Tips for a coral beginner(what am I doing wrong)

[hunterallen40]

White light will be tough, the schedule is while Im at work, so I get home to white gone, and soft blue lights being on. These are google images of the types of coral I have. They arent these colors, but theyre these type of coral

Are you sure?

That's a hammer, a goni, and a zoa. The hammer and goni are both Stony corals, and the goni certainly isn't a beginner coral...

 

[smalltownuser]

Are you sure?

That's a hammer, a goni, and a zoa. The hammer and goni are both Stony corals, and the goni certainly isn't a beginner coral...

I found photos I uploaded in a different forumn. These are my actual corals. The third is a zoa no question. It has been small and shriveled since I put it in the tank. I thought it was a gonner but its actually sprouting new corals around it, so it must be alive.

 

[paragrouper]

I found photos I uploaded in a different forumn. These are my actual corals. The third is a zoa no question. It has been small and shriveled since I put it in the tank. I thought it was a gonner but its actually sprouting new corals around it, so it must be alive.

Fortunately, that is not a Goni. It looks to be clove polyps, which is a beginner coral. As previously stated, I recommend you get your salinity corrected first. If you are doing regular water changes, you have some time to sort out Alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. Make sure they are getting moderate flow. They should be waving gently in the current.

 

[smalltownuser]

Fortunately, that is not a Goni. It looks to be clove polyps, which is a beginner coral. As previously stated, I recommend you get your salinity corrected first. If you are doing regular water changes, you have some time to sort out Alkalinity, calcium and magnesium. Make sure they are getting moderate flow. They should be waving gently in the current.

It was waving great when I first put it in, but its gotten smaller and smaller over the month or so that I've had it. The other one(not the zoa) is he only one that looks like it did the day I bought it. The Zoa and the polyp are the ones that look brutal. I have had a few other corals that have been eaten by my dang emerald crab, so I dont know if they would have been doing well or not

 

[BanZI29]

Sorry for bailing on you yesterday. Things got busy and I was not at my comp at all last night.
There is alot of great advice here. So, this is what I suggest in order:

1. Get your salinity to 33-35 by removing some tank water, and adding the same amount in RODI water. SLOWLY, like I would say 4 cups at a time, every 8 hours.

2. once salinity is stable, start getting your nitrate and phosphate stable. this will take a bit more time but steady as she goes. get some reef roids, and dose about 1-2 teaspoons at a time once a day, put it in your pump chamber. test your nitrate and phosphate everyday before your add more roids. once you see numbers come up to: Nitrate approx 8-10, Phosphate approx .05 - .08. then you can add as you see fit to keep those numbers up. if they start to climb, stop adding the roids and do a 10% water change.

3. Water changes of approx 10-15% will help with alk and calcium so once nitrate and phos stabilize, start water changes again

4. make sure you change/clean your filters regularly, this will also help with stability.

This process is similar to what I did with my tank and now my tank is stable and everyone is happy.
over time you will be able to decide what is best for your tank ifyou wan to start dosing stuff like kalk or all for reef ( I use that)

This hobby is all about patience. You will start to understand how your tank works and what it needs as you progress and learn.

 

[paragrouper]

Sorry for bailing on you yesterday. Things got busy and I was not at my comp at all last night.
There is alot of great advice here. So, this is what I suggest in order:

1. Get your salinity to 33-35 by removing some tank water, and adding the same amount in RODI water. SLOWLY, like I would say 4 cups at a time, every 8 hours.

2. once salinity is stable, start getting your nitrate and phosphate stable. this will take a bit more time but steady as she goes. get some reef roids, and dose about 1-2 teaspoons at a time once a day, put it in your pump chamber. test your nitrate and phosphate everyday before your add more roids. once you see numbers come up to: Nitrate approx 8-10, Phosphate approx .05 - .08. then you can add as you see fit to keep those numbers up. if they start to climb, stop adding the roids and do a 10% water change.

3. Water changes of approx 10-15% will help with alk and calcium so once nitrate and phos stabilize, start water changes again

4. make sure you change/clean your filters regularly, this will also help with stability.

