My first corals

[fixedpoint]

I'm getting ready to add my first corals. As I have been planning, I realized that I have a few questions:

1. Do you recommend QT for corals or just dips?
2. If you QT corals, how long do you QT them?
3. If you QT corals, do you feed your corals in QT?
4. If you QT corals, would a normal output fluorescent light be okay for QT?
5. How do you attach corals to live rock in the DT?
6. Recommendations for some beautiful and beginner friendly corals? (I've been looking at hammer corals, zoanthids, ricordea, and brain corals)
7. I've read that some zoanthids contain a powerful toxin, how concerned do I need to be about it especially since there are children in the house?

 

[Titans_Reef]

I don't QT corals or fish. I never had issues with anything I added to my tank. I just dip my corals with seachem revive and just drip acclimate and acclimate them to my lights. Even if the corals or inverts like anemones came from a tank using MH or t5 lights, I acclimate them to my lights. Zoas are fine, they "squirt" or "pop" when you frag them sometimes so you need to be careful when you frag them. Zoas, Mushrooms, palys, some SPS and LPS are fine as beginner corals. If you get some Green Star Polyps, I would recommend that you make it into an island since they grow really fast. I had some next to my red cap monti and they almost started to grow over it so I removed the rock and scraped anything around it. Look on LiveAquaria, they have a good reference on beginner corals. What are your lights you are planning to use because that can be a factor on what corals you can get also and the size of your tank since some can take over the take in a matter of months like xenia or anthelias.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=597+2856+2564&pcatid=2564

 

[Titans_Reef]

Many people do QT their fish so im not saying its not necessary, I just let nature do its course and haven't lost a fish not QT other then a bobbit worm eating them lol. But dipping corals is a must if you do not want to add pests to your tank. Also carefully look at the coral to make sure if no aptasia or mojano anemones are on it because they can quickly take over your tank and will become a pain to remove them later on.

 

[Amethyst]

So far all of my corals have come from the same tank in the same store, so I haven't bothered with QT, and so far so good. However, my tank's pretty new, setup for a few months, so I'm not an expert by any means.

When you dip corals, what kind of a dip do you use?

 

[pyithar]

what i do is i acclimate the corals sometimes drip acclimate upon arrival. i then dip them in coral rx for about 7 minutes. after that i quarantine the corals for a month. the reason that i quarantine corals is to check the aptasia and unwanted stuff growths on coral attached rocks. i've learned the lesson the hard way.
lighting requirement would depend on the corals that you're getting. you can use superglue gel and epoxy putty like aquastick to attach corals to the rocks.
zoanthids, hammer, frogspawn, gsp, xenia, toadstool, mushrooms, they all did well when i started. just do some researches before getting a coral.
since you might have some cuts or scratches on your hands, you should always wear gloves when handling zoanthids especially when fragging them. also protect your eyes as they can squirt their "palytoxin". but as long as it is underwater, there wouldn't be any problem.

 

[Bhuamani32]

I just dip them in coral rx for a few minutes

 

[Dearth]

Being as I don't have enough room to quarantine I have just done a quick acclimation and put stuff directly into my tank I've never had any issues and no loss due to adding to tank.

 

[fixedpoint]

lighting requirement would depend on the corals that you're getting.

Can you get away with less light in QT than you would in the DT given that they are intended to be there for a short time? I have radions in my DT, but I only have either a small LED or normal fluorescent lights for QT.

you can use superglue gel and epoxy putty like aquastick to attach corals to the rocks.

Do you have to remove the rocks to superglue? I think you can epoxy under the water. Just curious about the process.

since you might have some cuts or scratches on your hands, you should always wear gloves when handling zoanthids especially when fragging them. also protect your eyes as they can squirt their "palytoxin". but as long as it is underwater, there wouldn't be any problem.

I'm still using the old mouth on a tube method to start water changes in QT. It sounds like getting a bit of saltwater with palytoxin in your mouth might not be desirable. What do people do to start a vacuum if you have zoas? Or am I over thinking this?

 

[dustinkimpel]

QT FISH!!!! the amount of people on here saying they don't is astonishing to me. I've lost hundreds if not in the thousands of dollars to ich and others due to not qting them. I have never QT'd corals but have had losses from hitchikers hidden in the rocks they came on.

See thread: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2434346

 

[fixedpoint]

QT FISH!!!! the amount of people on here saying they don't is astonishing to me. I've lost hundreds if not in the thousands of dollars to ich and others due to not qting them.

I do QT fish and I'm very glad that I do. I just had a chromis die (after trying desperately to save it) in QT after 3 days from a case of uronema marinum.

