I'm thinking about purchasing this tank, but dont know much about the corals. I'd like to know what they're called so I can do some research. Also if you know anything about whether they work well together, or if I cannot add new specific types to them, that'd be great!
Thoughts on these corals?
- Thread starter Ak_tk48
- Start date
Chalice in the first pic, then candy cane, the duncan coral. They are all pretty hardy and can cohabitate.
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That's a pretty chalice
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All but the first one appear to be good choices as beginner corals.
That said, you’ll be wise to spend the first few months getting your tank set up, through a biological cycle & stabilized before jumping into too many corals.
Perhaps an lps, mushroom or a few zoanthids would be a good start.
Here’s some free advice-
The most important thing that you will ever put into a saltwater aquarium is patience!
Fwiw- I’ve been in this hobby over 45 years. Slow down & learn all you can, then begin slowly & be patient with things. It may be difficult, but the living things you are trying to maintain deserve no less.
Ask questions. We are all here to learn and do that better by sharing our experiences.
If some of us sound ‘preachy’, we are just trying to help keep others from making the same mistakes we have along the way.
Lastly, welcome to the ARC!
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That said, you’ll be wise to spend the first few months getting your tank set up, through a biological cycle & stabilized before jumping into too many corals.
Perhaps an lps, mushroom or a few zoanthids would be a good start.
Here’s some free advice-
The most important thing that you will ever put into a saltwater aquarium is patience!
Fwiw- I’ve been in this hobby over 45 years. Slow down & learn all you can, then begin slowly & be patient with things. It may be difficult, but the living things you are trying to maintain deserve no less.
Ask questions. We are all here to learn and do that better by sharing our experiences.
If some of us sound ‘preachy’, we are just trying to help keep others from making the same mistakes we have along the way.
Lastly, welcome to the ARC!
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No worries, "preach" away. I'm all ears haha
Welcome to ARC! Like you I am new to this. Ive had my tank up and running since May. So im still learning. And this is a great place to do that. As a beginner to beginner I will agree with taking it slowly. But with that being said Im already jumping from a 40gal All in one to a 90gal tank. lol. I bought my 40g as an all in system as well but without any livestock or coral. My cycle time was about a week because I had all of the live rock and live sand in water during transport to my house. The guy I got it from had it running for about 6 months., But ive gotten a wealth of knowledge from everyone here and they have helped me with my million and one questions. This group is awesome.
Thanks! I'll be keeping an eye on your profile.
Yeah ive been keeping track of my progress of my 90gal journey.
https://atlantareefclub.org/boards/index.php?threads/zaps-90gal-journey.1172819/
And if you have any questions fee free to ask. Someone in ARC will know the answer.
I do a 20-30% water change every 1 1/2-2 weeks. Some people do go the route of not doing a water change because they have a way of getting the nitrates out of the system with either a refugium or with some other methods of dosing something into the water. What kind of tank is it? Like how big? does it have a sump? refugium? Skimmer?
No problem with it, just not what I would recommend as a beginner coral.
Robust is a relative term in the reefing hobby. I’m more inclined to recommend what I know to be ‘tough’ corals to begin with.
Mushrooms are pretty tough & undemanding, for example. If you abuse them they might get get pissed and close up, long before they eventually die. Lots of room for error & signs that things aren’t where they should be. That will buy you time to get advice and/or help and make corrections.
That will also afford you opportunities to learn about an incredibly complex & beautiful combination of biology, physics, chemistry & art!
In this hobby, you can do everything by the book, but still fail. Usually due to some unforeseen circumstance, anomaly or combination of events that may be difficult to fathom, in retrospect.
You’ll see many of us take pretty extreme measures to have backups, quarantine and/or do prophylactic (preventative) treatments, spend ridiculous amounts of money on automation linked to our phones, etc. All in an attempt to prevent bad things from happening, which end up costing even more ridiculous amounts of money, time, aggravation & yes even heartache!
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No, not normal, at least for about 99% of us.
Normal is 10% water change per week, like clock work. Even when you’re on vacation, sick, don’t feel like it, dog tired, etc.
Patience & discipline are key requirements to achieve sustained success.
