Can I get these corals?

[badger126]

I just today moved my stock from a 29 to a 75 gallon. I don't really know what impact this will have and so I'm confused whether it's ok to put some more corals in. My 29 gallon was about a month old - I added a hammer coral and some star polyps at about 2 weeks and they are still doing great. Judging by the success of these corals I'm hopeful, but I'm not as familiar with the corals that I'm considering and I don't know whether they are as hardy.

I found this craigslist ad today:

SPS, LPS and softies

True Superman $20- small frag

Various Acros $5-10 small frags

Various Montipora $5-15 small frags

Candycane $4 a head

Frogspawn $5 a head

Blasto $7 a head

Duncan $10 a head

Idaho Grape colony ~3x5 inches $50

Pom Pom and also Long tentacle Xenia $5 unattached, $10 attached

Watermelon Zoa colony $40, $10 small frag (some other Zoas availible)

Chaeto- free

I'm interested in adding many of these corals into the tank and I wanna know what you think! I know the frogspawn and the zoas would probably be ok. What about the superman, acros, montipora, candy cane, blasto, etc? I don't wanna kill anything!!!

 

[BCT182]

I'd slow way down pal. First and foremost what's your water looking like? I'd say expect a cycle. A tank that's taken down after only one month hadn't even had a chance to fully cycle.

Also some of those corals require intense lighting. What lighting do you currently run?


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[reef18ster]

+1 on slowing down. Try to fight the fever. Patience is key to this hobby.

 

[badger126]

I have 6x54w t5 lighting, and as far as flow I have 2 koralia 3's + a magnum 350(soon to be upgraded to a sump). I never saw a cycle in the 29 gallon due to me using everything from a preexisting tank -rock, water, filter - so I'm hoping for the same now. I do know what you guys mean by slowing down, I've already learned that lesson, but judging by the success of those other 2 corals I was wondering whether any of the above corals were as hardy.

 

[ahuntnfool]

My opinion, if you feel your tank water has it's proper perameters I think for the sorties you are fine but for the sps and lps you are going to need MH lights. If you do have question about your water I would wait a little longer, nothen like the feeling of getting something new and having it die within a week. I know from experiance. Good luck
P.S. I wish I lived closer because those are good prices for those corals!

 

[fatboyt123]

My opinion, if you feel your tank water has it's proper perameters I think for the sorties you are fine but for the sps and lps you are going to need MH lights. If you do have question about your water I would wait a little longer, nothen like the feeling of getting something new and having it die within a week. I know from experiance. Good luck
P.S. I wish I lived closer because those are good prices for those corals!

He doesnt need MH to keep sps the 6 bulb will work fine as long as it has individual reflectors for each bulb and he keeps the higher light demanding sps in the upper half of the tank.

 

[user 26995]

He doesnt need MH to keep sps the 6 bulb will work fine as long as it has individual reflectors for each bulb and he keeps the higher light demanding sps in the upper half of the tank.

Ditto, I have a 6bulb t5 lighting. 4 10Ks 2 actinic and my sps is doing pretty well. Seeing about a 1/4" of growth per month. Full polyp extension. They are all high in the tank about 9" from the water surface. Lights are approx 6" above the water surface. I also started out with rock from an established tank of 10+ years and all new water. Never had a cycle. (a few aptasia, but no cycle) I have sps, lps and softies in the tank. Also moved everything from a 55 to a 75 just two months ago. Used existing water and most of the existing rock and added new rock and new water with no mini cycle.

 

[BCT182]

Sounds like your mind was made up before you asked the question, so I'm not sure why you did. Goodluck with your corals.

I have 6x54w t5 lighting, and as far as flow I have 2 koralia 3's + a magnum 350(soon to be upgraded to a sump). I never saw a cycle in the 29 gallon due to me using everything from a preexisting tank -rock, water, filter - so I'm hoping for the same now. I do know what you guys mean by slowing down, I've already learned that lesson, but judging by the success of those other 2 corals I was wondering whether any of the above corals were as hardy.

