Where do I start.....

[dnvrbrown]

So, My aquariums have been up and running for 8 months now and I'm so please with everything. My ultimate goal was to eventually have a reef tank with the beautiful corals I see in all of your tanks (I'm so jelous). I finally bit the bullit and ordered me a new MH Light fixture yesterday and I am ready to tackle Coral!!!! I'm so excited. Now, to the reason I'm posting.....Where do I start? I know that's a simple maybe stupid question but I'm clueless. I knew I needed the MH light and now that its on its way, what kind of coral do you suggest I start with? What do I need to do to my tank to make sure its Coral Ready? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to you all, my tanks have been a success!!!!

 

[teresaq]

Hi and congrats on the new light.
Tell us about your tank, size, fish, inverts, flow
Do you plan on soft corals, sps or lps??
The easiest are mushrooms, zoos, leathers
T

 

[dnvrbrown]

alright....lets see what I have
75G Tank
Sump Filter
2 Large PH's
Protien Skimmer
Blue Hippo, Maroon Clown, and Firefish Goby
5 Hermit crabs (I am embarrassed to say that's all I have for a CUC for now)
Last but not least....a chocolate chip starfish
As for what type of coral? I have no clue. Honestly, I want something that is going to catch people's eye when they walk in the room. If they are soft, sps or lps, it really doesn't matter. Hope that makes sence.
If I need to adjust my tank equipment, I would be happy too, so I'm open to ALL suggestions, coral related or not.

 

[aquaguy24]

Hello. First off I would remove the CC starfish(not reef safe). U can start off with come easy mushrooms. Blue stripe and ricordias are always my favorites. Zoa and palys are very colorfull and always seems to catch ppls' eyes. As for lps, acans, hammers, frogspawns, chalice, candy canes are always crowd pleasers. Sps is for down the road. When ur tank is mature and stable u can go ahead and do some sps. Pls research on the corals u want as they have different needs. Some are more aggrissove then others. Good luck

 

[aquaguy24]

I would also get some snails.

 

[dnvrbrown]

Thanks for the info. I have another tank as well, I'll put the starfish in it. Would it be better to go to a LFS to buy the coral or order online? How about the temp of the tank? I'm sure my tank is too warm now (84 degrees) but my fish seem happy. Will that be too warm for coral? Should I consider putting a fan on my sump? I've heard that helps bring down the temp. I also removed the glass tops off of the tank today, heard that helps as well. I have found this hobby to be a "learn something new everyday" so I'm always open to suggestions.

 

[dnvrbrown]

One more thing.....I had 6 turbo snails. they only lasted about a month and a half. is that normal? I heard they have short life spans. is that true or do you think my tank isn't just right?

 

[aquaguy24]

Snails prolly starved. In my 90g I've had all my snails for over a year I even have one that's 3 yrs in the tank. In my 24g my snails both died a few weeks ago. Had them for about 4 months. Hardly any algea in the 24g so I guess they starved. I've actually had my tanks hit 84 a few times and everything still doing good. But ideally u want ur tank about 78. I try to keep my tanks at 80-81 degrees. Make the temp stays consistent more then anything.
How old is the tank?

 

[lil.guppy]

Congrats! I soooo need a MH

 

[dnvrbrown]

My 75G is 9 Months old and the 36 is a year old. I have lots of Diatoms in my tank so I thought that would be enough to keep them fed but maybe not.