This process is similar to what I did with my tank and now my tank is stable and everyone is happy.
over time you will be able to decide what is best for your tank ifyou wan to start dosing stuff like kalk or all for reef ( I use that)

This hobby is all about patience. You will start to understand how your tank works and what it needs as you progress and learn.

This is a good plan to follow.

 

[sushiboss]

Without reading all of the comments here

I’d be willing to guarantee that there’s a ton of things wrong with youre water chemistry. Please don’t be offended by this I’m just posting to try and help you.

If you are not dosing alk, calcium, mag on a semi regular basis then you are not aware of what youre results may be possibly.

I’d be willing to bet that youre alk is in the 6 range and calcium sub 250 range.

What tests are you using? I’d highly recommend the Hanna alk test and phosphate ulr test from them to really see what’s what.

I’d recommend the Red Sea calcium Titration test as well.

You’re salt mix is way too high imo and I’d bring it down to 1.025-1.026 as it leaves room for slight changes without hurting coral too much. But this needs to be completely stable.

If you mix youre salt content this salty the box measurements for what it should mix at will be wrong.

How old is you’re tank? Clowns do not need an anenome and anenomes really don’t do well without a mature tank.

(We’ve all been there at some point on the anenome- I know I have)

Chances are he didn’t die he’s shriveled up but if he does die he will pollute that tank.

I’d be really interested in what youre phosphate reading would show up on a Hanna ulr test. Unless the tank is super new water changes won’t really affect phosphate reduction. You’re rocks leach it as does youre food and you’re using reef roids which increases it a ton.

For now I’d stop and do tests before feeding any more etc.

You need to find out youre parameters and the saltwater api kit work due to inaccuracy.

Lastly the dimensions of you’re tank can’t be accurate 4-2-2 is roughly a 110g tank. But that’s neither here nor there.

Reefing is time consuming and lots of testing until you’re stable and then you can sorta slow down on testing. I used to test daily in my tanks now I’m at weekly tests without any super unforgiving corals.

Best of luck and I hope this helps you in youre journey.

 

[sushiboss]

I disagree with that. Ph Is the acidity of the water. While chasing Ph is not a fun thing to do, to high or to low WILL affect corals in a bad way. Ph and also be an easy fix.
Anyway, let's not have this here. Let help this person get his tank fixed up.

I’m by no means an expert but I’ve never tested my ph.

I’ve found with strong correlation low ph means low alk and Vice versa.

Nevertheless all you’re recommendations are spot on and the end result is ops water chemistry is all out of whack.

-sushi

 

[J&K Reefers]

Great advice!! The only difference with me is water changes. For me frequent water changes seemed to keep my tank (170 gallon now 10 months old) in constant cycle mode. I do not water change but once every few months. Also, of course a doser will maintain consistent water parameters. Flow is a tricky one to get right, but just as important. I am 6 weeks in to tank #2 a 300 gallon (upgraded from a 120) and just added new corals. I run a reef mat, skimmer, co2 scrubber, uv, doser and carbon. Just an example of equipment that can be used. A picture of each tank below.

 

[smalltownuser]

Without reading all of the comments here

I’d be willing to guarantee that there’s a ton of things wrong with youre water chemistry. Please don’t be offended by this I’m just posting to try and help you.

If you are not dosing alk, calcium, mag on a semi regular basis then you are not aware of what youre results may be possibly.

I’d be willing to bet that youre alk is in the 6 range and calcium sub 250 range.

What tests are you using? I’d highly recommend the Hanna alk test and phosphate ulr test from them to really see what’s what.

I’d recommend the Red Sea calcium Titration test as well.

You’re salt mix is way too high imo and I’d bring it down to 1.025-1.026 as it leaves room for slight changes without hurting coral too much. But this needs to be completely stable.

If you mix youre salt content this salty the box measurements for what it should mix at will be wrong.

How old is you’re tank? Clowns do not need an anenome and anenomes really don’t do well without a mature tank.

(We’ve all been there at some point on the anenome- I know I have)

Chances are he didn’t die he’s shriveled up but if he does die he will pollute that tank.

