effects of Maturing coral On a miced reef tank over time.

[Ballyhoo]

i would like to know more as an impulsive newb how SpS LPS and soft corals grow and mature in the mixed reef tank and their overall contribution towards the chemistry of the tank as they mature. see I haven't had my tank 6 weeks and i broke the rules I guess , I already considered it cycled after seven days when I got my first two clowns; they did great so then I bought a bunch of frags and softies and then kept on buying more fish I just couldn't help myself. Now I have all these juvenile fish. Two juvenile clowns, four juvenile blue damsals, a couple red tail gobies( because it would be cruel to have one on its own.). A Randall Gobi with its conspirator pistol shrimp, and Juvy, tiny bi color bleny: Oh, and a well sized beautiful mystery wrasse, plus a sand sifter starfish, and another red starfish i forget its name. I know I overdid it, but I'm hoping as my coral grow they will support the growing fish stock.
Well, at least i didn't get any nems because someone described how they can get into my reef maker and then kill my tank. oh i do have a conch named Sam. I think I'm done buying fish. really I honestly think I'm done buying but I'm not done buying coral and I'm still thinking about some invertebrates I can add. I think all my species are happy as clams, oh I don't have clams yet. I know I am a F'd up and considering how quickly I acquired stock, but I can tell you that I'm on it with the filtration. Got right amount of activated charcoal, a nice carbon filter, a monster protein skimmer that I make sure I change the cup every day and I measure, I have a nice reef mat. It's amazing. The protein skimmer has so many higher nitrates and nitrites in the collection cup than the tank itself when i measure so I know the skimmer is not a scammer. but the long in the short of it is, I'm looking at all my Juvy fish knowing they're gonna grow and that many fish if they grow may just be too many for the size tank I have I'm hoping the hrowing coral will support thegrowing fish stock otherwise I guess I would be buying the bigger tank, or I would be buying a smaller tank and putting some in there. By the way, is there any organization like alcoholics anonymous for people who go to LFS and buy fish? no no, i'm done stocking fish (I mean really I got a lot all the great ones for 40 gallon tank, there's no good species left to buy.) i'm telling myself that. i've measured everything and everything is OK except I don't have anything to measure phosphate with . nitrites are a little bit high. I will say that. Hopefully the coral will grow over time and save me. I will be getting another tank. I think the corals are doing swell I just want them to keep growing. I remember the name of the little red starfish, I think it's called a Froma.

 

[Ballyhoo]

see I really do think my fish are happy as clam. I am concerned about the chemistry as they grow. and the pistol and gobie have chemistry.

 

[Pod_01]

So in general corals act like a filter, they consume the same things your reef mat and skimmer removes. Corals love fish poop….
Most people over do it on filtration and as a result corals don’t grow.
Also too much GAC can be stressful on corals, I use 2.5 tablespoons of GAC (passive) per 55 gal of water and change it every 4 weeks. My filtration is skimmer and GAC.

Some easy corals: GSP on its own rock or back wall:

Zoas:

Devils hand coral:

You have too much fish for your tank. As they grow the aggression will eliminate some. I am not sure if you can keep 4 blue damsels in your size of tank.

Artificial decoration are not recommended for reef tank. They tend to become algae magnet.

Good luck,

 

[Ballyhoo]

so i should ditch my reef matt?

 

[Pod_01]

so i should ditch my reef matt?

I can only tell you what I do. There are so many different ways to run a reef.
If you over filter (fleece rollers are really efficient) there will be no food for the corals. So in that case you will eventually need to add N and P and other things and many reefers do it.

I am cheap, I prefer to feed the fish and they produce the necessary nutrients or fertilizer for the corals. For some mysterious reason they produce exactly what corals need…

With enough coral mass my P and N are:

And I don’t have fuge, socks, roller etc… just skimmer and GAC.
Corals look happy:

Perhaps at the start the roller will help, but as your corals mature consider bypassing it.

Good luck,

 

[Ballyhoo]

your species are so beautiful very inspiring