Fish & Coral advice for new tank?

MarkS · Nov 5, 2019

Hi, I have a Red Sea 350L Reefer. It is fully cycled and water chemistry looks ok, Alkalinity a bit low but slowly getting up.

I have no corals yet, what would you recommend as good beginner corals then moving up to the next level of corals?

Also fish recommendations , I have two clown fish and one juvenile blue tang, 2 turbo snails; what would be good additions that provide visual and behavourial variety. Also a clean up crew?

I am in New Zealand so we don’t get some of the rare varieties overseas.

TY Mark

Mr Fishface · Nov 5, 2019

Fish - goby fish can add some fun to a tank. There are sand sifters that stay on the bottom and then perching ones like clown gobys that are neat to watch. Blenny makes another perching fish that eats algae. Two for one with blennys. What kind of fush do you want? Active swimmers or ones that take up only part of the tank?

Corals - first what light is on your tank? That will depend on what you can have greatly. What do you like? Soft corals, lps, sps? Soft are great to start with but understand that some people don't like them as they can grow and spread. I love my mushrooms and have an "island" rock I'm growing green star polyps on. That way it won't spread to the rest of my tank. Same thing with my xenia! Mushrooms are just all over, they haven't spread real fast like some report. My ricordia never spread just grow lol.

BeejReef · Nov 5, 2019

For your sanity, at least get a few softies

Even if you decide to give them away someday. Watching them grow is a lot more fun, and serves as confirmation that you're doing something right.

I started with a couple soft corals, but mostly a lot of favia. They grow soooooo slow.
Pipe organ has been one of my fav's... soft, but with a bit of stoney-ness. I really want a gorgonian.

NotFishyFishGuy · Nov 5, 2019

For corals, maybe a green star polyp. That’s what i started with and it was fine. What is the lighting on the tank? I agree with @Mr Fishface gobys are pretty cool

PatW · Nov 5, 2019

For corals, pick what you like. If you go with soft corals, you might think of running charcoal. Soft corals often excrete chemicals to zap nearby rivals. Also, do some research. Some softies can grow and spread rapidly and become pests. Softies also need feeding.

LPS and SPS corals need pretty strong light ... LPS less so.

SPS corals need stable conditions, high flow, high light, and dosing of ALK and Ca.

It is a matter of what you feel like taking on and what appeals to you.

MarkS · Nov 6, 2019

Hi Thanks for the advice.

Lighting is 2 x Hydra 26.

I looked at a Goby sifting the sand, but the LFS said they eat coral and are aggressive??

Does anyone have good light settings for a mixed coral tank, I am currently using an average setting I found, not targeted for corals yet.

TY

Gareth elliott · Nov 6, 2019

Sand sifting gobies do not fair well in new tanks. Never heard of them eating corals, they will cover them with sand. Ime the best sand creatures are cucumbers, fighting conchs, and ceriths.
Mixed reef look at brs videos on youtube for settings

.

MarkS · Nov 6, 2019

Ok TY. I have never seen cucumbers or Cerith‘s here in NZ, but will check.

PatW · Nov 6, 2019

Your tank is about 48” long and 21” wide. For acropora, I find that I get a bit of shading on the underside of corals and that not everywhere. LEDs tend to have directional lighting. By putting in more LED fixtures and turning them down slightly, this effect is lessened. But if you don’t care, don’t bother. You might want to add another fixture or not.

As far as lighting, my LPS corals are pretty forgiving. Montiporas and birds nests seem to need more light but are also forgiving. The acropora are the most fussy but it might be because I fuss over them more.

Bulk Reef Supply has a pot load of you tube videos on settings for AI hydras and AI primes. There is one where they discuss duplicating the spectrum of the Radion AB (a very highly regarded fixture) with AI Hydras that you might want to watch. I have sort of matched these settings and they seem to work pretty well. I matched the settings because they seemed to match the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll.

