could it be that soft and other corals are less optimal choice for first first few months of reef tank?

Ballyhoo · Jun 18, 2024

maybe I shouldn't have added so many sorry corals, except a couple torches in my new reef tank to begin with after the initial cycle. i'm constantly having to watch some like a hawk, and use the turkey baster to swoosh out the stringy flaggelates, It just seems like chemical balance and immaturity is difficult for corals to thrive in the beginning, particularly with the ugly phase, different rises of various cyano and dyno appearances interfering with coral growth. it's better to be patient and wait several months before adding coral? I mean it's just money though, or delicate species gone to waste or not thriving. Still trying to wrap my head around what happens typically to mixed reefer after that initial cycle, then the ugly phase and then over the course of a year.
what will it take to get sponge, and Coraline and a totally stable nice tank... in my case I have a 42 gallon plus a sump system w all the bells and whistles and can throw as much money out as I want, but so many choices and more choices than patience.
what to do, copepods, microfactor7, micro, factor clean, PNB, etc. etc. phyto, oyster sperm, Red Sea reef three and one or AB, etc., etc.

Reef_at_Sea · Jun 18, 2024

In my opinion a stable tank = not tampering too much with it.
Make sure your test values are good, good lighting, good flow, weekly maintenance & just let it be.
But then again, a new tank doesn't get actual stable in the first year or so...

You say you have to use a turkey blaster to help corals shed? try increasing flow or moving them to higher flow areas?

The thing that helped me alot with algea was snails, lots of different snails.

Northern Flicker · Jun 18, 2024

Honestly, they are just really dramatic.

One thing that caught my eye is you are doing a lot - I kept soft coral in a tank with a weak incandescent bulb and a bubbler out of necesssity for a while....they don't need much. Some thrive with more flow (sarcos), some thrive with less (cloves), but they are all very adaptable.

If your torches are thriving but your softies aren't, I'd be wondering if:

1. PAR too high?
2. Too much flow?
3. Water too clean?

Ballyhoo · Jun 18, 2024

I am humbled by the complexity of this hobby and exuberated by it. perhaps I have posted a bit arrogantly and I realized it's much bigger than me. and you're saying simple, but even in the simpleness it is complex.

smitten with ocean life · Jun 18, 2024

wow! money thats not an issue! cant say that im in the same boat as you!

but, i would say torches probably are going to be difficult for beginner tank...

Gumbies R Us · Jun 18, 2024

Torches can be fickle. I had one torch that was doing amazing, then started to be weird and not good, and now it's doing well again.

Ballyhoo · Jun 18, 2024

if someone could refer back to Ppost number two, the mention of adding snails. I've added a few snails, I got a couple big Mexican turbos and a few smaller ones. But do snails eat dyano flagellates ? I have a conche and I think I see it occasionally eating some. I'm having issues either with dynos or brown cyano. it's just the stringy stuff that has no real mass but still makes its way into coral and ticks them off. with this stuff, there's a direct relationship between the amount of LED, and the amount of this stringy dyno or cyno growth. I don't even think it can be called algae because algae implies something which has mass to it . I would like to use my LEDs because I can tell my coral like it. But more lights, and the more of his stringy stuff. Maybe i will just embrace the ugly phase.

19Mateo83 · Jun 18, 2024

Ballyhoo said:
maybe I shouldn't have added so many sorry corals, except a couple torches in my new reef tank to begin with after the initial cycle. i'm constantly having to watch some like a hawk, and use the turkey baster to swoosh out the stringy flaggelates, It just seems like chemical balance and immaturity is difficult for corals to thrive in the beginning, particularly with the ugly phase, different rises of various cyano and dyno appearances interfering with coral growth. it's better to be patient and wait several months before adding coral? I mean it's just money though, or delicate species gone to waste or not thriving. Still trying to wrap my head around what happens typically to mixed reefer after that initial cycle, then the ugly phase and then over the course of a year.
what will it take to get sponge, and Coraline and a totally stable nice tank... in my case I have a 42 gallon plus a sump system w all the bells and whistles and can throw as much money out as I want, but so many choices and more choices than patience.
what to do, copepods, microfactor7, micro, factor clean, PNB, etc. etc. phyto, oyster sperm, Red Sea reef three and one or AB, etc., etc.

I documented my complete first year in my build thread and on my youtube channel if you want to check it out.

Build Thread - Mateo’s Seapora 50 build

I am planning on upgrading my 14g AIO cube to a Seapora 50g (36x18x18) This will be a 100% diy stand, sump and canopy system. I plan to reuse as much of the old components and rock I have in storage and as many of the new ones i can from the 14g. I made some to scale rough drawings to figure...

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