zoo question

isthatright

Member
i currently have a fowlr tank , 90 gal set up since sep.09 n i was wondering how long do you have to wait till u can introduce corals, i have read zoos are easy to start with n i think they are so cute. any suggestions would be great, thanks.
 

cbj25

New Member
you can begin adding coral as soon as your nitrogen cycle is done and your pH is 8.0 or better and calcium is 400 or better. I would stick with zoanthids, mushrooms, and leathers for now if you have never kept corals before. What kind of lighting are your running?
 

isthatright

Member
my tank is done cycling n my ph is like just below 8 n i dont have a tester for calcium but i havent lost any of my fish n i have 2-65 watt true atinic3 blue n 2-65 watt 10,000k daylight bulbs.
 

cbj25

New Member
sounds like your lighting is good. I would get some pH buffer in there to get the pH up. Then you could safely add soft corals. I would avoid any hard corals until you get a calcium test kit.
 

mie

Active Member
Originally Posted by cbj25
http:///forum/post/3196630
sounds like your lighting is good. I would get some pH buffer in there to get the pH up. Then you could safely add soft corals. I would avoid any hard corals until you get a calcium test kit.
Dont do that buffers are bad news.
 

isthatright

Member
i see you have zoos n ricordias, how long n r they difficult to keep? i'v never added anything but fresh sw so i wasn't gonna run out to but buffer without some research first but i appreciate any advise though. my tank looks so blah so i'm eager to get some color started.
 

heide264

Member
I would say you are good to go with some simple softer corals. Zoos, polyps, and shrooms are all pretty simple. I think my first coral was a strip of green star polyps and now I can't get rid of them. Also my mushrooms have scattered throughout my entire tank randomly.
I would say go for it

As far as the pH goes, I would not use buffers. Water changes will help raise it a bit and is probably the easiest way to go (pH steadily drops between water changes over time). Also if you want you can always look into a kalk drip or something if your alk/calcium/pH is consistently low, but that is another project in itself. Should be good with 8.0 though as long as its not jumping around or sinking too low
 

isthatright

Member
thanks heide264, my ph really doesn't fluctuate much at all but water changes do help for the better , what do you think bout calcium, ive never tested for it ,should i before gettin soft corals, someone said i should .
 

scopus tang

Active Member
If you plan on keeping corals, testing for calcium (at least until you know your tanks requirements) is a good idea. Far more important with corals is testing for dKH. If you don't have them yet and you want to keep corals, you need to invest in reliable test kits for these two. Just my opinion, but with PC lighting on a 90gal tank, you are not going to have great luck keeping most corals. The bulbs will need to be religiously changed every six months and stick to the soft corals (photosynthetic gorgorians, kenya tree, maybe a leather, button polyps) and inexpensive zoas. Until you upgrade your light fixture, there really is no point in investing in the expensive zoas. Again, JMO
 

heide264

Member
Just take a sample of water down to the store when you go to pick up the corals and have them test your levels. Keep in mind once you start messing with calcium, you will start a balancing game. Alk, calc, and pH and those all have a pretty complicated balancing relation. Add too much of one and the other will precipitate out and cause a salt water snow storm effect. Just make sure to read up on it before you start tweaking levels beyond water changes.
I can't imagine your calcium being off far. I would be more concerned with your alkalinity (measure of carbonates - bigger component than most realize, calcium carbonate is only 1 calcium to two carbonate if my chem serves me well). I normally keep mine a bit high. Alk tests are very easy, cheap, and come with most pH tests, I would recommend one.
I normally test pH and alk. If they are off, my calcium is normally a bit low too. I stick with my 5% water changes every couple weeks and I also have a jug setup with a couple drip valves for kalkwasser when needed (concentrated calcium something or other).
In a nutshell, just have them test, but if you do your water changes at all, you should be more than fine =). As you start adding more and more and if your levels become affected, you'll have to do some reading.
Good luck =). Enjoy your zoos... I'm a huge fan of my red shrooms in my tank.
 

bswe22

Member
If you are only going to keep soft corals and Zoos, you do not need to worry about calcium levels. When you start to keep the LPS and SPS corals you will need more light and start testing for calcium.
 

isthatright

Member
Originally Posted by bswe22
http:///forum/post/3197337
If you are only going to keep soft corals and Zoos, you do not need to worry about calcium levels. When you start to keep the LPS and SPS corals you will need more light and start testing for calcium.
i would like to see if i do good with zoos n sc first before anything else. i just bought my light n it wasn't cheap as u all know this hobby can be exspensive, but down the road i'll upgrade.
 

heide264

Member
You should be more than fine for soft's and some LPS. You can always position more light intensive corals accordingly higher up in the tank. Gotta start somewhere. zoos and softies will be more than fine =).
 

isthatright

Member
Originally Posted by Heide264
http:///forum/post/3197350
You should be more than fine for soft's and some LPS. You can always position more light intensive corals accordingly higher up in the tank. Gotta start somewhere. zoos and softies will be more than fine =).
i just realized u r from pitt pa, what county?
 

isthatright

Member
i live in beaver co. n have only one fish store i can go to but have known these guys for like 30 yrs(omg givin my age away
) but sometimes i make a trip to elmers in monroeville, i like that store too, just a hour drive though. he has some rics n zoos so i might go there n see what happens
 
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