I’d be really interested in what youre phosphate reading would show up on a Hanna ulr test. Unless the tank is super new water changes won’t really affect phosphate reduction. You’re rocks leach it as does youre food and you’re using reef roids which increases it a ton.

For now I’d stop and do tests before feeding any more etc.

You need to find out youre parameters and the saltwater api kit work due to inaccuracy.

Lastly the dimensions of you’re tank can’t be accurate 4-2-2 is roughly a 110g tank. But that’s neither here nor there.

Reefing is time consuming and lots of testing until you’re stable and then you can sorta slow down on testing. I used to test daily in my tanks now I’m at weekly tests without any super unforgiving corals.

Best of luck and I hope this helps you in youre journey.

Im sure there is. I mentioned that I dont know those parameters, and I dont dose with calcium, alk, or mag because the specialty store told me I dont need to worry about it with the corals I bought. Thats what Im trying to find out, and the consensus is that I do need to worry about those things

 

[sushiboss]

Im sure there is. I mentioned that I dont know those parameters, and I dont dose with calcium, alk, or mag because the specialty store told me I dont need to worry about it with the corals I bought. Thats what Im trying to find out, and the consensus is that I do need to worry about those things

Well yes and no.

If you’re desire is to have a reef then yes you do need to worry.

If you’re desire is fish only it almost doesn’t matter to an extent.

Without doing anything else I’d call around to see if a lfs offers aqua spin tests.

They aren’t entirely accurate but it’s a nice ballpark and atm you do not need to be entirely accurate you just need to figure out how close you are.

Also have you’re local reef store do a Hanna ulr phosphate test. I’d reckon you’re way overboard.

Patience is key and if you rush things they take a while to dial down

Cheers and happy reefing!

 

[smalltownuser]

Great advice!! The only difference with me is water changes. For me frequent water changes seemed to keep my tank (170 gallon now 10 months old) in constant cycle mode. I do not water change but once every few months. Also, of course a doser will maintain consistent water parameters. Flow is a tricky one to get right, but just as important. I am 6 weeks in to tank #2 a 300 gallon (upgraded from a 120) and just added new corals. I run a reef mat, skimmer, co2 scrubber, uv, doser and carbon. Just an example of equipment that can be used. A picture of each tank below.

dang those look great. My tank is about 8 months old, I set it up at the beginning of the year. During the cycle, constant water changes to prolonge the cycle, I learned that on my first tank setup last year, and I have heard on older tanks that you can get away without constant water changes, and Im impressed you can do that on just a 10 month old tank. Thats awesome. My flow is actually nearly perfect, I have tested it with coral placement, and there's a pretty even flow throughout the tank (comparatively at least, the most flow is in the middle, and the top middle, and then it gets weaker the lower it goes, and the further to the walls it goes, so I know the flow pretty well.) I dont have all those fancy things though. This is an expensive hobby and I would have to start from scratch if I was going to add all that, because I built my own stand, and made the cutouts for it for what I have right now, so to add all that stuff I would need a different stand, or to at least be able to remove my tank from the stand to add those things.

I have a question on your carbon though, do you run it 24/7 or inermitently? I tried carbon on my first tank which had a disaster, and it had carbon in it 24/7, and I dont know if that played a roll in it, but I added Vibrant to the tank which killed everything. I have had some people say that carbon played a roll in it but I know nothing for sure

 

[smalltownuser]

Well yes and no.

If you’re desire is to have a reef then yes you do need to worry.

If you’re desire is fish only it almost doesn’t matter to an extent.

Without doing anything else I’d call around to see if a lfs offers aqua spin tests.

They aren’t entirely accurate but it’s a nice ballpark and atm you do not need to be entirely accurate you just need to figure out how close you are.

Also have you’re local reef store do a Hanna ulr phosphate test. I’d reckon you’re way overboard.

Patience is key and if you rush things they take a while to dial down

Cheers and happy reefing!

I have those tests for myself, I just havent run them yet. Yesterday multiple people said I need to get my salinity right before doing those tests, so thats what I am working on now, and then I will check the parameters on everything I have tests for.

