Just ordered my first frag pack....

HornetMech242

HornetMech242

Premium Member
I am very nervous. I have been getting my water ready and i think it is now ready. So i took the plunge and got a bunch of frags. I was reading and reading about water chemistry and where it needs to be, but then i realized i did not read what they need to be fed. But i think i remember hearing oyster eggs and DT's? They wont be here until Friday so i have plenty of time to read up on it and get what i need. Please give me your thoughts to ease my nerves. Here is the list that i got. I will post a pic when they get here.

ORA Pearlberry
ORA Red Planet
ORA Chips Acro
ORA Blue Cali-Tort
ORA German Green
ORA Tri-Color Valida
ORA Neon green Birds Nest
Acropora Pulchura
Red Raspberry Milliopora
Blue Milliopora
Green Sunset Milliopora
Purple Slimmer Stag
Blue Ed Hahn Staghorn
 
I think it is just your nerves. Once you get your water in line and you start tracking the changes you will be more at ease. Remember this is not as hard as most people tend to make it out to be.

Just don't freak out if a frag does not look ok right away or it does not come out one day. Be PROACTIVE in the care of your tank not REACTIVE. When we are reactive we tend to make mistakes and it cost more money if we were just proactive.

Hope this helps....
 
That is some good advice. I did order a magnesium test kit and magnesium today. That was the last test kit i think i need. I am going to hook up the calcium reactor tomorrow and started the phosban reactor today.
 
SPS don't need to eat anything really... you don't need to feed oyster eggs or DT's phyto... some people do, and there are some special coral foods on the market that people use with great success, but personally i wouldn't worry about it right away... that's something i'd look into down the road a bit...

for now, your corals can get all the nourishment they need from fish poop ;)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15582546#post15582546 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by soccerbag
Welcome to the poor house.....lol : )
Click to expand...

You aint joking. I think i got a good price on them though. I also had to put an order in for a test kit and magnesium. Sent that order off and then noticed my phosphate reactor needs a new O-ring. Does it ever end?
 
As of now....

Ammonia 0 Sample turns cloudy butnot yellow
Nitrite 0
Nitrate .5
Phosphate I cant tell any color change by eye
Calcium 360
Alk. 8.8dkh
PH 7.7 Down from 8.1 afer lights out
Salinity 1.023 going to take it to 1.025 by friday
Temp 78.5 Lights out at 8:00, temp down from 80.9

So i did a half dose of calcium and quarter dose of alkalinity two part. I will get my calcium up to 440 by friday.
 
nice frag pack good luck with them i dont think u really have to feed the corals so much as just the regular feeding of your fish... i dont feed my sps i just feed my fish daily.


just keep your paramters in check you should do fine
 
first of all, you cleaned seattleguy out! there better be some german green left for me! just kidding, i am looking to place an order from him as well. tremendous prices and the specimen look terrific. you've picked out some beautiful SPS to start with.

something to keep in mind - the pearlberry, red planet, birdsnest and tri-color are all relatively fast growers. mille's - not so much (at least IME). the red planet is a tabling acro, in case that matters for your aquascape. torts are on the slower side as far as growth too.

one thing i've done with my SPS frags is try and take pictures weekly and date the files like so: YYYY.MM.DD.jpg this makes it easy to see growth and you can always check the pictures out when you're pacing around wondering why they're not growing ;)

in terms of your water parameters, everything looks good except (of course) the calcium. they won't draw too much as small frags but you're going to want to bring that up to help them grow. i've heard higher KH does the same (10-11 for more SPS growth).

good luck, it's great fun!
 
Man those are some awesome corals. Cant wait for the pictures :D
Your calcium is a bit on the low side you would like to keep this in the low to mid 400s
Alkalinity looks good recommended is between 7-12 just try to keep it stable wherever you choose o have it
Ph is kinda on the low side and is swinging just a bit too much 8.1- 8.3 would be great! (with minimal swings) Your salinity is low as well try to keep it at 1.025-1.026
now all we need to know is what you mag is at . You would want this at least to be 1250-1300 when you figure out where you would like to keep your calcium you multiply that by 3 and you get roughly what you mag should be at. Example ive got my calcium at 440, 440x3=1320. My mag is about 1310.
Temp is good too. i run mine between 79-80
I have my light on about 7 hours and i have a refugium with a light ran reverse from my metal halide, i run it in the middle of the night for about 12 hours, which just so happens to help keep my ph from dipping at night, i also like to dose my alkalinity at night to help keep the ph up too.
This might help as well
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php
Good luck
 
Last edited:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15583080#post15583080 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PapaKlix
first of all, you cleaned seattleguy out! there better be some german green left for me! just kidding, i am looking to place an order from him as well. tremendous prices and the specimen look terrific. you've picked out some beautiful SPS to start with.

something to keep in mind - the pearlberry, red planet, birdsnest and tri-color are all relatively fast growers. mille's - not so much (at least IME). the red planet is a tabling acro, in case that matters for your aquascape. torts are on the slower side as far as growth too.

one thing i've done with my SPS frags is try and take pictures weekly and date the files like so: YYYY.MM.DD.jpg this makes it easy to see growth and you can always check the pictures out when you're pacing around wondering why they're not growing ;)

in terms of your water parameters, everything looks good except (of course) the calcium. they won't draw too much as small frags but you're going to want to bring that up to help them grow. i've heard higher KH does the same (10-11 for more SPS growth).

good luck, it's great fun!
Click to expand...

I seen those prices and the quality of the corals and it was a brainer. I have been waiting a long time to do this. I am pretty nervous with my PH going down that much at night. We do open windows at night, the top and back of the canopy are open with fans. So O2 should be good. The calcium reactor is not running, but i have flow through it, could the media be dropping the PH? Maybe i will just hook it up then.

Man, i am nervous. I dont want to kill them. When they grow out, i will have to have to learn how to frag and ship. I will have to turn part of my sump into a frag area.
 
you're not likely to kill them, i wouldn't be nervous. looks like you've got a solid setup that's been stable for some time. the ph is a little low, but that won't kill the corals. the media in the Ca reactor won't cause the ph to drop unless you've got CO2 going through there.

honestly, i think you're over-thinking it and getting yourself worked up unnecessarily. good luck and we want to see some pics!
 
I think you are right PapaKlix. The calciamreactor has flow through it but the CO2 is currently off. I have to order some CO2 tubing and a PH monitor tomorrow. I brought my DKH up to 9 since the test was done. Ph came up also and is sitting at 7.9 since lights went off at 8 PM. I did not see what it got up to today though.
 
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