Do you have to attach corals to live rock?

drummer4261900 · Nov 19, 2015

Do you have to attach corals to live rock? I did a lot of reading and you tube watching I figured out how to mount soft coral using tooth picks and rubber band. Hard coral using glue. Trying to find out if you have to attach it to live rock or just any rock will work?

Also I just added my first two clownfish which are the only living things in my tank right now I fully cycled the tank before I added them. Trying to find out how long I need to wait to add coral and an bubble tipped anemone?

Thanks!

TheEngineer · Nov 19, 2015

You don't have to glue them down. Most will eventually attach on their own, but you'll need to hold them in place until they do. The type of rock (live or dry) isn't really important if you are adding it to an already established tank.

I personally add corals before fish, so in my book you are good to go. I know nothing about nems, so I can't help with that part of your question.

Pete polyp · Nov 19, 2015

drummer4261900 said:
Do you have to attach corals to live rock? I did a lot of reading and you tube watching I figured out how to mount soft coral using tooth picks and rubber band. Hard coral using glue. Trying to find out if you have to attach it to live rock or just any rock will work?

Also I just added my first two clownfish which are the only living things in my tank right now I fully cycled the tank before I added them. Trying to find out how long I need to wait to add coral and an bubble tipped anemone?

Thanks!

You need to wait until the tank is good and established before adding an anemone. A good indication is solid coralline algae growth.

drummer4261900 · Nov 19, 2015

So they will attach to anything then just trying to make sure? Also when you say you don't need glue it will eventually atach it self what do you do in the mean time to hold in to place?

Thanks!

drummer4261900 · Nov 19, 2015

As far as the anemone goes what if I bought some live rock with some coralline algae growth?

Thanks!

Ryan15236 · Nov 19, 2015

drummer4261900 said:
As far as the anemone goes what if I bought some live rock with some coralline algae growth?

Thanks!

Sounds like you want to rush and short cut your tank's maturation. IMO bad idea but can work if you are diligent and go about it in a reasonable manner. I added corals to my tank the day after I set it up but I had time constraints as I had corals coming in and no where to put them. I set the tank up and added a few pounds of live rock to seed my base rock and it worked fine for me. Keep in mind I just put some softies and a few LPS in there. After about two months I added about 13 SPS frags and I still have them all and they are growing for me. Now there is a big difference in cycled and matured to me. My tank is cycled but not matured and I won't put any prized or harder to keep corals/inverts into the tank for awhile longer. Maybe 6 months or so. This is to ensure my tank is stable, I know my tank and how it operates, I know how the equipment works best, and most importantly I know when something is wrong or needs to be changed and I can respond properly in a timely manner.

You can short cut a cycle somewhat and get away with it but things can get ugly when you try to do to much to soon. I believe the tank maturation process is for your tank and yourself. Almost like a relationship lol. I have had about 3 reef tanks and they have all been a little different in their own ways. As far as the nem goes. I would say to be safe the general rule of thumb is like 6 months but give or take depending on previous experience and current set up.

BTW I also stock corals first for the most part so I would say you can start adding some corals to your tank.

thebluecatapilla · Nov 19, 2015

The general rule of thumb is 6 months to a year for Bubble Tip Anenomes

drummer4261900 · Nov 19, 2015

That's fine I will probably just wait on the Anenome.

I do have another question yesterday I just got a couple of less than 2" clownfish is my already cycled 90 gallon that has four Aquaclear 50 Filters. I am curious if by the end of the month it would be OK to add Purple Firefish, and a pair of Pajama Cardinal they have a really good sale going on on those fish at my local pet store? I want to confirm that none of those will mess with the corals or other fish? I already did some research just trying to confirm?

Thanks!

thebluecatapilla · Nov 19, 2015

I would start with corals before an anenome too cause sometimes the anenome kills corals when first added due to it wandering around.

drummer4261900 · Nov 19, 2015

That's fine I will probably just wait on the Anenome.

