when could I add a coral ?

mrpergo

Member
My DT has finally cycled even though the QT has not. ( did some Bio-Spira to the QT so hopefully that will change)
When the QT cycles I will get fish to go in there and they will be there for a month or so, in the mean time I thought seeing the DT is cycled I could get a coral or two.
If I can put one in without fish would I ghost feed like I had fish ?
 
i would wait 3 months for soft coral and 6 months LPS and a year + for sps
( dependent on lighting)
3 major reasons
#1 getting the bio load up slowly
#2 going through the algae phases
#3 knowing your tank and keeping the parameters steady (takes practice)
 
I see no problem adding a hardy soft coral like Kenya tree, Colt corals, Green star polyps. Keep your basic chemistry in line and you should be fine. Just remember the corals I listed can get invasive.

No need to feed the coral, but you can try one or two hermits and feed them very sparingly.

I am all for patience, but 6 months naw. If you see no detectable ammonia or nitrites and nitrates are within reason then sure go ahead. Just don't spend a lot money on expensive corals just yet and keep an eye on the specific gravity.

Have fun
 
I admit it, I put softies in after a month.
Maybe not the smartest thing to do, but they are actually flourishing.
 
Just watch where you them as like the above poster said they are invasive. I used to love my GSP and now I'm trying to scrub it off rocks as its growing on other corals.
 
Depends on the type. Most corals are pretty tough. I advise starting with softies or lps, not both, and if you go lps, be prepared to start dosing and get an autotopoff.
 
just like to look at something in there.......lol
I do have an assortment of snails, and they are pretty cool when I throw a pellet of food in there.
 
I usually add the easy to care for corals right away before fish. Zoas, mushrooms, nearly any of the soft corals are fine. Even the hardy LPS corals like hammers, frogspawn and torches can go in early.
 
My 180 is up and running 2 months

I added 6 pcs of LPS, hammerheads, frogspawn, dunkin, etc

No issues so far, no dosing, just weekly- bi weekly water changes using Red Sea pro salt

5 fish, which are 2 clowns, 1 yellow tang. 1 powder blue, 1 one spot fox face

I've had 0 issues so far, and everything is healty and eating great
 
i would wait 3 months for soft coral and 6 months LPS and a year + for sps
( dependent on lighting)
3 major reasons
#1 getting the bio load up slowly
#2 going through the algae phases
#3 knowing your tank and keeping the parameters steady (takes practice)

Crazy....
 
If your lighting is good quality leds, flow is correct,temp is correct, salinity is correct then add more or less any types of corals "bit by bit" over a few weeks and control nitrates and to a degree phos as well via nitra guard titanium cubes and test each day for both!!!!!
If it ever gets above 0.03 for phos, start by adding one drop of saltwater pool phos remover as the water leaves your display tank in the morn and one at early evening and work from there if more is needed.
If there is phos for it to bind to it is very handy, if there is no phos for it to bind to before it can return to your display tank, then it may affect small gill plated fish species. This is very easy to work out and find a routine that works really well.

If you are going to add corals, you need to add trace elements so check out randys recipe, keep small polyps species up high, add planktonic sized foods each day and test constantly till you completely understand where and why your phos and nitrates levels are at “always”.

If you control phos and nitrates, your corals will be fine, with everything else done properly.
 
I added a couple of small Green Stars. I put them on a rock I can pull if things get crazy.
I plan to pick up a small Toadstool next week, then that's it till the fish go in just before Turkey Day......lol
 
I admit it, I put softies in after a month.
Maybe not the smartest thing to do, but they are actually flourishing.

your fine, you can put any coral in as soon as your tank is cycled. i set up a 93G and withen a hour put about 40 sps in at once, not even a bleach.... you have to be sure your tank is cycled!! :deadhorse:......
 
it was cycled for about a week and I did a 50% water change checked parameters and added the GSP the next day. I don't want to go to quickly so I will just get the toadstool and give it a break and just keep reading......lol
 
Some people will not even wait more than a few weeks before adding corals. I think this is a bit risky for acros and monti's but you can probably start out with a bunch of paly's, zoo's and shrooms if thats the direction you want to go in.
 
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