spot for it longer term?

- Hammer/Frammer - Purchased with one dead head. The good head seems to be OK. Can I cut off the dead head, or will it regrow? it is attached/cemented to the rock right now.

- OctoSpawn - Seems healthy, doign good. Looking for suggestions on the long term spot for it - I havent attached it, and in its current spot is going to cause longer term crowding issues. When its fully extended, it tenticles can almost touch the hammer, which is probably not a good thing

- CandyCane - Same story as OctoSpawn. Seems OK. But longer term is going to have mega crowding issues. Could I put it at the bottom of the tank - or will lighting be a problem?

Monti- upper third of tank
Zoa- lower third
Scoly - sandbed
Octo- lower third
Hammer- lower third
Candy cane- mid tank
Favia- lower third

under moderate light and water flow . Watch nitrate and for ammonia and nitrate- are you using api test kits?

 

[damsels are not mean]

I would think about how things are going to grow. The montipora for example sounds like a bad idea up top because it will shafe everything under it. I don't know how bright the lights are, but maybe it can be moved lower. With all the LPS corals I would not worry about too little light, most are found in deeper water typically. Candy canes can grow basically anywhere.

 

[damsels are not mean]

Monti- upper third of tank
Zoa- lower third
Scoly - sandbed
Octo- lower third
Hammer- lower third
Candy cane- mid tank
Favia- lower third

under moderate light and water flow . Watch nitrate and for ammonia and nitrate- are you using api test kits?

Zoas are adaptable, I wouldn't say you have to put them low. Many come from very shallow water and tide pools.

Scoly should be on the rocks if you can, imo. Most corals do not belong on the sand and scolies tend to grow on rocks in the wild like most corals, often sideways on a rock wall actually.


Where you "need" to have things depends a lot on how bright the light is.

 

[crabgrass]

under moderate light and water flow . Watch nitrate and for ammonia and nitrate- are you using api test kits?

I have a Seachem badge for Ammonia, and cross checked API for Ammonia/Nitrite. For Nitrate, using the Salifert kit - seems a little bit easier to match actual levels than API. Hanna test kit for Alk

 

[Lavey29]

Hi All - starting to populate my tank with some corals. This is my first tank and have been adding basically random corals incrementally over the last few months. I would like some general suggestions on long term placement of them + some health. A few tank details:

Ammonia/Nitrite - 0
Nitrate 10-25 (and dropping)
Alk - 10.5 (currently dosing TM dosing, and working on lower amount - targeting Alk to 8 - 8.5)
Lighting - AI Prime 16 (~12-14 inches above tank)
Temp - 78
Salinity - 1.025
Two power heads in the back, directing water generally down and towards back of tank
Tank exploded with that Neon Green algae about a month ago. Its starting to turn purple/pink, so guessing its just the pre-stages corraline algae?

Corals (going left to right)
- Mushrooms - I think these are in the right spot. Planning on keeping these isolated to darker side of tank and grow up the left column

- Monti - my kid picked this out, not my first choice (lol). Keeping it in high flow at the very top.

- Xenia - Trying to isolate it on a mini rock. It was growing like a week until Nitrates started dropping in my tank. TBH, I had it in the tank initially, but am afraid it will take over - and may not be a keeper.

- Zoas (3 different frags)- These are almost all closed up, no matter where I put them. They were thriving until the Nitrates dropped below 25 and Alk > 10 (both happened around the same time). Working on getting Alk down, but lower Nitrates might be the real problem. Suggestions on where I should be placing them?? The one on the far right is just temporarily sitting there.

- Duncan - Seems to be thriving in its current spot. Growing in size + grew a new head.

- Scoly - is this thing dead? or is it actually a Scoly? It was green under the lights before, but seem to be brown/rust color now. I have moved it around, a bit to see if more light/change in flow will help. Possibly effective by Alk/Nitrate swing?

- Favia - Seems to be OK, but I know it has venomous tenticles (which come out daily for feeding). Is there a better spot for it longer term?

- Hammer/Frammer - Purchased with one dead head. The good head seems to be OK. Can I cut off the dead head, or will it regrow? it is attached/cemented to the rock right now.

- OctoSpawn - Seems healthy, doign good. Looking for suggestions on the long term spot for it - I havent attached it, and in its current spot is going to cause longer term crowding issues. When its fully extended, it tenticles can almost touch the hammer, which is probably not a good thing

- CandyCane - Same story as OctoSpawn. Seems OK. But longer term is going to have mega crowding issues. Could I put it at the bottom of the tank - or will lighting be a problem?

You want your powerheads about 3 or 4 inches below the surface and rippling the water surface for good gas exchange. They should not be pointed down towards your corals. The flow will still circulate around the tank.

 

[crabgrass]

You want your powerheads about 3 or 4 inches below the surface and rippling the water surface for good gas exchange. They should not be pointed down towards your corals. The flow will still circulate around the tank.

Noted - thanks. I had looked at other tank configurations and thought this was right. Right now they are not directed at any coral, but will make adjustments to point them up.

 

[crabgrass]

Thanks for all of the very quick feedback. Any thoughts on that Scoly, and why it turning rust?

 

[Lavey29]

Noted - thanks. I had looked at other tank configurations and thought this was right. Right now they are not directed at any coral, but will make adjustments to point them up.

you will still see movement down at the bottom but the corals you are starting with need low to moderate indirect flow nothing harsh or they wont open. I will try and post a short video to show you flow levels.

 

[Lavey29]

Here is my flow hopefully the vid works.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a Seachem badge for Ammonia, and cross checked API for Ammonia/Nitrite. For Nitrate, using the Salifert kit - seems a little bit easier to match actual levels than API. Hanna test kit for Alk
ot,

 

[vetteguy53081]

Unfortunately

I have a Seachem badge for Ammonia, and cross checked API for Ammonia/Nitrite. For Nitrate, using the Salifert kit - seems a little bit easier to match actual levels than API. Hanna test kit for Alk, b

Unfortunately, both notorious for false readings and you may want to consider taking a water sample to a trusted LFS that does Not use API test kits and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours
I never trust a $7 or $20 kit to rely on for $100-$200 in livestock
There’s a chance your nitrate is elevated, ca high or low also affecting your alk and even oh
Verify salinity not high as well as temperature

 

[vetteguy53081]

N

Zoas are adaptable, I wouldn't say you have to put them low. Many come from very shallow water and tide pools.

Scoly should be on the rocks if you can, imo. Most corals do not belong on the sand and scolies tend to grow on rocks in the wild like most corals, often sideways on a rock wall actually.


Where you "need" to have things depends a lot on how bright the light is.

any Zoas are home grown in the industry and my zoa garden is 4@ off bottom and many of the bigger tanks on R2R, you will notice where Zoas are. My scoly and trachy are close to bottom but high percentile you see are on the bottom.
while there is no specific spot, I gave ranges