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I certainly wouldn’t not do a water change. I do one every 2-3 weeks, which is about 20%. I also dose cal, mag, alk, and trace elements during the week to help balance things out. On top if that I only have fish in one of my 4 tanks, which might play a part in longer wait times
My only piece of advice is read, read, read, read, read. There is a wealth of information on this site and many other forums. I left this hobby 15 years ago and it changed so incredibly much I spent three months catching back up on all the changes. I still have no idea what the heck I'm doing, because everything I learned before doesn't necessarily apply with the new knowledge. That being said...
What you will learn is that there are many, many successful ways of maintaining a reef aquarium. Lots of unconventional ideas out there, and some folks still have no idea if/why certain things really work - that's a great thing and shows that the hobby is progressing positively. Where it gets confusing is when something is going wrong, and no one has an idea why. Which brings us to this point that @ichthyoid brings up:
There are pieces of that expense that make things easier for you (Auto Top Off, Temperature Controls) and there are others that *should* make things easier, but from all the posts I see, end up being a hassle for many folks (reactors, dosers, monitors, etc). Nothing would frustrate me more than to have the latest and greatest of things and the tank is still crashing even though I have ALLLLL the datas and ALLLLL the toys
My recommendation is design your system out, and get the necessary components. IMHO the non-negotiables living in Georgia:
- Sump
- Oversized Skimmer
- Auto Top Off system
- Temperature Controller
As all the others have said above, this forum and community are amazing and a critical component of my early success restarting this tank in August. Ask away.
What you will learn is that there are many, many successful ways of maintaining a reef aquarium. Lots of unconventional ideas out there, and some folks still have no idea if/why certain things really work - that's a great thing and shows that the hobby is progressing positively. Where it gets confusing is when something is going wrong, and no one has an idea why. Which brings us to this point that @ichthyoid brings up:
There are pieces of that expense that make things easier for you (Auto Top Off, Temperature Controls) and there are others that *should* make things easier, but from all the posts I see, end up being a hassle for many folks (reactors, dosers, monitors, etc). Nothing would frustrate me more than to have the latest and greatest of things and the tank is still crashing even though I have ALLLLL the datas and ALLLLL the toys
My recommendation is design your system out, and get the necessary components. IMHO the non-negotiables living in Georgia:
- Sump
- Oversized Skimmer
- Auto Top Off system
- Temperature Controller
As all the others have said above, this forum and community are amazing and a critical component of my early success restarting this tank in August. Ask away.
The corals are one thing but what does the rest of the system include? What size is the tank? It might be a really good option if you're looking for a total package but the hardware that comes with it is more important than the livestock. If you buy the whole thing, there wouldn't be much of a "Cycle" but for a new hobbyist, the cycle can be a great time to read and get caught up on the ins and outs of the hobby. Of course I'm assuming this would be your fist saltwater setup and could be totally wrong in that.
40g, only a sump.
Yes it'd be my first. Not much hardware, but kessel lights. Dont know what brand heater and filtration. This one wouldn't need cycling.
Thanks for taking the time to comment. Whys the skimmer a must? Ive been told for others that it may not be.My only piece of advice is read, read, read, read, read. There is a wealth of information on this site and many other forums. I left this hobby 15 years ago and it changed so incredibly much I spent three months catching back up on all the changes. I still have no idea what the heck I'm doing, because everything I learned before doesn't necessarily apply with the new knowledge. That being said...
What you will learn is that there are many, many successful ways of maintaining a reef aquarium. Lots of unconventional ideas out there, and some folks still have no idea if/why certain things really work - that's a great thing and shows that the hobby is progressing positively. Where it gets confusing is when something is going wrong, and no one has an idea why. Which brings us to this point that @ichthyoid brings up:
There are pieces of that expense that make things easier for you (Auto Top Off, Temperature Controls) and there are others that *should* make things easier, but from all the posts I see, end up being a hassle for many folks (reactors, dosers, monitors, etc). Nothing would frustrate me more than to have the latest and greatest of things and the tank is still crashing even though I have ALLLLL the datas and ALLLLL the toys
My recommendation is design your system out, and get the necessary components. IMHO the non-negotiables living in Georgia:
- Sump
- Oversized Skimmer
- Auto Top Off system
- Temperature Controller
As all the others have said above, this forum and community are amazing and a critical component of my early success restarting this tank in August. Ask away.
