Getting more adventurous with corals…

[Lyss]

Hi All,

My Max Nano is just about a year old now and I feel it has matured nicely. Over the past year I’ve struggled a bit with high nitrates, and some parameter swings that affected the few LPS corals I had. But that is all finally under control, thankfully. I have a couple LPS left and they’re doing well now, I don’t have much nuisance algae at all, and have a lot of microfauna.

I’d like to start thinking about getting more adventurous with corals and adding some more color and variety to the tank. Right now, aside from softies (two toadstool leathers, blue sympodium, a few ricordea florida shrooms, and an assortment of zoas) I have a Duncan, and blastomussa merletti thriving.

I’d love some advice and recommendations on where to go next. Which LPS would be middle of the road easy for me to level up to? And if I wanted to venture into easy SPS (birdsnest, Monti cap, green Slimer) what parameters should I be looking at? I think I’m in that game now but want to be sure…

 

[Uncle99]

I use Red Sea black bucket which runs at
Alk 11.5dkh
CA 465ppm
MG 1350ppm

You’ll need something like that for the Stoney types.
Not as much the level but the stable availability of these, the big three.

Nitrate 2-5ppm and phosphate say 0.05-.1ppm so they don’t starve and show best colors.

Seek stability rather than numbers, but keep salinity, alk and temp pinned with little flux.

But everyone bakes a cake differently.

Learn what your tank wants.