New To Salt Water- Need Coral Advice

[0481]

Hello,
About 6 months ago I set up my 125g.. Everything has cycled well and the added fish are doing great. Right now all of my base rock is bear and I am starting to look into corals for it. I have tons of freshwater experience but this is my first saltwater reef tank so I want to make sure I do it right. Do any of the more experienced coral keepers have any tips for me on my corals? I am in Clearwater and frequent a fish store down in St. Pete for my livestock. The dealer has a great selection but (as I said) I want to do it right so I am not rushing anything. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nitr8]

Posting some information about your tank would help the community help you. Lights? Skimmer? Sump..... What type of corals do you want to keep? SPS? LPS....

 

[0481]

I guess that would help everyone if they knew what I was working with.
125 gal,
2 AquaLife Edge LED (13) 6K White, (14) 9K White, (17) 10K White, (3) Blue, (7) Red, (3) Blue Lunar LED`s
Eshopps 3rd Gen R-200 sump with refugium
Eshopps SnowCone Skimmer S200
Heater and UV Sterilizer inline
SunSun JVP-201 Powerhead @ 650gph

I was running 2 of the JVP-201's but the current was too strong so I pulled on and put a smaller 270gph powerhead on the opposite side of the tank from the SunSun.

As far as corals go...I am open to suggestions. I am not sold on SPS or LPS yet as I have seen some amazing species in each category. I mainly want amazing color in my tank and some nice shape variations. I do know that I am seriously thinking of getting some GSP and pulsing xenia though. Those things are amazing to watch although everyone says they are a real pain.

 

[Tiansho]

I think you might need some more flow in your tank. What is your return pump flow? What is the head of return? For a 125 your flow should be atleast 1250 gph. It also depends on corals. Play with your powerheads so flow is not directed at the coral, but the flow is indirect. All corals need diff type of glow. LPS and softies are good with 10x or 20x your flow. And generally, SPS need more flow.

Apart from that, you can start with some softies, mushrooms and zoas. Get aquainted with your coral needs.

Then get into anemones ans LPS.

SPS are a complete different beasts and your Experience with LPS will help you.

When adding a coral to your new tank, make sure to dipp the coral and acclimatize to your LED lighting.

Start with less than 40% max output in your LEDs for corals.

Hope this helps. And remember that everybody has different opinions. Welcome to thr forum.


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[anbosu]

I guess that would help everyone if they knew what I was working with.
125 gal,
2 AquaLife Edge LED (13) 6K White, (14) 9K White, (17) 10K White, (3) Blue, (7) Red, (3) Blue Lunar LED`s
Eshopps 3rd Gen R-200 sump with refugium
Eshopps SnowCone Skimmer S200
Heater and UV Sterilizer inline
SunSun JVP-201 Powerhead @ 650gph

I was running 2 of the JVP-201's but the current was too strong so I pulled on and put a smaller 270gph powerhead on the opposite side of the tank from the SunSun.

As far as corals go...I am open to suggestions. I am not sold on SPS or LPS yet as I have seen some amazing species in each category. I mainly want amazing color in my tank and some nice shape variations. I do know that I am seriously thinking of getting some GSP and pulsing xenia though. Those things are amazing to watch although everyone says they are a real pain.

As long as you don't mind mostly having GSP and xenia in your tank, they are great to add. There are a lot of cheap pest corals you can add that look great. If you want SPS, you should wait until you have consistent coralline algae growth for the best results. That is a good indicator that your system is ready for hard corals. I admittedly know nothing about those lights, and it's also possible if you want hard corals you will need to upgrade them.

 

[rogergolf66]

I would look into having a soft coral tank, leathers are great, Ricordia things like that. Also zoathid and plays are great. These are good to start with to c how they do. If u think u may do Apa or Los later on then stay away from Xenia and mushrooms as they will take over the tank. If u know u r going to stay with sold corals then they r great to keep.

 

[Nola Bear]

+1

Yeah. I second much of what has been said. I'd stay away from SPS until you feel you have a handle on keeping softies and lps. Definitely wait until you are certain the tank is stable and established, even for anemones.

That being said, there are quite a few sps champs in here, so they will be great advice. I have a lps heavy tank with a couple sticks and monti.

There are some great lps & softies out there for great color and variety. I recommend acans (lords, micromussa, echinata), blastomussa, favia/favites, hammers, frogspawn/octospawn, ricordea Florida and Yuma.

Gsp, depending on your luck, may or may or take over a tank. I've a had a piece that stays pretty small. But everyone is right about Xenia, gsp and even Kenyan trees. They can/will grow like kudzu.

Once you feel like the lps are thriving, and your Params are stable, maybe try a chalice or cephastrea, or leptastrea. These will help segue into stonies.

Research coral placement. Most will need to start low and then gradually move them up to where you want them.

Lastly, I'm a huge anemone fan, so make sure to do your research on the variety you are interested in. Read up on nem soup, anemones and power heads, aggressiveness. Each nem is different in how aggressive and how likely they are to walk the tank. Rock flower nems are incredibly awesome but they don't host.

 

[0481]

As long as you don't mind mostly having GSP and xenia in your tank, they are great to add. There are a lot of cheap pest corals you can add that look great. If you want SPS, you should wait until you have consistent coralline algae growth for the best results. That is a good indicator that your system is ready for hard corals. I admittedly know nothing about those lights, and it's also possible if you want hard corals you will need to upgrade them.

Thanks for the information. Right now I have coralline but it is still sporadic ans splotchy in the main tank...I figure it will take some time for it to spread from my live rock. Im not the most patient person in the world but I do want to make sure that the tank is ready before I start adding corals.

 

[0481]

Thanks for all of the information. I have a great list to start digging into and doing my homework on.