Starter Corals

[Marcus K]

I am interested in getting into Corals and was wondering what are some good starters for a beginner. My tank has been up for almost a year as a FOWLR. My goal would be to get into some Clams eventually. I have added a Yellow Polyp frag sofar that is doing well. I am interested in the Zoos listed on CanadianReef.com. Would these be a good started into the world of Corals? My lighting consists of four 55watt PC(three 50/50 and one 10K) soon to be upgrading to MH 250W 10K. The tank is a 90gal with a ammiracle sump running bioballs and a insump Seaclone skimmer. I have about twenty pounds of lava and ten pounds of Live Rock( ten bucks a pound locally ). Other than that I run a UV sterilizer all the time. I have a Yellow Tang, four Green Chromis, Diadema Dotty, False Percula, Maroon Clown, Cleaner Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, Hermit Crabs, Turbo's, Bumble Bee's, Astrea's,Ceriths, and a large Feather Duster. Will I have to use additives, if so what is recommended? Thanks for your time, I hope I have supplied enough info. Thanks

Marcus

[EmilyB]

Originally Posted by Marcus K

I am interested in getting into Corals and was wondering what are some good starters for a beginner. My tank has been up for almost a year as a FOWLR. My goal would be to get into some Clams eventually. I have added a Yellow Polyp frag sofar that is doing well. I am interested in the Zoos listed on CanadianReef.com. Would these be a good started into the world of Corals? My lighting consists of four 55watt PC(three 50/50 and one 10K) soon to be upgrading to MH 250W 10K. The tank is a 90gal with a ammiracle sump running bioballs and a insump Seaclone skimmer. I have about twenty pounds of lava and ten pounds of Live Rock( ten bucks a pound locally ). Other than that I run a UV sterilizer all the time. I have a Yellow Tang, four Green Chromis, Diadema Dotty, False Percula, Maroon Clown, Cleaner Shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, Hermit Crabs, Turbo's, Bumble Bee's, Astrea's,Ceriths, and a large Feather Duster. Will I have to use additives, if so what is recommended? Thanks for your time, I hope I have supplied enough info. Thanks

Marcus

Zoos are great, but some of them can be picky too. If I were you, I would look to increasing your live rock, and getting a better skimmer.

There are lots of corals that can do well with varying light levels. Try leathers, mushrooms, green star polyps to begin with.

Regular water changes can do wonders for the additives you mention. The bottled additives are largely snake oil.

Doing your Ca and Alk tests will help you eventually arrive at clams down the road. AT that point, or sooner, you might consider two part Ca/Alk additions or a reactor.

PS, ditch the bumblebees, they are carnivores..

Hopefully you don't use Regina tapwater......

[BCOrchidGuy]

Marcus, I've heard.. that lava rock can be heavy in Iron, just something to keep in mind. You may be best to ditch the lava rock and buy a box or two of base rock from J&L, it will colonize fairly well. With that base rock and the live rock you've got, get some pods etc from the LFS and you'll be well on your way.
Starter corals, well, I'd say colt corals, Xenia, Anthellia, some of the leathers. Your lighting plan sounds great, those 250s will be nice for the clams, I just heard that the bumble bees aren't reef safe from Jack, I didn't know that so like Emily says, ... ditch em.
Additives, I like Kent and Seachem but, some people don't, it's a personal taste thing I think. I'd not add additives just because someone tells you to though, test your water often, until you've got lots of hard corals you're Ca Alk shouldn't change alot. If you do find your Ca and Alk are being used up I like the Kent Liquid reactor, it's a single bottle two part and it works well and is easy to use.

Doug

[Quinn]

I did a bit of research on these mysterious snails. Apparently the animal is listed under two names, it appears the first is correct: Engina mendicaria and Pusiostoma mendicaria. The WWM crew refer to them as strictly carnivorous - whether this means they are scavengers or true predators I am unsure. However, I did find an article in The Journal of Zoology referring to the prey of Engina armillata (Gastropoda: Buccinidae) being polychaetes, that is, worms [1]. Perhaps it is safe to say they may be a risk in a reef tank, compromising one's sand bed and the microfauna that populate it. It is unfortunate that so many retailers list them as reef-safe.

[1] http://journals.cambridge.org/bin/bl...1005&REQAUTH=0

[BCOrchidGuy]

I know of ONE local retailer that is advertising them as
"A striking addition to your invertebrate clean up crew.

These snails are small (1/2") detritus eaters. Although they will climb on your rock and aquarium glass, they prefer to stay in the sand bed and scavenge for left over waste that was missed by other custodian members.

We recommend adding approximately 1-2 Bumble Bee Snails for every 2 gallons of aquarium volume. "

That's being recommended as part of a reef clean up crew.

Doug

[Quinn]

Yup, I'm familiar with that one. A few of the big American online retailers also list them as reef-safe.

[BCOrchidGuy]

as does almost everyone with Blue legged hermit crabs.

Doug

[Quinn]

It's the scarlets that are supposed to be the safest right? Not that any crab ever comes with a guarantee...

[BCOrchidGuy]

Quinn, I've got a scarlet and I haven't had any issues with it, it even leaves my snails alone.

Doug

[Marcus K]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. The Bumble Bees spend most of thier time on the rocks eating. One of them had a white cocoon like thing on its but for the longest time which I ignored for some reason. Yesterday I was trying a RedSea skimmer that was lent to me with the option to purchase if I liked it with poor results so I reinstalled my Seaclone and notice three of the white cocoon like things stuck to the inside of the skimmer tube.
As for the lava rock I have heard that it is not the best thing to have, possible high in silicates. I do plan on changing but Live Rock is 10bucks locally. I have not looked into J&L's base rock which might be worth while.
For water I do not use local water, I have been getting water from Safeway out of the Culligan machine. I have a RO/DI on wish list for next X-mass.

I will see if anyone wants my bumble bees, too bad they are not worth a Aqua C skimmer in trade.

Thanks again.

Marcus