Am I ready soon?

[marinenewbie]

I am wondering, am I ready soon for some beginner corals or maybe a small BTA?

Tank has been up and running since Jan'05. Crabs seem happy, as do my pair of clowns, yellow wrasse and royal gramma, and I've finally got some little sponges and tiny trees growing on the rocks I've got. I admit, I am still battling a bit of cyano, but I think it has just about run its course.

I tested my water params this am (Nitrate-0, Nitrite-0, Alk-300ppm, pH-8.1, Amm.-0, Salinity-1.021, Calcium-300ppm...) Temp is around 83 degrees. (too hot??) I don't have a ton of lighting - 65W each of white and actinic.

What do you think????

[Randall_James]

Corals are the first things you could put in the tank IMO.
The anemone is likely not going to do so well with the limited light you have.

[WaterKeeper]

I agree and I would stick with softies and leathers. Right now your lighting is the limiting factor.

[Amand]

Yea you should be ok with most softies and leathers. You might want to try to get your temp down a little as that seems to be on the high end of the range and if it spikes up at all you could start seeing some problems

[mystikdragon7]

First of all congrats on 0 nitrates!! I don't think BTA will live in your tank with the lighting you have now, neither will a lot of other corals. Your best bet for some low light corals would be some mushrooms, zoo's, and some leather corals. Your temp is probably OK but I would bring it down incase you get a temp swing. You might want to try and bring your salinity up to about .024 - .026.

[marinenewbie]

Ok, soft corals it is! But...I read a previous post about cyano being bad for corals. I guess I should wait until it is ALL gone?

I will get the temp down, and bump up my salinity in the meantime.

Any suggestions of the BEST beginner coral to try??

[mystikdragon7]

Best beginner coral would be a leather, mushrooms, and zoo's.

[marinenewbie]

Thanks guys! Here I go...................

[mystikdragon7]

Also forgot to mention that if you get zoo's make sure you handle them with gloves. They have what's called Polytoxin (I think that's what it is called) and it is deadly. So just make sure to rinse your gloves or hands really good after handling.

[BrianPlankis]

You might also want to raise your calcium to 350-450ppm, 300 is pretty low and you wouldn't see much growth. I'm not sure what the conversion for Alk is, but natural seawater is around 7dKH and you should keep your Alk between 7-10dKH.

I agree soft corals are all you can do until you upgrade your light.

Brian

[marinenewbie]

I'm not sure I can get zoo's locally, but thanks for the warning! I'll have to get some gloves, too.

I've been working slowly at raising the calcium level as well. I bought a supplement, and have been adding little bits every other day or so.

Dumb question...corals don't actually 'move about' do they? I can place them wherever I want and that's where they'll stay??

[BrianPlankis]

No such thing as a dumb question :) Some corals do move about. zoas(zoos) don't move much, but mushrooms, xenia and some other softies are known for either detaching and letting the water move them, or slowly moving to where the light is more to their liking.

Brian

[Randall_James]

Try and find someone that has some green star polyps or maybe even some xenias. They have motion to them in the water that really can make the tank a lot more interesting.

Zoa's do have a toxin but unless you are roughing them up or trying cut and mount them, you are unlikely to have any problems. Stories of people having reactions to the toxin are pretty rare but it is possible to happen. I have never used gloves on them myself (maybe not such a good idea) but I just let them spread where they want and casual contact is pretty safe.

I suggest gloves for tank work due to other hazards from bacteria and/or other organisms. That and you can contaminate the tank with something you have been in contact with. (read wash your hands before and after tank work )

[WaterKeeper]

Originally posted by mystikdragon7
Also forgot to mention that if you get zoo's make sure you handle them with gloves. They have what's called Polytoxin (I think that's what it is called) and it is deadly. So just make sure to rinse your gloves or hands really good after handling.

Why Matt, I always recommend Palytoxin producing corals. This helps eliminate some of the Newbies from the hobby and reduces the cost of frags while lowering the amount of replies on this forum I am forced to write. :D

[cw150]

Get the salifert test kits and consider gradually using a 2-part supplement like b-ionic. Your calcium is too low. Start with a leather of some kind.

[bertoni]

I would also move the SG up to about 1.026. As noted, the Ca level is pretty low. The alkalinity is rather high. I think 150-200 ppm is more the usual recommended range. This article should help:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php