When to add corals...

[nanahugs]

How long should I wait for my cycled 40G tank to be seasoned before I can start adding some soft corals? Also, do these corals arrive on pieces of rock? I am so new at this and my husband doesn't know since he never did corals when he was in high school with a SW tank.
Thanks in advance for all responses to this topic.

 

[fishieness]

sweet, i have a 40 gallon too.
get everything you would need before having corals, refractometer, proper lighting, Ca and ALk and PO4^(3-) test kits. ect.
make sure everything is right where they need to be. wait at least 3-4 months and add something very hardy like mushrooms or zoos. dont try anything more difficult until about 5-6 months. and then wait even longer for other things.
when all your levels are perfect and where they should be, give your tank some time, and try something inexpensive and simple.

 

[jumpfrog]

Your corals will be attached to something. Sometimes lr and other times a plug that an aquaculterer will use. You should be able to place them amoung your lr when you purchase.
Again, make sure all your levels are good and "stable' and start with the hardier ones.
Don't forget to research lighting, water movement and feeding requirements for the animal before your purchase.
Good luck. The fun is about to begin :jumping:

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by jumpfrog
Your corals will be attached to something. Sometimes lr and other times a plug that an aquaculterer will use. You should be able to place them amoung your lr when you purchase.
Again, make sure all your levels are good and "stable' and start with the hardier ones.
Don't forget to research lighting, water movement and feeding requirements for the animal before your purchase.
Good luck. The fun is about to begin :jumping:
Or sometimes they will be attached to a piece of styrofoam floating upside down. Depending on what you decide to get. For an example, an Blue Millipora maybe shipped glue to a small piece of rock or hanging off a styrofoam and Zoos are usually shipped on a piece of rock. And like the above posts have said, wait and be patient and also try something easy to began with. :happyfish

 

[nanahugs]

Thanks to all who answered my post.
I have all the test kits mentioned and the proper lighting for soft corals.
I will wait till my tank is more seasoned before adding anything. Waiting is the hard part, but then, like stated, the fun begins...woot-woot!

 

[stanlalee]

once its stable start adding. ex once phospates are always low or non existant and once nitrates are always below 10ppm no matter when you test it go ahead and start adding. If your nitrates are 5ppm one day after a water change and 30ppm by the next change wait and/or do what you need to do (reduce bioload, increase skimming ect) to make things consistantly stable then add corals. I'm not exactly sure why but once mine went from fish only to reef water quality almost instantly became much better and more stable and you'll find along with corals comes hitchhikers 10 fold no matter how small the rock they come attached too.