Time to add some basic coral?

[Baigent87]

How’s it going everyone? I’ve been running my tank for around 9 months now and would like to add some soft corals. Is there anything I need to change regarding my current parameters? Any advice on how to do so? Or just some general friendly advice?

 

[elorablue]

9 months without coral ?! That’s some high grade patience right there!
What do you have for fish?

 

[Baigent87]

9 months without coral ?! That’s some high grade patience right there!
What do you have for fish?

Hey thanks lol. I herd patience is half the battle as a new reefer 2 clowns and a clean up crew. Would like to add a yellow watchmen at some point. I only have 13.5 gallons to play with so relatively limited on stick capacity. I’ll probably look to upgrade at some point next year.

 

[elorablue]

Cool. Well you can try anything you like really. Maybe throw some cheap and cheerful zoas in there for a start. Surprised you have an ammonia reading and 0 nitrates and phosphate, but there it is.

 

[Baigent87]

Zoas are actually 1 of my favourites so that’s ideal!! I’ve been struggling with algae blooms recently and have been dosing vibrant which has done an amazing job of getting rid of the algae but I think it’s causing false readings on y phosphate and nitrate readings.

 

[Spare time]

Sure. What soft corals are you thinking of (if you know)?


PS What test kits are you using?

 

[Baigent87]

Sure. What soft corals are you thinking of (if you know)?


PS What test kits are you using?

Big fan of zoas and frog spawn (or similar) holy grail (with my limited knowledge) looks amazing but is pricy and potentially a tad risky as a beginner coral. Are there any you could recommend?

 

[Baigent87]

Sure. What soft corals are you thinking of (if you know)?


PS What test kits are you using?

Oh sorry - I’m using Red Sea test kits.

 

[Tim McLellan]

If your nitrates and phosphates are really 0 it would seem the corals wouldn't be happy, according to what I've seen/heard. I'm fairly new also, so someone correct me if I'm wrong. I just added my first corals at the 6 month mark. A Xenia and a GSP.

 

[CanuckReefer]

If your nitrates and phosphates are really 0 it would seem the corals wouldn't be happy, according to what I've seen/heard. I'm fairly new also, so someone correct me if I'm wrong. I just added my first corals at the 6 month mark. A Xenia and a GSP.

Well yes, and no same time....IMO. I ran system nitrates and phos totally zeroed for years and years but thats because my softies were essentially eating it up, mine was one of those too clean tanks so to speak. It tended to stunt the growth in terms of expansion on colonies. They were surviving but not thriving. I ended up dumping my skimmer ( NOT suggesting this for all or here) , and it bumped the nitrates a up to the 10-15 range and the softies took right off.

I'm wondering here if we maybe dial back a bit on the vibrant and if there is a bit of algae that's not a bad thing. Or maybe the vibrant is swaying the readings? Never dosed it so not sure. One who has could weigh in a bit more that way. As @elorablue mentions something cheap and cheerful to start like some mushrooms or zoas, see how they do. I too am impressed with the restraint at 9 months. Well done and best of luck with the new additions!

 

[Fernthereefer]

If you started with dry rock, feed sparsely and don't use coral feeding nutrients, then it is frequent to reach 0 reading of both. However, you have algae, which suggest that nutrient are still present. You may consider dosing, but my suggestion would be increasing the feeding a little.

What you can do, is start with hardy corals (slowly) and make your way up to more demanding corals later. 9 months is a good time for an aquarium to find balance, but adding livestock will challenge that balance. Slow is key.

 

[tanked4u]

Toadstool was my first coral, and it is still one of my favorites 3-years later.

Toadstools have great movement and are also one tough coral. Capable of shrugging off all my inadvertent attempts to kill it via rookie mistakes.

 

[davidcalgary29]

My "easiest corals for a heavily fed tank":

-Duncan coral
-Grube's gorgonian
-Xenia
-Cynarina, which are expensive but completely gorgeous and surprisingly hardy, although they look like they could pop and deflate at a moment's notice.

All of them are "drop-in-the-tank and leave 'em be" corals, although you should place cynarina on the substrate. The LPS corals are lots of fun to feed, and much more interesting in their day-to-day cycles than SPS, which I find to be quite boring. I have a cynarina in my Evo, and while it does take up quite a bit of real estate, it's also a showpiece.