 

[shesacharmer]

Absolutely QT fish...I'm in the middle of 72 days of fallow DT due to an Ich invasion. Believe me longterm QT of fish is not fun...far better short term QT to prevent problems. I dip my corals in Seachem's Reef Dip and I haven't had any problems with invasions after adding over 40 corals. My biggest culprit was my initial live rock.

 

[dustinkimpel]

I do QT fish and I'm very glad that I do. I just had a chromis die (after trying desperately to save it) in QT after 3 days from a case of uronema marinum.

As far as begginer corals I always had the best luck with mushrooms, zoas, xenia, and green star polyps. Those are all pretty easy in my opinion. Wouldnt be too concerned about toxins unless your kids are drinking the aqurium water or putting their hands in it then eating without washing hands. I have Zoas and a 1 year old who is nice and healthy ; )

 

[pyithar]

Can you get away with less light in QT than you would in the DT given that they are intended to be there for a short time? I have radions in my DT, but I only have either a small LED or normal fluorescent lights for QT.

i mostly use the small LED when quarantining corals. they'll be fine because it won't be long term. most soft corals don't need very intense lighting anyway.

Do you have to remove the rocks to superglue? I think you can epoxy under the water. Just curious about the process.

yes, you can epoxy under water with epoxy putty. if you want to use superglue, you need to take the rock out, dab with a paper towel, stick the coral to the rock, and put it back in the water.

I'm still using the old mouth on a tube method to start water changes in QT. It sounds like getting a bit of saltwater with palytoxin in your mouth might not be desirable. What do people do to start a vacuum if you have zoas? Or am I over thinking this?

palytoxin will be diluted when mixed with a large amount of water. i think zoanthids are not always releasing toxins anyway. they do that only when they feel threatened. you could use carbon to absorb the unwanted chemicals from water column. imo you should not let the water get into your mouth since there're bacteria and stuffs which might not be safe for humans.

 

[Fallling]

Ideally, everything should be quarantined. Most people just do a dip and inspection for corals and put them into the DT. Fish really, really should be quarantined though. To attach frags, you can use superglue gel... make sure it's cyanoacrylate superglue. I've found that putting superglue - epoxy (I use JB Water Weld) - superglue on the frags works much better than just superglue or epoxy by itself, especially on uneven surfaces. The frag can then still be popped off pretty easily if needed.

 

[Shivsreef]

I'm getting ready to add my first corals. As I have been planning, I realized that I have a few questions:

1. Do you recommend QT for corals or just dips? Both dip before you put them in the qt and before you put them in the dt for extra precautions
2. If you QT corals, how long do you QT them? I qt my corals for about two weeks
3. If you QT corals, do you feed your corals in QT? I don't unless it's something that needs feeding like a sun as I want to keep excellent water quality
4. If you QT corals, would a normal output fluorescent light be okay for QT? I would say so if it was only for two weeks
5. How do you attach corals to live rock in the DT? Use some epoxy or coral glue or take of the frag stone and wedge them in the nooks and crannies
6. Recommendations for some beautiful and beginner friendly corals? (I've been looking at hammer corals, zoanthids, ricordea, and brain corals) if your a beginner and your first corals in the tank just stick to softies like zoanthids leather mushrooms etc then in a couple of months you can move on to lps then finally sps
7. I've read that some zoanthids contain a powerful toxin, how concerned do I need to be about it especially since there are children in the house? All zoas contain that toxin I wouldn't be that concerned as I'm assuming that they the children won't be near the zoas when they're out of water

 

[fixedpoint]

As a follow up question, what equipment do I need to get before acquiring the corals.

For example, it seems that I need super glue and/or marine epoxy. Do I need frag plugs? What about razor blades or scissors? ...

Thanks, I just want to make sure that I'm prepared.

 

[Fallling]

As a follow up question, what equipment do I need to get before acquiring the corals.

For example, it seems that I need super glue and/or marine epoxy. Do I need frag plugs? What about razor blades or scissors? ...

Thanks, I just want to make sure that I'm prepared.

Bucket with a coral dip like revive or similar. Corals will typically come mounted to a plug or attached to a rock, so you don't really need frag plugs but it also doesn't hurt to have few on hand. I never bought any and have ended up with 2 dozen in a bag somewhere... I try to pop corals off frag off the plug before gluing to a spot. I'm not always able to, so then I just the glue the plug to rock and call it a day. Unless you're going to be fraggin stuff right away, you don't a scalpel or specialty scissors (other than for cutting livestock bags open). You also might want a frag rack on some point. I think it makes much easier to light acclimate corals without glue theming down or having to have a bunch frags on the sandbed and just helps to keep the frags and tank organized.