You also may want to read up on the light utilized by plants.... the photosynthetic spectrum. Plants use violet and blue light primarily in photosynthesis which is why the lights emphasize blues. The primary light capturing pigments are chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b and are nearly universal.

Oh, BRS has just released a video on a mixed reef tank and you might want to watch it. I have not yet.

MarkS · Nov 7, 2019

Hi, Pat thanks fo the tips, I will watch

Nooooooooob1 · Nov 7, 2019

Gareth elliott said:
Sand sifting gobies do not fair well in new tanks.

Why is it that they don't do well in newer tanks?

mta_morrow · Nov 7, 2019

Nooooooooob1 said:
Why is it that they don't do well in newer tanks?

They feed off the microfauna in the sand bed as their primary food source. I just added a diamond spot after 18 months from the day the tank got wet. They may take frozen or pellets here and there but will most likely wither away if you have a newer tank. Also while the fish does not need a lot of space, it does need a lot of sand. My tank is 5’ x 23” and I hope I have enough for him to do well.

Nooooooooob1 · Nov 7, 2019

mta_morrow said:
They feed off the microfauna in the sand bed as their primary food source. I just added a diamond spot after 18 months from the day the tank got wet. They may take frozen or pellets here and there but will most likely wither away if you have a newer tank. Also while the fish does not need a lot of space, it does need a lot of sand. My tank is 5’ x 23” and I hope I have enough for him to do well.

So that must have been why mine passed away. I added him when my tank was about five months old. He seemed like he was doing okay but one day we found him upside down and gutted by the emerald crab. I had a feeling he starved but was never really sure. There was plenty of sand for him, but it must have not had the nutrients he needed in it yet.

mta_morrow · Nov 7, 2019

MarkS said:
Hi Thanks for the advice.

Lighting is 2 x Hydra 26.

I looked at a Goby sifting the sand, but the LFS said they eat coral and are aggressive??

Does anyone have good light settings for a mixed coral tank, I am currently using an average setting I found, not targeted for corals yet.

TY

There are no aggressive or coral eating sand sifting gobies. Will they defend themselves and their burrow.....yes.

mta_morrow · Nov 7, 2019

Nooooooooob1 said:
So that must have been why mine passed away. I added him when my tank was about five months old. He seemed like he was doing okay but one day we found him upside down and gutted by the emerald crab. I had a feeling he starved but was never really sure. There was plenty of sand for him, but it must have not had the nutrients he needed in it yet.

It’s one of those patience things in this hobby. I waited patiently and now I am rewarded with a cool fish that gets along with all my other gobies and my sand bed has never looked better! And he

mta_morrow · Nov 7, 2019

Here is a video I recently made. You can see Dyson sifting and building his burrow for the night. Near the end of the video he dives in and disappears for the night!

Diamond goby builds burrow and dives in video

I finally managed to get a video of Dyson, my diamond goby, build his burrow and dive in for the night. You can skip to the 7:20 mark if you just want to see him dive in. Enjoy!

www.reef2reef.com

Nooooooooob1 · Nov 7, 2019

mta_morrow said:
Here is a video I recently made.

That's super cool! I can't wait to have another one again. I will wait a while this time though. I felt terrible that he didn't make it.
How many chromis do you have? I only have one left now but I'm moving up to a 75 gallon this weekend. I'd like to get a little school of them going once the cycle is done.

mta_morrow · Nov 7, 2019

Nooooooooob1 said:
That's super cool! I can't wait to have another one again. I will wait a while this time though. I felt terrible that he didn't make it.
How many chromis do you have? I only have one left now but I'm moving up to a 75 gallon this weekend. I'd like to get a little school of them going once the cycle is done.

I have 3. Got them very small. Hopefully they don’t pick each other off! I will tell you I really like my 3 azure damsels. So much color and activity and they are hilarious. I wish I would have got 5-7 of them. Can’t add any more now as the established ones would most likely kill the newcomers. I would have to add 5+ to have it work out now.