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what to look for?

J

jaynduke

I have a 72bow reef tank going with a few mushrooms and a couple fish in it.

I was wondering for the future what kind of corals i could add. looking for something that is fairly easy to care for. i do have Mh lighting. i like the look of zoa's, just not sure about what i should or shouldn't add. just trying to get some ideas and any links to pictures would be appreciated.

fish are: yellow tang, 2 clownfish, blue angel i think. and 1 other small one i don't know the name of.

thanks, Jay
 
C

concept3

Guest
oooh oooh ooooh I know I know

Montipora are very forgiving species of SPS. You can get them in branching forms or plating forms which are the most common and the cheapest in the trade. The branch like montiporas are digitatas and the plating variations are capricornis. There are others like nodosas and vermiculatas etc etc, but let's not go into those as they are harder (and also more expensive)to keep. These guys like decent water flow, but as with most corals prefer indirect and surging water flow.

As far as LPS go, you can try the branching hammers, open brain corals and similar family types. They need to be fed from time to time, and they will provide you with viewing enjoyment during feeding. These guys like the SPS, have a stony skeletal deposit, so keep your Calcium levels and alkalinity in check for maximum growth and well being. These guys prefer to live in mid to bottom levels of the tank and require a little less water flow compared to SPS.

Now, softies are apparently the easiest to keep of the bunch. Just keep in mind though, that most softies do emit some kind of toxin that prevent other corals from encroaching too close. SPS in particular don't like living too close to softies and you will notice that in a natural reef, they are separated by zones on the reef crest. I know of a few fellow reef keepers who are dedicated softie keepers and use Carbon on a regular basis to lower the toxicity of their water. I believe zoos and palys are considered in this group, and as long as you keep your water changes in check, a mixed reef would give you the most enjoyment...
 
J

jaynduke

so when you say they use carbon would that be a reference to some sort of carbon filter? forgive my newbness. i thought all tanks had carbon in them.
 
C

concept3

Guest
well, activated carbon placed in a bag in your sump or canister filter will suffice. Otherwise, they make carbon filter pads that you can stick in one of them hang-on-the back filters.

Ask away, we all try to help, we were all newbies once.
 
J

jaynduke

alright so i'm good on the carbon since i have a cabon canister and a phosban one also. which my jedi master has trained me to clean and change out every 3 weeks. wish i could make the meeting this month but unfortunately have to work. will try for the next one though. thanks for the help merv.
 
C

concept3

Guest
clam, yes definitely. Anemone- just consider its neighbors. Anemones like to move around until they find a spot they like.
 
J

jaynduke

ok so i got some monticap , elkhorn, kenya tree, and a frag of pinkbirds nest.

here are my troubles.

all of them came loose from the frag disk and i used super glue gel. so i wedged the kenya tree into a crevice and it is now missing for over a week. maybe it shrunk itself back down deeper into the crevice, but i don't see it.

monticap is on a disk on bottom of tank and looks like it is starting to turn white..

elkhorn came loose from it's rock that it was already on when i got it, so i have that in a crevice somewhere and looks to be getting a darker brown.

and last but now least the pink bird nest frag seems to be doing fine on bottome of tank.

ph 8.38
nitrate=2ppm
phosphate=0ppm
calcium=400
magnesium=1200

everything else in tank looks good.
 
M

mladencovic

jaynduke said:
ok so i got some monticap , elkhorn, kenya tree, and a frag of pinkbirds nest.

here are my troubles.

all of them came loose from the frag disk and i used super glue gel. so i wedged the kenya tree into a crevice and it is now missing for over a week. maybe it shrunk itself back down deeper into the crevice, but i don't see it.

monticap is on a disk on bottom of tank and looks like it is starting to turn white..

elkhorn came loose from it's rock that it was already on when i got it, so i have that in a crevice somewhere and looks to be getting a darker brown.

and last but now least the pink bird nest frag seems to be doing fine on bottome of tank.

ph 8.38
nitrate=2ppm
phosphate=0ppm
calcium=400
magnesium=1200

everything else in tank looks good.
Click to expand...

Come by for a few more frags of Kenya tree. I still owe you 10$ :)

If the Monti dies off completely, i will give you another frag. Is it turning white all over, on the edges or where it is in contact with the rock? It could be hurt from the "mounting" (if you pressed it with the finger or it is reacting to the glue, etc). If the elkhorn is not bleaching in its particular spot, place monti there as well (even if only temporarily).

Elkhorn, given normal situation, will nicely bind to the rock by itself in a matter of a week or two.
 
J

jaynduke

monti seems to be turning white where the glue is.

so as long as the elkhorn doesn't turn white it's ok? if this is the case then it's good. thanks.
 
M

mladencovic

jaynduke said:
monti seems to be turning white where the glue is.

so as long as the elkhorn doesn't turn white it's ok? if this is the case then it's good. thanks.
Click to expand...

What I call monti is Montipora capricornus (often called cap), and the elkhorn is Montipora hirisuta . They are both in the same family and they require very similar conditions (light, flow, etc), so whatever works for elkhorn will work for cap as well. Give cap a bit of time to stabilize and recover.
 
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