FarmChickSlim Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 In March I set up our tank, cycled and slowly added fish. Everything seems pretty stable and ready for corals. Opinions on where to start? Helpful resources? Any advice you wish you would have known starting out? Thanks in advance! I appreciate all the help I've received here! You all are awesome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Things I wish I had known. I would have never added kenya tree or xenia because they overgrow the tank very quickly. They grow like weeds. Green star polyps are okay if you keep them on a separate rock so they also do not overgrow your tank. Make sure you dip all of your corals. Usually softies are a good start or hardier lps for a new tank. Things that look nice that tend to do well for a beginner are frogspawn, hammer coral, candy canes and duncans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 What are you end goals? sps, lps, softies? A mix? do you have the ability to test your alk, calcium, and magnesium? Phosphates, things like that? If youre near oregon city im sure i could cut you some beginner corals if youd like. Id suggest a good test kit, then you will know where your levels are and can find issues if you ever run into them, which its guaranteed you will at some point lol nature of the hobby. If youre planning on keeping mainly softies and zoas, you have much more wiggle room, lps and sps are not nearly as forgiving. What is your setup? Size, lights, etc. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 What are you end goals? sps, lps, softies? A mix? do you have the ability to test your alk, calcium, and magnesium? Phosphates, things like that? If youre near oregon city im sure i could cut you some beginner corals if youd like. Id suggest a good test kit, then you will know where your levels are and can find issues if you ever run into them, which its guaranteed you will at some point lol nature of the hobby. If youre planning on keeping mainly softies and zoas, you have much more wiggle room, lps and sps are not nearly as forgiving. What is your setup? Size, lights, etc. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk I think PowderBlue said it right. Have an end goal in mind. The path your tank takes really depends on your willingness to test, monitor and care for certain animals. Even the equipment depends on the type of animals in the tank. Large Polyped Stony coral are great places to start. I don't think it would be a bad idea to head to a local fish store and just start looking around. Start looking at the type of corals you want and design the system around them. Also, talk to the owner. They always have wisdom to give. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Patience is the key to this hobby. Start out slow don't over do it, your not going to have Tank of the month within your first year so don't drop a ton of money on filling your tank in an attempt. There are 3 primary groups LP/Softies/SPS I would start out with LPS & Softies so you can focus more on getting the parameters down and learning to hold them stable without having the additional stress of trying to figure out lighting. Xenia is a weed, avoid it like the plague. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmChickSlim Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 What are you end goals? sps, lps, softies? A mix? do you have the ability to test your alk, calcium, and magnesium? Phosphates, things like that? If youre near oregon city im sure i could cut you some beginner corals if youd like. Id suggest a good test kit, then you will know where your levels are and can find issues if you ever run into them, which its guaranteed you will at some point lol nature of the hobby. If youre planning on keeping mainly softies and zoas, you have much more wiggle room, lps and sps are not nearly as forgiving. What is your setup? Size, lights, etc. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Thank you! I went to a local store and bought a reef test kit yesterday. I was looking at mostly softies since they appeared to be the most forgiving. I'm not set on a specific look though, because I didn't know what was reasonable with my current skill level. Haha. My current setup is what I purchased from Matty for my daughter's birthday. 30 gallon IM tank and stand. Nanobox mini light. Ghost skimmer, rotating spin nozzle and additional wavemaker. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmChickSlim Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 Things I wish I had known. I would have never added kenya tree or xenia because they overgrow the tank very quickly. They grow like weeds. Green star polyps are okay if you keep them on a separate rock so they also do not overgrow your tank. Make sure you dip all of your corals. Usually softies are a good start or hardier lps for a new tank. Things that look nice that tend to do well for a beginner are frogspawn, hammer coral, candy canes and duncans. Thanks! I bought a coral dip yesterday and a reef test kit. I was also thinking of taking some water into my LFS so I could compare their results to mine and make sure I was testing correctly. I was looking at candy cane and hammer coral, so I'm glad I'm on the right track. I need something easy and not too expensive. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmChickSlim Posted May 18, 2016 Author Share Posted May 18, 2016 What are you end goals? sps, lps, softies? A mix? do you have the ability to test your alk, calcium, and magnesium? Phosphates, things like that? If youre near oregon city im sure i could cut you some beginner corals if youd like. Id suggest a good test kit, then you will know where your levels are and can find issues if you ever run into them, which its guaranteed you will at some point lol nature of the hobby. If youre planning on keeping mainly softies and zoas, you have much more wiggle room, lps and sps are not nearly as forgiving. What is your setup? Size, lights, etc. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Also, thanks for the offer of a couple starter Frags. We are farmers, and so when cherry harvest is over I was hoping to take my daughter down to the Portland zoo as a little family break. Maybe we could stop by and bring some cherries as a thank you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 My big lessons: - Don't use old live rock from a tear down without cooking it (arguable, but I had some pretty phosphate laden rock and it was misery) - Do the power off test for your sump. Make sure it doesn't overflow when the power is off. If it does, make changes. - Feed very little. That one deserves some explanation. A famous long term reef keeper local guy with a 370 gallon tank feeds 2 cubes of frozen per day and a half sheet of Nori on alternating days. His tank is spotless, the fish are healthy. Following his advice made a HUGE impact on my tank. So there are my recent lessons, so many in this hobby! All the best on your adventure this is THE BEST HOBBY ever, we can feel free to say that here among friends 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Thanks! I bought a coral dip yesterday and a reef test kit. I was also thinking of taking some water into my LFS so I could compare their results to mine and make sure I was testing correctly. I was looking at candy cane and hammer coral, so I'm glad I'm on the right track. I need something easy and not too expensive. Yes you are. Patience is also key like exodus said. Nothing good happens fast in reefing! Probably some of the biggest mistakes I have made were related to being to excited about all the new fish and corals and adding them too quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorW Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 Depending on your location I have MANY kinds of LPS and softies, I'll give you a couple free I've got mushrooms, 3 different colors of hammer coral, Duncan, clove polyps, a nice little rock with nuclear green Palythoas, yellow button polyps, some zoanthids etc. I have lots of $5 Frags too. You can text me 971-470-4424 Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G360AZ using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmChickSlim Posted May 19, 2016 Author Share Posted May 19, 2016 Depending on your location I have MANY kinds of LPS and softies, I'll give you a couple free I've got mushrooms, 3 different colors of hammer coral, Duncan, clove polyps, a nice little rock with nuclear green Palythoas, yellow button polyps, some zoanthids etc. I have lots of $5 Frags too. You can text me 971-470-4424 Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G360AZ using Tapatalk Sounds great! We live in Central WA but I'm hoping once cherry harvest is done we can make a trip down to Portland to take my daughter to the zoo and get away! I'm not sure where you are located? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadySaber Posted May 19, 2016 Share Posted May 19, 2016 I will hit you up my my tank is ready too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.