Posted by gerard on March 10, 2010 under Aquarium Info, Reef Info | 
Ok so your new to the saltwater aquarium hobby and now you want to start to build your reef and load it up with coral frags. That’s awesome! You are going to love it. But as with my “Top 5 fish for beginners” post I will also state here to take it slow.
Here’s what you shouldn’t do first. Go out and buy a 150W-250W metal halide or T5 lighting system for 300+ dollars so you can put some hard corals in your tank. If you have a basic setup with Power Compacts that is fine for soft corals. Let’s start with some soft corals and work our way up.
This list of coral’s all have a few things in common. They are all pretty hardy. As long as you keep your water parameters good, you shouldn’t have any issues. Just remember a couple things when it comes to care and food. Buy yourself a bottle of Seachem Reef Iodide (I have been putting about 1.5ML in my 29 gallon biocube 2 times a week for the past year) and a bottle Two Little Fishies Marine Snow. (I have been doing 1 capful 3 times a week in my 29 gallon biocube.)
These coral’s do not require calcium to live. They do not need high powered metal halide or T5 lighting. A stock 29 gallon biocube can support all these coral’s.
Do your water changes every 2 weeks and your coral will spread like wildfire. Take your time, work slowly until you feel comfortable with your corals. If they are thriving then great. Then you can work your way up to the hard corals and upgrade your lighting system.
Top 5 coral’s for beginners:
- Zoanthid’s
- Star Polyp’s
- Xenia
- Leather
- Mushroom Coral
Tags: coral frags, hard corals, iodide, lighting system, marine snow, metal halide, mushroom, polyp, power compacts, reef, soft corals, water parameters, xenia
Posted by gerard on October 22, 2009 under Products & Reviews |
I had to post this cause its such a sweet deal. Marine Depot is selling the 28Gallon JBJ nanocube with power compacts with the stand and free shipping for $299.99.
That is outstanding if you are in the market for a new aquarium right now. I just thought i’d throw it out there.
Posted by gerard on October 2, 2008 under Reef Info |
Zoanthids are my first foray into soft coral. I chose to start with them because they are very colorful and from what I hear, they are easy to take care of. While I am still waiting for them to grow, they supposedly grow rather rapidly.
A couple things you are going to want to make sure of are:
1. That you have enough light in your aquarium. If you have a nano aquarium and are running power compacts or metal halide’s you should be fine for these types of soft coral.
2. They do require phytoplankton for food so you should make sure you have that on hand as well. Usually you can buy that by the bottle at your local fish store.
3. Lastly you will want to check your iodine/iodide levels to make sure they are in safe ranges. I use Seachem’s Reef Iodide which is a safer alternative to iodine.
Other than that so far things are going well. My little frags are still going strong after 2 weeks. I’ll keep you all posted.
Buy at saltwaterfish.com.
Photo courtesy of saltwaterfish.com
Tags: aquarium, Coral, corals, fish store, fish tank, frags, iodide, iodine, marine fish, metal halide, nano aquarium, Nano Reef, phytoplankton, power compacts, reef, Saltwater Fish, saltwaterfish, seachem, soft coral, zoanthids, zoos
