In another post on R2R here, a member recommended that I try getting started with zoas/palys. I have a 32g biocube with FO right now. I know adding corals is a whole other dimension to this hobby. I am sure this question has been asked 100's of times on here, but here it goes... Where do I start? A few starter questions... reputable places to buy them from, what I need to monitor/ideal parameters, good starter corals. I appreciate any and all advice! Also, any resources and/or books you found handy!
Getting Started with Corals
- Thread starter droidus
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tsouth
Valuable Member
I encourage you to begin researching acclimation (both water and light levels), dipping procedures, and coral hardiness.
A quick google search brought me to this BRS dipping video
Reputable places include many of the sponsors of this forum, check out the marketplace
A suitable environment with regards to your parameters, for a start/baseline, would be the ones that are provided by your own saltwater. Zoanthids and Palythoas can adapt to a wide range of environments. So long as you are using a reputable salt, mixing it with clean source water, and ensuring your salinity stays ~ 1.026 and a temp. of ~78, they'll thrive just fine. Other starter corals include discosoma and rhodactis or ricordea florida varities of mushrooms, and many of the "Softie" variety.
I always always always recommend not to dose or add anything until you've 1, understood what brought you to that point to need to dose, and 2, what the side affects of said product will be when dosed. Do not chase numbers!
A quick google search brought me to this BRS dipping video
Reputable places include many of the sponsors of this forum, check out the marketplace
A suitable environment with regards to your parameters, for a start/baseline, would be the ones that are provided by your own saltwater. Zoanthids and Palythoas can adapt to a wide range of environments. So long as you are using a reputable salt, mixing it with clean source water, and ensuring your salinity stays ~ 1.026 and a temp. of ~78, they'll thrive just fine. Other starter corals include discosoma and rhodactis or ricordea florida varities of mushrooms, and many of the "Softie" variety.
I always always always recommend not to dose or add anything until you've 1, understood what brought you to that point to need to dose, and 2, what the side affects of said product will be when dosed. Do not chase numbers!
In doing some research, it looks like some will have Palytoxin. Is there a good way to know which ones contain this? If one is in my tank, and I am just doing a tank cleaning, and don't plan on directly touching it, should I still wear gloves?
tsouth
Valuable Member
I will always encourage you to wear gloves and run carbon when placing hands inside the tank. I also encourage you to wear eye protection if you will be handling corals outside of the water. These rules apply to all interactions, regardless of palytoxins or not. The ocean is incredibly unknown, it is always better to play it safe than sorry.
The most easily identifiable palythoas that withhold dangerous amounts of palytoxin look like these:
The most easily identifiable palythoas that withhold dangerous amounts of palytoxin look like these:
I found these params:
Temperature: 78 – 80°F or 25 – 27°C
Specific Gravity (Salinity): 1.023 – 1.025
Ph: 8.1 – 8.4
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: <5ppm
Alkalinity: 8 – 12 dkh
Calcium: 350 – 450ppm
Magnesium: 1250 – 1350ppm
Phosphate: <0.03ppm for SPS Corals
Phosphate: <0.05ppm for LPS, Zoas & Soft Corals
Phosphate: <0.2ppm for Fish Only
Do they look about right? I will need to buy a few more kits if I need to monitor Alkalinity, calcium, magnesium and phosphate.
Temperature: 78 – 80°F or 25 – 27°C
Specific Gravity (Salinity): 1.023 – 1.025
Ph: 8.1 – 8.4
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: <5ppm
Alkalinity: 8 – 12 dkh
Calcium: 350 – 450ppm
Magnesium: 1250 – 1350ppm
Phosphate: <0.03ppm for SPS Corals
Phosphate: <0.05ppm for LPS, Zoas & Soft Corals
Phosphate: <0.2ppm for Fish Only
Do they look about right? I will need to buy a few more kits if I need to monitor Alkalinity, calcium, magnesium and phosphate.