 

[BanZI29]

dang those look great. My tank is about 8 months old, I set it up at the beginning of the year. During the cycle, constant water changes to prolonge the cycle, I learned that on my first tank setup last year, and I have heard on older tanks that you can get away without constant water changes, and Im impressed you can do that on just a 10 month old tank. Thats awesome. My flow is actually nearly perfect, I have tested it with coral placement, and there's a pretty even flow throughout the tank (comparatively at least, the most flow is in the middle, and the top middle, and then it gets weaker the lower it goes, and the further to the walls it goes, so I know the flow pretty well.) I dont have all those fancy things though. This is an expensive hobby and I would have to start from scratch if I was going to add all that, because I built my own stand, and made the cutouts for it for what I have right now, so to add all that stuff I would need a different stand, or to at least be able to remove my tank from the stand to add those things.

I have a question on your carbon though, do you run it 24/7 or inermitently? I tried carbon on my first tank which had a disaster, and it had carbon in it 24/7, and I dont know if that played a roll in it, but I added Vibrant to the tank which killed everything. I have had some people say that carbon played a roll in it but I know nothing for sure

I run Chemipure in a reactor 24/7. you can run carbon the same way. all it does is help keep pollutants out of the water and keep it clear. it's a good thing to run.

 

[X-37B]

Where in Nocal is this store. I ask because I live in Norcal and thats some pretty bad advice from a lfs, imo.

You will get alot of different advice here and some of it will be good and some will confuse you.

You can pm me offline if you want to get a handle on things. I have tried before but to many people will argue and I dont have the time for it in a thread.

An example is someone on this thread said ph is the measure of acidity? Well its not, go back and do some research.
Ph fluctuates day/nite in the ocean and our tanks.
My ph runs 7.8-8.2 and has forever with no issues.

 

[smalltownuser]

Where in Nocal is this store. I ask because I live in Norcal and thats some pretty bad advice from a lfs, imo.

You will get alot of different advice here and some of it will be good and some will confuse you.

You can pm me offline if you want to get a handle on things. I have tried before but to many people will argue and I dont have the time for it in a thread.

An example is someone on this thread said ph is the measure of acidity? Well its not, go back and do some research.
Ph fluctuates day/nite in the ocean and our tanks.
My ph runs 7.8-8.2 and has forever with no issues.

Its in Citrus Heights, and it goes by a few names. Its name on google is Your Reef Aquarium, but the sign on the building is something different. They specialize in coral

 

[X-37B]

Its in Citrus Heights, and it goes by a few names. Its name on google is Your Reef Aquarium, but the sign on the building is something different. They specialize in coral

Yea I know the store and the owner knows what he is doing. That said I went in there before they had the total loss from someone nuking all their tanks.
If his employees are giving out that advice now I would try somewhere else.

 

[MnFish1]

All of that is what the specialist told me to have. 75 gallon, 2x2x4 tank. Salinity is 38, temp is 78-79, Seachem tidal 110 filter, inkbird+2 heaters to control temp. I am about to install a refugium for the tank this week as well

It is a new tank then. Your salinity is much higher that it should be. It's important to know the parameters in your tank, how it's cycled, etc. You may be doing too much too fast. I have no clue why anyone would recommend those amounts of water changes

 

[smalltownuser]

Yea I know the store and the owner knows what he is doing. That said I went in there before they had the total loss from someone nuking all their tanks.
If his employees are giving out that advice now I would try somewhere else.

No, that was the actual owner's advice. I only go in when he's there. I have been there a few times and walked in and saw an employee, and just walked out. I only deal with the owner so I can utilize his knowledge, but he clearly gave me poor advice

 

[smalltownuser]

It is a new tank then. Your salinity is much higher that it should be. It's important to know the parameters in your tank, how it's cycled, etc. You may be doing too much too fast. I have no clue why anyone would recommend those amounts of water changes

How often would you do a water change then? Learning as I went pretty much every source I found said to do weekly water changes, along with the specialty coral store telling me weekly water changes will be good for coral