Do I really need to Wait???
- Thread starter coralreeferrn
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coralreeferrn
New Member
YearoftheNick.....LFS keeps the "cured" and "uncured" seperated in different bins. The cured has been there for 4-6 months and the uncured 4 months or less. What are some cheap hardy corals that I could go with until I know for sure that I won't have any spikes in my tank? What 2 hardy fish should I trade in my damsel for? Thank you so much for the great advice!! Such a BIG help.
yearofthenick
Active Member
Your rock is "cured", that's good.
You now have to add more chemicals to the tank if you go with any kind of coral. The most important thing is Calcium and Alkalinity. Brightwell Aquatics sells a pair of A+B bottles which are basically fool proof. You'll need something to test the Calcium/alk with so you might want to check into more testing supplies too... money money money. The good news is that if your calcium/alk is low, then you really only need to test when bringing it up, then once you have it where you want, it's generally a capful of each once a week. Big bottles of Calcium/alk are like $11 a piece, and test kits should be about $20.
I would also recommend putting zooplankton in bottle form in there for them to eat up. Corals are filter feeders too, so give them something to munch on.
You calcium should be between 400-500 and the alkalinity is best between 8-12. I keep my calcium at 480 and alkalinity at 10. The reason I keep my calcium so high is that it helps my coral grow faster... they feed off the calcium in the water, and it helps their bodies get stronger and bigger. When they are put in an environment that's rich in calcium, they get bigger really fast... it's neat.
Also, check with your LFS to see what kinds of corals you can put under your kind of lighting. Some corals really require a lot of light, and others don't really need as much. I have a frogspawn in there, and he seems to be doing OK... I have two goniopora's too and they're doing good... they don't require as much light but I'm told they are more difficult to take care of, although mine have been a piece of cake to keep. I have zoanthids in there as well, but they aren't doing good. They need stronger lighting and because of the powercompacts, they're starting to fade in color.
Lastly, I wouldn't be as concerned as what fish to add as I am about what fish do I want. I say this because you're going to add two fish right now, which is good, but what about in the future? Lets say you want to add another fish but it doesn't co-habitate well with the one you purchased a few months ago? It kind of sucks to have to think through, I know. But once you put stuff in, you can no longer return it, which is why I think the best thing to do is go with what you know you'll want to keep in the long run. Of everything out there, you know you want a clown and anemone, so start with that. Clowns are good fish to keep, but they fall susceptible to brooklynella very easily.... that's why both of mine have an anemone because it eats all the bad stuff that grows on the clown. As for the anemone, you've got all the advice you'll need to keep him happy, and his bioload is very minimal so you could put him in along with two clowns... they'll both share the anemone if they're either percula or ocellaris (sounds like "ah-suh-leh-ris") clowns. Some clowns won't host different kinds of anemone's. I had a bubble-tip in mine for months and all the clowns I had wouldn't host him. I bought a long tentacle anemone (it's an actual species... not just any long-tentacle anemone) and they're really happy in it. The pic I posted earlier in this thread is a long tentacle anemone (or LTA, which is another acronym used in this forum).
You now have to add more chemicals to the tank if you go with any kind of coral. The most important thing is Calcium and Alkalinity. Brightwell Aquatics sells a pair of A+B bottles which are basically fool proof. You'll need something to test the Calcium/alk with so you might want to check into more testing supplies too... money money money. The good news is that if your calcium/alk is low, then you really only need to test when bringing it up, then once you have it where you want, it's generally a capful of each once a week. Big bottles of Calcium/alk are like $11 a piece, and test kits should be about $20.
I would also recommend putting zooplankton in bottle form in there for them to eat up. Corals are filter feeders too, so give them something to munch on.
You calcium should be between 400-500 and the alkalinity is best between 8-12. I keep my calcium at 480 and alkalinity at 10. The reason I keep my calcium so high is that it helps my coral grow faster... they feed off the calcium in the water, and it helps their bodies get stronger and bigger. When they are put in an environment that's rich in calcium, they get bigger really fast... it's neat.
Also, check with your LFS to see what kinds of corals you can put under your kind of lighting. Some corals really require a lot of light, and others don't really need as much. I have a frogspawn in there, and he seems to be doing OK... I have two goniopora's too and they're doing good... they don't require as much light but I'm told they are more difficult to take care of, although mine have been a piece of cake to keep. I have zoanthids in there as well, but they aren't doing good. They need stronger lighting and because of the powercompacts, they're starting to fade in color.
Lastly, I wouldn't be as concerned as what fish to add as I am about what fish do I want. I say this because you're going to add two fish right now, which is good, but what about in the future? Lets say you want to add another fish but it doesn't co-habitate well with the one you purchased a few months ago? It kind of sucks to have to think through, I know. But once you put stuff in, you can no longer return it, which is why I think the best thing to do is go with what you know you'll want to keep in the long run. Of everything out there, you know you want a clown and anemone, so start with that. Clowns are good fish to keep, but they fall susceptible to brooklynella very easily.... that's why both of mine have an anemone because it eats all the bad stuff that grows on the clown. As for the anemone, you've got all the advice you'll need to keep him happy, and his bioload is very minimal so you could put him in along with two clowns... they'll both share the anemone if they're either percula or ocellaris (sounds like "ah-suh-leh-ris") clowns. Some clowns won't host different kinds of anemone's. I had a bubble-tip in mine for months and all the clowns I had wouldn't host him. I bought a long tentacle anemone (it's an actual species... not just any long-tentacle anemone) and they're really happy in it. The pic I posted earlier in this thread is a long tentacle anemone (or LTA, which is another acronym used in this forum).