 

[vinny2261]

I agree with the slowing down.... You can reach a point of adding to much too soon and overload the current bio that is being created in your tank. Keep your list and add things slowly, upping the bio load a little at a time and allow your system to adjust and catch up with the new animals. You may reach a point where everything will crash and you may not. Patience, patience!!!

 

[TJL]

Agree with above, PATIENCE and more PATIENCE, I just recently uped my 50g w/ 20 sump to a 75g w/ 40 sump and moved all livestock over. I did take the oppertunity to thin some species which has allowed me to add some new. TAKE ADVANTAGE of your situation to make a list of livestock you really want and wait for/locate them. Our 75's seem so large after a smaller tank but you'll be suprised how quickly it will fill up. Good luck and wait for something SUPER COOL for your main piece then fill in around it.

Todd

 

[roblou]

My small piece of advice is avoid the xenia! They are pretty cool, but spread very fast to the point of being uncontrollable (at least my experience). Xenia and GSP I avoid now solely based on how much they spread and can take over a tank.

Good luck,

Rob

 

[mcvicker]

I would give it a month after transferring. Then go with the lps, montis, and such. Get a couple at a time and see how they do. I would avoid spending hundreds of dollars on livestock this quickly, even if it is a really good deal.
-chris

 

[user 26995]

I would give it a month after transferring. Then go with the lps, montis, and such. Get a couple at a time and see how they do. I would avoid spending hundreds of dollars on livestock this quickly, even if it is a really good deal.
-chris

This sounds like a good idea. I waited a few months before adding lps and 6 months before adding any sps. Had softies (zoas, xenia(yeah the pink stuff spreads fast) toadstools, from the start.

 

[badger126]

Thanks for all the input! No i didn't have my mind made up, although I am convinced that the frogspawn and zoas would be fine. My question was more of a hardiness question for the other corals because I don't know much about them. I'm not going to go buy a coral if you guys tell me that its really delicate and will die in a newer tank. I'm gonna go see this guys stuff today and probably pick up some zoas at the very least. I already have hammer coral so I don't know if I'll bother with the frogspawn. Thanks again for all the advice - I'll post up some pics if I get anything!

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

The thing is... unless I'm reading your original post wrong... your 29g was only up for a month. And you're claiming success with your existing corals since they've been doing well for 2 weeks. Two. Weeks.

There will always be "deals" to be had with corals. Slow down, do some reading, find out what the corals need to be happy, and give your tank time to mature and for the water parameters to calm down. I'm sure your water parameters have been "stable" all this time, but "stable" over a 1 month period does not make a stable tank! No one has ever lost money in this hobby from going too slow!

 

[BCT182]

The thing is... unless I'm reading your original post wrong... your 29g was only up for a month. And you're claiming success with your existing corals since they've been doing well for 2 weeks. Two. Weeks.

There will always be "deals" to be had with corals. Slow down, do some reading, find out what the corals need to be happy, and give your tank time to mature and for the water parameters to calm down. I'm sure your water parameters have been "stable" all this time, but "stable" over a 1 month period does not make a stable tank! No one has ever lost money in this hobby from going too slow!

Exactly


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[badger126]

Well help me out here. I've been a freshwater guy for a long time. I know saltwater is different. But I guess I don't understand the process. Besides being through the cycle, what constitutes a "stable" tank? What could happen that would all of a sudden knock off my chemistry? Can someone explain the process that takes place in a tank via aging that makes it more stable and suitable for delicate creatures? Are you suggesting that even though my 2 corals are doing well now that might not be the case over the course of the next couple weeks/months? In freshwater as long as your biofilter is good, as long as you don't see any ammonias or nitrites, then you are good to go.

I trust you guys, I'm just trying to learn what's different. I'm not the kind of person who just does something because someone says do it. I need to understand it first. Is anyone around that can explain to me what process is taking place in my tank and what might signify readiness?

