# Would like to get started on some fancier corals but...



## goldfish (Nov 22, 2011)

Hi.

I've been lurking around this forum reading as much as I can and I have decided to go to another step in keeping corals.

Right now, I have some zoas, frogspawn, GSP and they seem to be doing okay under my T5s but only thing is that I'm not measuring anything and doing 15% water change each week.

I don't even know where I should start since it seems very complicated - I know that we are supposed to measure nitrates and phosphates as a start.

Can you provide maybe some info (or maybe links) on how to get started? Or share some of your experience? What test kits do you use or recommend?

Thanks


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

Test for calc, mag, and alk. Those are the three biggies.

Water changes should look after the rest. Providing you are not dropping too much food, or inadequate filtering etc.

I have a hanna phos test kit too. More for my knowledge, not that I am loosing sleep over the results. I keep near zero running gfo.

Posted with my Xperia, using Tapatalk 2


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## Tim (Dec 11, 2011)

goldfish said:


> Hi.
> 
> I've been lurking around this forum reading as much as I can and I have decided to go to another step in keeping corals.
> 
> ...


Hi,

I started out just like you! All I did was target the hardier corals that don't need high light nor perfect water. My nitrates are around 10. Never tested for any of the calciums alk etc... I spoke to the guy at NAFB and he told me not to worry because 10% water chabge a week was more than enough to replace what was consumed as long as I didn't go overboard with the corals that built calcium skeletons.

I started with a variety of mushrooms, hammer, zoas, kenya tree

I have been slowly branching out, and have been only buying small (inexpensive) frags from various members here. I now have Australian symposium (looks awesome) 5 lord acans, some sort of favia found in a frag tank at NAFB that has doubled in size in 5 months, green napthea and soemthing else I am not sure what it is  My tank seems to be handling everything and I am slowly learning and gaining experience for when I want to get into the more expensive corals and expensive lighting systems. Baby steps.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

When I started out, after I was satisfied with my success on the various "beginner" softies, I tried a few others with good success:

-Riccordea (Try getting them from Alex (Explor3r)
-Indonesian Elegance LPS (Doesn't need a ton of light, flow, or feeding)
-Birdsnest, fast-growing and hardy SPS (I have some frags)

I don't test any of my levels. Maybe I should. But everything is healthy, coloured nicely, and growing. System is as stable as a rock. I dose a bit of calcium supplement when I feel like it. Kent Marine also makes a great supplement called Essential Reef Elements that I had great success with. But I've since run out and not bothered to buy more yet.


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

Start testing, This way you know WHAT you cant house.

I test Cal/Alk/PH.

PH once a week and Alk/Cal every second week.

20 gallon a week water change.


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## goldfish (Nov 22, 2011)

Thanks guys for your responses.

So it looks like the most important things to test is Mag/Ca/Alka and then PH.

If one of them is low, can you buy separate supplements just to raise it to a desired target level?


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## zk4444 (Mar 8, 2012)

Use the below as general guideline when testing your water parameters -- in my opinion ALL of them are equally important:

Calcium: 380-450 ppm
Alkalinity: 2.5-4 meq/L, 7-11 dKH
Salinity: 35ppt or SG of 1.024-1.026
Temperature: 77-83 F
pH: 7.8 - 8.3
Magnesium: 1250-1350ppm
Phosphate: Should be undetectable
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate: Should be undetectable, unless cycling.

http://www.brettsreef.com/marine-aquarium-water-parameters/

.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Just thought I'd chime in with what I test... I don't have any "fancy" corals (and haven't tried yet as my tank is pretty full of beginner corals) but I do have a crocea clam, and they are supposed to be a more challenging invert.

-calcium
-pH
-Nitrate
-iodide
-phosphate
-alkalinity

If I was to add another test now, it would be magnesium.

When I first started testing, after about 2 months or more in, I found that my ph was very low. So I used the info on the Randy Holmes-Farley site 
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry
and also the advice of a more advanced GTAA reef-keeper, to make and dose sodium carbonate. To make it, I bake sodium bicarbonate (baking soda). One batch lasts me many months in my 35 gallon tank. It basically raises and maintains pH, and seems to work better than sodium bicarbonate, and now I mix the sodium carbonate with water in an old grolsh beer bottle and add a swig to water that I'm mixing for water changes. It's not carefully measured. Just a swig of buffering power. I no longer have pH problems.

I don't test as often as I think I should, and so sometimes I'm surprised to find that, for instance I found recently, that my calcium is lower than it should be. In these cases, I'll start to dose calcium occasionally, like once a day or once every other day the recommended dosage on the bottle until it is back in the good range. My iodide was also a bit low recently and so I've also been dosing that... again at the recommended dosage on the bottle, and once a day or every few days. I have been using seachem aquavitro calcification product and seachem aquavitro vibrance (for iodide). I got this brand because it was cheap when I wanted it (may have been on sale)

So that's what I do. And it works for me, my corals and my clam have looked great for a long time, and grow. The only inverts I've lost have been a blastomussa (I gave it too much light and that killed it) and xenia does not do well in my tank. I still don't know if this is because of chemical warfare with my other softies or if it is from low iodide.

I've not had any readings out of normal range for the other things I test. alk is good, nitrate and phosphate are always zero.

One of the reasons I haven't tried any SPS is because I don't use RO/DI water. However, I think that perhaps a piece of birdsnest or a montipora might just do okay. One day.

Good luck deciding on your next step.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Test like so:

In the beginning, test:
Nitrate

You can probably keep zoas, mushrooms (yuma, ricordea, etc), xenia and leathers despite higher (<10ppm) nitrates.

If you can consistently keep nitrates low (<5ppm), you're probably ready to keep some more challenging corals.

Start with some LPS like frogspawns, hammers, torches, donughts, etc. You can even try some of the less demanding montiporas (digitatas, caps).

Then start testing:
Calcium
Alkalinity

If you can keep them in a stable range (between 300 - 500 ppm for Calcium, 6-9 dKh for Alkalinity), you're probably ready for the harder stuff like Small Polyp Scleractinian (SPS) corals. 

Finally after probably 6-9 months, you'll be able to handle the stability needed to keep more difficult corals. 

At this point, you'll want to test Magnesium to make sure it's in an optimal range. Mg isn't usually a concern unless you have a lot of stony corals sucking it out of the water.

By the end, you'll probably only regularly testing for 

calcium (weekly-monthly)
alkalinity (weekly-monthly)
magnesium (monthly)
phosphate (monthly-bimonthly)
nitrates (monthly-bimonthly)

I wouldn't ever worry about pH unless you're having consistent trouble that can't be explained by other troubleshooting tips. pH is hard to control and will swing throughout the day and depending on external factors from the tank (ie, number of people in the same room as the tank).


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