Adding a load of corals

[Amatuer21]

So like the title says im going to be adding a load of about 20 coral frags to my tank. At that time my tank will still be fairly new at about the 3 month mark. Besides having my parameters where they should be etc, do you guys reccomend any additives/things i should be doing before the addition of these corals? They consist of zoas, softies, few lps, birdsnest and montiporas. Thanks for any feeback

 

[hkgar]

Lps, birdsnest and montis are going to require alkalinity and calcium so you should be testing for them and adding if required. Do some research on the desired levels.

They will also need low levels of PO4 and NO3.

 

[Uncle99]

Lps, birdsnest and montis are going to require alkalinity and calcium so you should be testing for them and adding if required. Do some research on the desired levels.

They will also need low levels of PO4 and NO3.

+1

It's not just putting them in range, it's the ability to keep them all there with as little flux as possible, I have not seen this at the three month level, more like 8-12, but that's just my take.

You certainly don't want to fight an outbreak with 20 new plugs.

You may keep 20 frags going with a weekly water change but keep watch, ALK stability is imperative.

 

[hkgar]

+1

It's not just putting them in range, it's the ability to keep them all there with as little flux as possible, I have not seen this at the three month level, more like 8-12, but that's just my take.

You certainly don't want to fight an outbreak with 20 new plugs.

You may keep 20 frags going with a weekly water change but keep watch, ALK stability is imperative.

What's wrong with me? In situations like this I usually post my two rules of reefing!

Here they are:
1. Take thing slow in reefing. Nothing good happens fast.
2. Take it slower than you thought I meant in rule one.

 

[Amatuer21]

Ok perfect so i am moving to fast lol i will step things back a notch and reduce the amount of corals i plan to add. What if, i didnt have any algae issues? Would it still be it unadviseable? I plan to add 2 montis of different variety, ORA birdsnest, a splatter hammer, and torch coral specifically. The rest are zoas, shrooms, toadstools and clove polyps.

 

[Amatuer21]

Have to add that im running a 55g sump woth approximately 32g in addition to the 60 cube.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

AHH--Monti's
Careful there sir-- Some can spread like crazy.
I have to tear my tank apart because of a Superman taking over.
On their own rock is what I would recommend.

 

[Amatuer21]

AHH--Monti's
Careful there sir-- Some can spread like crazy.
I have to tear my tank apart because of a Superman taking over.
On their own rock is what I would recommend.

Well i hope thats not the case. I will most definitely have a dedicated section of my tank for them tongrow. Hopefully i can frag them for friends.

 

[hkgar]

Two encrusting Montis. Green and one to the right

 

[hkgar]

A reason for taking it slow. With each addition of a living animal that produces waste the bio filtering needs to adjust.

 

[Squidmotron]

20 frags should probably not be huge though.

 

[Squidmotron]

AHH--Monti's
Careful there sir-- Some can spread like crazy.
I have to tear my tank apart because of a Superman taking over.
On their own rock is what I would recommend.

IMO they are the easiest of pretty much all stony corals.

 

[billdogg]

AHH--Monti's
Careful there sir-- Some can spread like crazy.
I have to tear my tank apart because of a Superman taking over.
On their own rock is what I would recommend.

I spent about 4 hours a few weeks ago using a hacksaw to trim down my Montipora confusa. It had taken over more than 1/3 of my 120DT and killed off several corals underneath it due to extreme shading. I find that I have to do that every 6 months or so to keep it in check. I had a Monti capricornis that got so big that when I finally got tired of it I had to use a large coleman cooler to transport it in.

 

[Reefheart]

IMO they are the easiest of pretty much all stony corals.

Does the ease of care apply to monti digitatas as well?

 

[Squidmotron]

Does the ease of care apply to monti digitatas as well?

Yes. Mine used to break off sometimes and I would plant the pieces in new locations and then they would grow in those new locations like weeds. I now have to do trimming every now and again.

I also love the neat plating ones.

I think it would cool to have a reef aquarium with only species of monitpora. There's a great range of interesting colors and shapes and they're just exceptionally hardy.