Thanks for the help, I come on this forum because I know that I don't know much and there are so many people on here with a ton of experience. There are a lot of threads on here for me to read and learn by. Please don't bash me just because I am trying to understand something.

 

[vinny2261]

If you have had Freshwater for so long then you should know not to set up a tank and just start throwing stuff in it. You also do not seem to show much knowledge of even knowing where your parameter should be or where they are at right now. There is a lot of info already available in the "New To Reefkeeping" area. That should give you the basics and more to get your setup going for a long time.
Maturity and aging has more to do with the life that lives in the sand and rock. The water needs to be at proper temp and salinity. Your bio is carried in the rock and sand, not with a under gravel filter or canister. The more delicate creatures require a stable home, with no Amonnia, no Nitratates, no swings in temp or salinity. A small tank cannot hold as much as a big tank. A bigger tank is more stable because it does not flucuate in these areas as fast as a small tank. Small tanks usually require more attention
I think that you should do more reading while you are waiting for your tank to age. It is always your money to spend as you like and you can spend a large fortune trying to obtain a instant reef tank. Some will survive, for a while. Most will crash, killing a lot of the animals and other life living in the tank.

 

[tat2z_21]

Here is what happens. You have a few corals in your tank already. Your system may have cycled enough to manage a small bio load. The more livestock you add to your tank the more your waste is going to be. With the bacteria being your #1 stabilizer, if you add to much before the bacteria is ready for a larger bio load you will get an increase of ammonia , nitrites, nitrates and so on and so on. All of this is a slow process. Please believe me because I was just like you and thought well my tank is doing good with these few and I went crazy. After killing off almost 300 dollars I learned my lesson of patience. So listen to people that have been here for a while and take you time. Your saltwater reef tank is a delicate ecosystem that you control. Introduce slowly and with as much information and research as possible.

 

[roblou]

Patience is the hardest thing to learn/accomplish in the reef hobby IMO. Trust me, I know how you're feeling...you want to add cool stuff to your tank now! Your question is so open ended, it's hard to give a concise answer, but I'll try as best I can.

First of all, you have a 29g tank. That is pretty small as far as reef tanks go. Not saying it's not a good tank to use, but as others have stated, smaller tanks can be less stable than larger ones since the amount of water, rock, sand, etc is all less.

When you first set up your tank, you basically have no biological filter. As your tank cycles, you start to build up a biological filter that can handle a small bioload. When you see your parameters stablize after the cycle completes (i.e. 0 ammonia/nitrites/nitrates) you make a small addition to your bioload, say 1 fish or maybe a small clean up crew. As soon as you add something, your bioload increases, however your biological filter has not increased to meet the demands of the new bioload. This takes time! As your new bioload adds waste into your system, your biological filter increases in capacity to handle the new bioload. Thing is, if you add too much too soon, the biological filter won't be able to increase fast enough to process the waste, causing your "stable" tank to become not so stable (i.e. ammonia/nitrites/nitrates start building up). Worse case scenario...some of your bioload dies due to unstable tank.

Everything you add to your tank that is alive is going to increase your bioload. If your tank can handle 2 corals now, it doesn't mean you can go out and add 10 more things to your tank at one time (well you can, but you probably won't be successful). Besides the processing of waste by your biological filter, there are other things to consider as well, such as calcium & alkalinity demands of your tank, which increase as well as your bioload increases (for corals more so than fish). Keeping Ca & Alk stable is also pretty important for your livestock to remain healthy. Big swings of any reef tank parameters is not a good thing! This includes at a minimum:

salinity
temp
ammonia
nitrites
nitrates
Alk
Ca
Mg

(help me out here if I've missed anything...)

For all of the above, you should have tests to verify the parameters. Understanding & knowing where you tank stands on all of the above is really really important for a new setup!!!!

Good luck & HTH,

Rob