I do have another question yesterday I just got a couple of less than 2" clownfish is my already cycled 90 gallon that has four Aquaclear 50 Filters. I am curious if by the end of the month it would be OK to add Purple Firefish, and a pair of Pajama Cardinal they have a really good sale going on on those fish at my local pet store? I want to confirm that none of those will mess with the corals or other fish? I already did some research just trying to confirm?

Thanks!

Pete polyp · Nov 19, 2015

drummer4261900 said:
That's fine I will probably just wait on the Anenome.

I do have another question yesterday I just got a couple of less than 2" clownfish is my already cycled 90 gallon that has four Aquaclear 50 Filters. I am curious if by the end of the month it would be OK to add Purple Firefish, and a pair of Pajama Cardinal they have a really good sale going on on those fish at my local pet store? I want to confirm that none of those will mess with the corals or other fish? I already did some research just trying to confirm?

Thanks!

Each tank is different so it may or may not be too much too fast. The filters really don't make a difference concerning bioload. If you do add the fish you would need to watch ammonia levels for a couple weeks. If any ammonia is detectable it can be damaging to the fish and you will have to dose some prime.

What kind of rock did you start with? Was it live or dry. If good live rock you can move faster than with dry base rock.

Ryan15236 · Nov 19, 2015

Confirmed. Clowns, Purple firefish, And pajama cardinal should be fine. The only thing I have heard of is that pajama cardinals get fairly large and are built like a fire hydrant with a nice sized mouth. IF it were to get large enough years down the road it could eat smaller inverts/fish. That is the only remote concern I can even think of.

Question for you? Why do you run the Aquaclear filters? If you have a sufficient Liverock then they are of no use because they don't even compare to the surface area of the liverock for housing beneficial bacteria. If you are using them for water movement I would ditch them and just get some cheap powerheads if wanted to go that route. eBay has some new ones for like $10 or less.

drummer4261900 · Nov 19, 2015

Those are the only filters I have on the tank? No protean skimmer.

Thanks!

Ryan15236 · Nov 19, 2015

drummer4261900 said:
Those are the only filters I have on the tank? No protean skimmer.

Thanks!

Those filters will do little except take out particulate matter from the water column. So they will provide mechanical filtration for your tank in that sense but besides that they are doing little "filtering". I am not telling you what to do and what not to do. Just saying they are of little benefit to you and can be an eyesore. Although I will recommend you at least look into a HOB skimmer if you plan to keep any corals or nems. Without a skimmer you will need to do very regular water changes to keep nitrates in acceptable range for corals. It makes life and reefing a whole easier!

drummer4261900 · Nov 19, 2015

I had no idea I have only had freshwater tanks which need filtration.

Thanks!

Ryan15236 · Nov 19, 2015

drummer4261900 said:
I had no idea I have only had freshwater tanks which need filtration.

Thanks!

If you are happy with your set up then leave it be! Just thought I would let you know that aren't necessary or really practical in our reef tanks, good luck!

Pete polyp · Nov 19, 2015

Ryan15236 said:
If you are happy with your set up then leave it be! Just thought I would let you know that aren't necessary or really practical in our reef tanks, good luck!

They can become nitrate factories of they aren't maintained. Also overuse of carbon can burn up corals.

Pete polyp · Nov 19, 2015

Ryan15236 said:
Those filters will do little except take out particulate matter from the water column. So they will provide mechanical filtration for your tank in that sense but besides that they are doing little "filtering". I am not telling you what to do and what not to do. Just saying they are of little benefit to you and can be an eyesore. Although I will recommend you at least look into a HOB skimmer if you plan to keep any corals or nems. Without a skimmer you will need to do very regular water changes to keep nitrates in acceptable range for corals. It makes life and reefing a whole easier!

A skimmer may not be necessary and the same goes for doing frequent water changes as nutrient export. All tanks are different and I can't say with certainty if this tank will require skimming or not. Live rock can possibly be enough to keep nitrates in check. In my case live rock keeps nitrates nonexistent.

Pete polyp · Nov 19, 2015

drummer4261900 said:
I had no idea I have only had freshwater tanks which need filtration.

Thanks!

If this is the only form of water movement I would suggest adding powerheads before adding corals. Shoot for 20-30 times the system volume per hour turnover. 1800-2700 gallons per hour.