When to add coral and what kind?

[thbrewst]

My tank is now set-up and functional. The fish have been in there for ~5 days with seemingly no ill affects from the move (however I did lose a few, different story for a different day).

Anyway, after I adjust the aquascape I would like to try and add a few corals. I'm not sure what signs I need to wait for to think that the tank is 'stabilized' enough to add something. I'm not in a huge hurry, but am not sure what I signs I am waiting for.

2nd question, what is a good coral(s) to start with. I would prefer something colorful and/or something that has some movement in the current (like frog spawn or the like), but I am open to an suggestions.

3rd, should I look at starting with frags or should I get something more mature? Does maturity have anything to do with their ability to survive?

 

[jef4y]

For stability, have you been testing nitrate/nitrite/ammonia/phosphate/calcium/alkalinity/magnesium (and of course temp/ph/salinity)? Once they are stable and predictable I'd add some corals.

Frogspawn is a great starter coral. Easy to care for, very few special requirements, inexpensive and pretty.

As for small or large, I prefer a smaller colony. Something slightly larger than a tiny frag, but not a full-blown colony. A full blown colony gives more time before it's completely dead (depending on the coral), but it's a lot more expensive and has the ability to affect water parms more than a small coral. However, a single polyp is gone when it's gone, and if you have a small colony of say 20 polyps (zoas for example), you still have 19 to go if one kicks off.

Just my $.02. Hope it made sense.

 

[smallblock]

I'de start with some lps, just check like jeff said and make sure your params are in check, fish can handle other things that coral cant and vise versa. +1 to frogspawn, or candy cane

 

[thbrewst]

Stability has been fine so far, but being honest the tank has not been running long enough to imply that I have a legit sample of readings yet. My 'finger in the air' is that if things are still stable after a few more weeks then I would think that I have shown legit stability.

 

[rskillz]

As soon as my cycle ended, I threw in 3-4 corals (torch, hammer, frogspawn, zoas) and all four are still kicking and thriving. Go for some softies.