Want to start adding corals

[Melissa H]

I have had my tank for 1 year now. All I have is fish and live rock, now I want to start adding corals. What all do I need to do first to get ready for new corals?

 

[p.pep85]

first what kinda fish are they all reef safe? next what kinda corals do you want to keep.

 

[Melissa H]

I have clown fish angel, damsel and a shrimp snails and hermit crabs

 

[p.pep85]

how dig of tank what kinda lighting

 

[Melissa H]

50 gallon, t 5 lighting for now just ordered a new light led.

 

[ndz98]

If you don't already have test kits for alk calcium and magnesium you need those.

 

[Melissa H]

I have those. I add mag, calcium, alk, already. I was told to start adding them after I lost a anemone.

 

[p.pep85]

if you stay with the easy corals polyps zoas mushrooms. there really hardy and dont need alot of care imo.

 

[Melissa H]

Thanks, I was hoping I a as doing right. I love my tank just want more in it. Not just fish

 

[p.pep85]

the best thing you can do is figer out what kind of coral you want to keep and research what the need to survive. and build your tank around that.

 

[Melissa H]

Ok. I just didn't want to spend money and loose them.

 

[Melissa H]

Someone told me to dip my corals. What is that?

 

[Salt Creep]

Someone told me to dip my corals. What is that?

dipping is a way to get pests off of coral like redbugs, nudis, flatworms, etc. That said, it usually does not kill the eggs so dip and then QT is the best option.

I agree with p.pep85's statement about finding out what kind of coral you want to keep and then building your tank around that. Different types of coral live in different types of environments whether it be differences in lighting, flow, nutrient level... If you want softies and some LPS, for example, you could get by with lower light and no skimmer or dosing pump. If you want SPS you will want a large skimmer and all the automation you can get to keep the tank as stable as possible.

 

[cowboy]

With no coral in the tank as of yet what is your water quality at. Since you are already dosing Ca, Mg, and Dkh with only rock and fish your uptake should be minimal.
CA 400-450
MG 1400-1500
DKh 7-9
PH 8-8.3

These are the levels i keep my tanks at and have very little loss of corals.