Coral or not?

[molson06]

I was thinking about ordering some coral to put in my saltwater tank. Some people told me not to get into this but I think they are cool looking. My tank is about 2 years old. Are they are to take care of and what do I need to o when I recieve them. Can i just add them to lthe aquarium or do I need to acculmate them?

 

[lion_crazz]

The first thing you need to make sure is that you have the proper lighting for coral. All coral needs a lot of lighting. What kind of lighting do you have over your tank?

 

[wattsupdoc]

Before you order any corals you need to reasearch. This forum is a wonderful place full of information and great people. Search the archives first to see if it has been allready answered. Most of the time it has. There are alot of differences between corals and what they demand. You cant ask, can I have corals and are they hard to keep, you need to know what kind of coral you want. They all have different requirements. What kind of lighting do you have? LR and LS? Skimmer? How is you're water quality? These are all things to be considered when going reef.

 

[molson06]

What kind of lighting do I need? Also can you have any kind of fish in the tank with coral?

 

[lion_crazz]

You need at least strong power compact lighting.
Many fish cannot go in a tank with corals because they will eat the coral. What kind of lighting are you running? Do you have alkalinity and calcium test kits?

 

[hardcrab67]

What kind of lights are you running, do you have a phosphate test, what are your nitrates. Reason for the phosphate test is most fish only have them and you put 4-5 watts per gallon light to them, boom green algae. Alk test, Calcium test so you know where they're at and when to supplement. These are just the basics. I supplement mine w/ Iodine and Strontium. Acclimating is kinda like the fish, until you get into more sensitive inverts like starfish, clams these have to be drip acclimated for a couple hours. I don't have MH lights so I can't have any acropora or monoporas. PC's are good for LPS and Softies. Hope this helps

 

[hardcrab67]

Good point guys, ya your fish have to be "REEF- SAFE" Angels and most butterflies aren't. Most if not all triggers aren't