So I am trying to get into keeping coral. I have read and read and I see people talking about dosing this and that. My thing is I don't even really know what to test for. What are the top things that need to be tested for in order to keep any coral. I have searched it numerous ways in google and all I really get is like 10 easy corals for beginners. Or easy to keep corals for beginners. My thing is I don't want to just throw one in and see what happens. I want it to survive and grow. Can anyone give me some insight?
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What should I be testing for in order to keep corals
- Thread starter Gsxkid
- Start date
You'll want to test and supplement Ca and alk on a daily basis until you know a steady daily dose for each, then dose daily and test about weekly. Same with Mg, but it gets used up much more slowly so you can start with weekly and work it out to monthly.
Also salinity needs to be kept in the correct range for corals, best to test with a good refractometer.
Anything else is probably best, easiest, and cheapest to keep in check with a regular water change routine. 25% monthly would be great (think cheap insurance against problems), but you can certainly get away with less.
Also salinity needs to be kept in the correct range for corals, best to test with a good refractometer.
Anything else is probably best, easiest, and cheapest to keep in check with a regular water change routine. 25% monthly would be great (think cheap insurance against problems), but you can certainly get away with less.
Steviereefs
Non-member
Start with buying test kits that you can pick up at your local fish store.
A easy to use test kit for beginners are API reef master test kit. It includes phosphate, calcium, alkalinity, and nitrate tests, if your tank is new, than you should also consider buying two other test that are crucial for new tanks, they are nitrite, and ammonia. If either of these two chemicals are present in your tank then coral and fish will not survive.
Here is what the app test kit looks like.
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A easy to use test kit for beginners are API reef master test kit. It includes phosphate, calcium, alkalinity, and nitrate tests, if your tank is new, than you should also consider buying two other test that are crucial for new tanks, they are nitrite, and ammonia. If either of these two chemicals are present in your tank then coral and fish will not survive.
Here is what the app test kit looks like.
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Steviereefs
Non-member
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Very good suggestions on previous postings. But i would like to ask 2 questions :
Do you already have a marine fish tank and you want to add corals?
From your readings, what corals would like to have ?
First question is to understand what you have and background knowledge on marine tanks.
Second question will define the level of dedication and details. Example , Soft Corals are the easiest followed by LPS. SPS are a little bit more complicated. Example, you mentioned having an ATO. Yes, is very nice and comfortable to have one, but it is almost a must with SPS and not so important with Softies. With softies I was replenishing the evaporated water at my return from work. Never needed an ATO, if you remember to replenish the water every day. With SPS, i will not risk to do that, you can, but i will not do it (nothing is written in stone), so an ATO is very useful.
Cheers
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your patience ..........
William
Non-member
Everybody's got an opinion,here's mine. I have been doing this for 18 months.
Make sure your lights are good enough to grow coral.
Get a good refractometer & calibration fluid to check your salinity. I also like Salifert test kits for Alkalinity,Calcium, Magnesium, I also test for phosphate & nitrate too as I have an algae issue I have been working through. Get a good skimmer if you're keeping fish too.
10% weekly or biweekly water changes with Rodi water & good salt like reef crystals or a dozen others is helpful. You may not need to dose anything depending on your testing.
Go visit dz6t as he has a lot of starter coral, is honest, and generally a good guy & will get you pointed in the right direction.
I also recommend reading some of Randy Holmes Farley's articles at reef keeping.com
Good luck!
Steviereefs
Non-member
Hi Daniel,
The ATO is a awesome thing to have but it's not a absolute necessity to keep sps. I had a 75 gallon and topped off 3/4 to 1 gallon of water per day and the sps were fine. But I like my pie and eat it to, if you have or get a ATO then great. But don't worry if you have to top off every day manually, it's no big deal, you just have to be consistent with it and if you are considering coral then you have to be that way anyways.
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You are correct !!!!
As I wrote : " nothing is writen in stone " . And i also wrote " is almost a must " .......i didnt wrote " you must have "
I also wrote ....." Never needed an ATO, if you remember to replenish the water every day. With SPS, i will not risk to do that, you can, but i will not do it"
Cheers !!
Daniel
Ps: my bla bla was oriented to " depending of what corals you want, the equipment you buy " or what you dose or.... etc.
Example : when i was keeping softies and/or LPS i never measured anything, just strictly WC every weekend. Now that i am trying to keep SPS, i am dosing , measuring Alk, Ca , the lights are different ....... etc.
Bottom line...... " this is me " ....others do different.
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Don't mind the two different color bulbs. I had one and bought the other one long story short I got the wrong K rating. The lights are 175w MH. I need to order another one now. The tank is 96x18x18 it's around 135 gallons and I'm using a 55 for a sump refugium. I have a decent size skimmer on there. I forget the make.I purchased an RODI and set it up with that. I have a mag18 I am using for circulation.
The coral I have always wanted to keep is Xenia. I have had saltwater tanks with live rock and fish. I have tried to buy coral in the past but I never had an RODi. Everyone always said without running rodi I would have a hard time.
The coral I have always wanted to keep is Xenia. I have had saltwater tanks with live rock and fish. I have tried to buy coral in the past but I never had an RODi. Everyone always said without running rodi I would have a hard time.
That's a big tank. Nice landscaping and I love tangs.
Having that tank, if you do not have experience with corals, my suggestion will be to start with some nice softcorals. Then add some LPS and something like a montipora (SPS). Not too many just a few, to start to test your conditions. First some softies, watch them. Then the LPS and later the SPS. Keep 10-20% weekly water changes. You will not need to dose anything with a few corals. LPS and SPS plus coraline algae will use ALK. Wait some weeks and then start to do some Alk measurements.
Keep fish load small, as you have. You can add a couple more on that big tank.
Start easy..... weekly WCs will replenish all what you need at this start.
I wrote my previous posting at the same time as yours..... LOL.
Xenia are good nice corals, but they can be tricky. They can grow like crazy or they can die without you understanding why.
Get some pulsating Xenias....they are very pretty. I have. I have 2 small colonies (very small) in my fuge glass. We can take them together and glue them in a rock..... FREE for your start.
Now the part for what many will disagree. And I understand that. Here we go......
When I was living in Pembroke, Mass, I used during 4 years town tap water to keep a fully loaded 90G tank with Softies, LPS and a couple of Easy SPS. it was really full. I was mixing hot/cold water in the kitchen, adding a product to take the chloride, added Instant Ocean and using it right away, after a nice hand mixing and measuring the salinity.
As you see, nothing is written in stone.
But !!!! Please, being said that, having a RODI system will be the BEST OPTION !!!
If you do not have the budget for an RODI, you can use destile water (get it at the supermarket) or can get RODI water from one of the LFS.
When I was living in Pembroke, Mass, I used during 4 years town tap water to keep a fully loaded 90G tank with Softies, LPS and a couple of Easy SPS. it was really full. I was mixing hot/cold water in the kitchen, adding a product to take the chloride, added Instant Ocean and using it right away, after a nice hand mixing and measuring the salinity.
As you see, nothing is written in stone.
But !!!! Please, being said that, having a RODI system will be the BEST OPTION !!!
If you do not have the budget for an RODI, you can use destile water (get it at the supermarket) or can get RODI water from one of the LFS.
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Steviereefs
Non-member
Wow nice setup, it's alot bigger than I was expecting. nemodan made a good offer to hook you up with Xenia, you should try it out they are a good coral if you like them..
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Steviereefs
Non-member
When did you setup this system??
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