Questions

Piggy

Piggy

Reef enthusiast
Been doing a lot of reading on corals. So I've got a few questions. Lets start with lighting. What is considered low,moderate, and bright? Then water current what is considered low, moderate, or high? Can you put as much coral as you want in the tank? Does it count in the inch rule or is that just for fish? That's about it for now.
 
Low= Softies
Moderate= LPS/Zoas
Bright=SPS

As far as the flow, some corals requiar strong flow and some corals don't.

Just make sure the different species of corals aren't touching.
 
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there is no inch per gallon with corals. What matters is the lighting (go with T-5s), and the parameters. Corals needs good quality water. They also need correct levels of calcium and alkalinity. guess that moderate flow is good for all corals. place SPS on top, most LPS in the middle and softies on the sand bed, as a general rule, although soem LPS love the sandbed like plates, goniaporas and aleviaporas. Just a quick rule of thumb.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
mushrooms can touch other mushrooms and zoas can touch other zoas and tend not to sting each other to death. No SPS or LPS corals can touch without stinging themselves to death.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
When it says low current does that mean no coral movement? Moderate means a little bit movement? High like a sandstorm?
 
low means a little movement, like a breeze. moderate means regular flow, middle of the road, strong current means in front of the powerhead, although I have never found a coral that needs that much movement. Most do great in moderate current.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
This is how I consider light

(Low)Normal Output Florescents
Good for almost nothing except maybe mushrooms(except ricordea) and maybe zoos,palys and yellow polyps.Also non-photosynthetic corals such as sun corals,chili and dendros which aren't dependent on light are ideal.Some of the non-photosynthetic needs lots of feeding and are generally considered very difficult so reseach first.

(Moderate)Compact Florescents or Power Compacts/Normal Output T5
Good for soft corals and many LPS.Some LPS that does best on the sand bed may not do well since PC has poor PAR and penetration ability.

(Moderate High)VHO and T5-HO
Good for all softies and LPS corals.I believe SPS and clams can be kept but should be placed higher up.There are a few sps that needs more intense lighting but I'm unsure how well they will do.

(High or Intense)T5-HO(individual reflectors)/T5-VHO/Metal Halides
Unlimited depending on placement and depth of tank.

Here's is an example but not always the rule.If a coral is listed as moderate...place it in the upper half under PC's,anywhere under T5-HO and the lower half under metal halides.

Like others said,corals don't count with that rule.You can stock how much you like.
 
Dr Marco said:
mushrooms can touch other mushrooms and zoas can touch other zoas and tend not to sting each other to death. No SPS or LPS corals can touch without stinging themselves to death.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
Click to expand...

Question: Does this mean a SPS can't touch another SPS? LPS can't touch a LPS? SPS can't touch a LPS?
 
It depends. I've seen plenty of tanks where the SPS has grown so thick that they are all touching each other.

The point is to space corals out to give them room to grow and spread. Eventually, if they grow really big, you will have to frag and trim them.
 
Most LPS corals are more aggressive than SPS,So the SPS will be stung and die about 90% of the time.
LPS corals really should not be allowed to touch any thing including another LPS.
Most softies wont hurt anything unless they go into a chemical war.
 
SPS are more fragile than LPS and softies. It is just a good piece of practice to not have them touch each other at all. Many corals take time to grow and so you will not have a huge problem in 2 months. stock nicely and evenly and when you are ready to frag them, you can make a bit of fish food money at your local LFS. Every three months, I return LR rubble with my "famous green-striped mushrooms" and get about $18 per rock worth of credit. I soon will be able to cut my green nepthia and others too. It is a lot of fun.

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 
Seeing I started this question thread I'm going to use it for future questions. So I have a few more.

Is it possible not to have enough algea for all your snails? I noticed the last few days a couple of my snails have died. Is there any thing you can feed them? I really don't see any green algea on my rocks or glass.

Next question. I noticed that my purple algea has disappeared. My calcium is 430 last time I checked. I have very little if any. How can I get more to grow?

Last question this time around. Sure they'll be more
When is the best time to test your water? Should you wait until the lights have been on awhile?
 
You can run out of food for your snails. You can use dried seaweed sheets to supplement their feeding. If you think you have too many, take some back to the store.

Coralline can disappear. Make sure your alkalinity and pH are good. Have you changed lights recently?

I don't think it really matters when you test your water. Just remember that pH tends to drop at night and take that into account.
 
I don't mind stroking Biffs ego. Everyone needs a boost every once in a while. Hell, she has not had a place to sleep for days and just barely got a bed. Once she is back on her feet, I will riddle her ego again. Just trying to be sensitive.

I also like to be nice to you, Yote, since it is hunting season, afterall, and you probably own something that could reach Utah if I were to piss you off.....:bowdown:

-Dr Marco :sfish:
 

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