General Coral Questions

[dacia]

My future reef tank is cycling right now, and I want to be prepared for when I add my first corals to the tank. So:
1. How much (if any) do corals add to the bioload of a tank?
2. How many corals is too many to add to a new tank?
3. Should corals be added before or after I add the first fish?
4. Are there any additives that are necessary to add to the water to keep corals healthy?
Some info you may ask me for: I have a 30 gallon tank with 2 Maxi-Jet 900s for circulation, a CPR Bak Pak 2 protein skimmer powered by another Maxi-Jet 900, 50 pounds of live rock and a 5 inch DSB composed of mostly Southdown seeded with a couple of pounds of live sand. I have 2 x 65W PC lighting. I plan to keep soft corals and about 3 or 4 small fish with my cleaning crew.

 

[bdhough]

Sounds good. For inspiration come to Raleigh and look at the LFS tanks
I don't think corals add much to the bioload. Nothing your tank can't handle. I would suggest getting one or two corals at the most a week. As far as fish, same rule. No there is no rule as to how many corals in a tank. Whatever fits and doesn't not kill eachother off. You can keep quite a few different corals. I have the same lights. Any softy, brains, frogs, hammers, foxcorals, caulastrae(candy canes), lobophyllias, and so on.
Another key factor is your doseings. Yes you must dose. As far as additives i would suggest, an alkalinity builder, pure calcium, and some sort of essential elements coupled with a coral-vite type deal. For the first two try seachems reefbuilder and turbocalcium and for the other two kents work nice. I would also buy some zooplankton or phytoplankton to help feed your corals. Youll need to test for calcium and alkalinity regularly till you get a feel for where they stand on a consistent basis. Even then its hard to keep them steady as they fluctuate with day and night in the tank. If you keep the key factors of calcium and alk in relative ranges then you can make things work. Also, forgot, remember your ph. Alk is essentially a ph buffer and keeps ph stable. If its to low ph can swing to high and i think it inhibits calcification of corals.
Just remember there is no set way to do a reef. Find the way that works for yours and go with it.
EDIT: better yet talk to KIP i think he lives near you and keeps great corals....

 

[thomas712]

1. Corals do not add significantly to the bio load
2. Ask NMReef he seems to be plauged with that problem
3. corals should be added after first fish, 6 months after.
4. Calcium, alkalinity, mag, and DT's for filter feeders
Thomas

 

[the claw]

1. Corals don't add necessarily to the bioload of the aquarium, unless they are stressed and dumping zoox. So therefore, you can have as many in your tank as space and money allows. The more you have, the more they will consume certain elements such as calcium.
2. You can add as many as you want, but its wise to be patient to make sure things are going right otherwise its a waste of preciuos resource and your money. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE!
3. IMO, You cn add both at the same time, and continue to do so. Remember that you need to add fish more slowly, because they will add to your bio-load. They will have a certain order that you will want to add them for aggression reasons.
MY $0.02