Ready for coral??

[Christine Rawlings]

I have a 15 gallon all in one tank and I only have 2 scorpion fish in the tank. I want to add coral and these are my questions.

My parameters are:

Temp: 77.3
Salinity: 1.025
PH: 8.3
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: .02 (likely 0)
Calcium: 422
Alk: 6.49
Magnesium: 1510

So, should I dose phosphate and nitrate?
Should I dose any bio digest?
Also, at what point do you increase the lighting? Before getting the coral or the day you put in coral?
I can dose Alk but will it take and how slowly should I dose it to reach at least 8?

Thanks for the help and forgive me, I’m new at starting coral up on my own.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

You need to get nutrients and alk up. Use this to help you dose alkalinity. Do so slowly over 2-3 days. For nutrients, you can either dose them or you can turn off skimmers, over feed, decrease waterchanges, etc.

The lights need to be ready for the coral to come, but you don't have to have them on before that.

 

[Christine Rawlings]

You need to get nutrients and alk up. Use this to help you dose alkalinity. Do so slowly over 2-3 days. For nutrients, you can either dose them or you can turn off skimmers, over feed, decrease waterchanges, etc.

The lights need to be ready for the coral to come, but you don't have to have them on before that.

Thank you!!

 

[skey44]

How long has your tank been setup? Do you have live rock and or adequate established bio media?
I would personally shoot for 7.5 for alk on your first dose then recheck, then bump to 8.
What’s your flow like?
Lights can be bumped up day of purchase but I’d make sure you have a true idea of the strength of your lights and what kind of schedule you want to start with. It’s best to start low with led lights and add light intensity and duration slowly so the corals can adjust (this is very light and coral dependent of course).
If you’re using Hanna accurate testing equipment and checking regularly there is probably no harm in dosing phosphates and nitrates slowly when you add corals. Maybe best to start now and find an equilibrium. But you could probably be ok either way. Definitely depends on the accuracy of your testing and the type of corals you’re getting. Though most probably won’t like bottomed out nutrients. Any pics of your tank to help out with suggestions?

 

[dylan118tang]

Your parameters seems in check, other than the Alk being a little on the low side for stony corals that need to grow skeleton.

Usually the manufacture of your Alk supplement will have suggestions on how much is safe to dose/raise in a day. There are couple online calculators to figure out how much total volume to dose, to reach your desired value 8. Then you can spread it out into however many days you need, by dosing within the "safe daily range" .

I started of with cheap pulsing xenia when I started saltwater tank. And thankfully I did, because my salinity checker was faulty, reading way lower, and the xenia died. If you can keep the "beginner" or soft corals alive, you will feel more confident moving on to LPS and eventually SPS.

That being said, If you are confident in dosing and controlling Alk and Calc, you don't necessarily have to start with beginner/soft corals. Some people hate xenias because it can spread and it's sometimes hard to get rid of it if you don't control where it's growing. But it's a good learning curve to start from something easier, less sensitive, and more forgiving if you make mistakes(like my testing equipment failure)

I wouldn't worry too much about nitrates and phosphate, you can always feed more, put less time on skimmer, or less lighting period on your refugium to increase it.

Whichever coral you decide to start, make sure you research their growth pattern, prefer strong/low light, strong/low flow. Then you can better find a spot for that coral. They will look sad if they don't like the spots you pick, and you'll slowly find a spot they prefer. That's why I don't usually glue them down until I know it's happy.

 

[Christine Rawlings]

How long has your tank been setup? Do you have live rock and or adequate established bio media?
I would personally shoot for 7.5 for alk on your first dose then recheck, then bump to 8.
What’s your flow like?
Lights can be bumped up day of purchase but I’d make sure you have a true idea of the strength of your lights and what kind of schedule you want to start with. It’s best to start low with led lights and add light intensity and duration slowly so the corals can adjust (this is very light and coral dependent of course).
If you’re using Hanna accurate testing equipment and checking regularly there is probably no harm in dosing phosphates and nitrates slowly when you add corals. Maybe best to start now and find an equilibrium. But you could probably be ok either way. Definitely depends on the accuracy of your testing and the type of corals you’re getting. Though most probably won’t like bottomed out nutrients. Any pics of your tank to help out with suggestions?

This tank had been set up since May. I am going to attach a picture. I had access to a par meter so I do have some preset lighting I can just switch over to. I plan to get soft corals like toadstools to begin with..thank you for all of your advice!! I am getting a clean up crew coming in for that tank tomorrow.

 

[Christine Rawlings]

This tank had been set up since May. I am going to attach a picture. I had access to a par meter so I do have some preset lighting I can just switch over to. I plan to get soft corals like toadstools to begin with..thank you for all of your advice!! I am getting a clean up crew coming in for that tank tomorrow.

One of the lighting pics is top down abd the other is front facing. Yes I do have biomedia in a media bag stored in the middle part of the all in one tank. No sump.

 

[Christine Rawlings]

Your parameters seems in check, other than the Alk being a little on the low side for stony corals that need to grow skeleton.

Usually the manufacture of your Alk supplement will have suggestions on how much is safe to dose/raise in a day. There are couple online calculators to figure out how much total volume to dose, to reach your desired value 8. Then you can spread it out into however many days you need, by dosing within the "safe daily range" .

I started of with cheap pulsing xenia when I started saltwater tank. And thankfully I did, because my salinity checker was faulty, reading way lower, and the xenia died. If you can keep the "beginner" or soft corals alive, you will feel more confident moving on to LPS and eventually SPS.

That being said, If you are confident in dosing and controlling Alk and Calc, you don't necessarily have to start with beginner/soft corals. Some people hate xenias because it can spread and it's sometimes hard to get rid of it if you don't control where it's growing. But it's a good learning curve to start from something easier, less sensitive, and more forgiving if you make mistakes(like my testing equipment failure)

I wouldn't worry too much about nitrates and phosphate, you can always feed more, put less time on skimmer, or less lighting period on your refugium to increase it.

Whichever coral you decide to start, make sure you research their growth pattern, prefer strong/low light, strong/low flow. Then you can better find a spot for that coral. They will look sad if they don't like the spots you pick, and you'll slowly find a spot they prefer. That's why I don't usually glue them down until I know it's happy.

Thank you!!

 

[Christine Rawlings]

How long has your tank been setup? Do you have live rock and or adequate established bio media?
I would personally shoot for 7.5 for alk on your first dose then recheck, then bump to 8.
What’s your flow like?
Lights can be bumped up day of purchase but I’d make sure you have a true idea of the strength of your lights and what kind of schedule you want to start with. It’s best to start low with led lights and add light intensity and duration slowly so the corals can adjust (this is very light and coral dependent of course).
If you’re using Hanna accurate testing equipment and checking regularly there is probably no harm in dosing phosphates and nitrates slowly when you add corals. Maybe best to start now and find an equilibrium. But you could probably be ok either way. Definitely depends on the accuracy of your testing and the type of corals you’re getting. Though most probably won’t like bottomed out nutrients. Any pics of your tank to help out with suggestions?

One more thing, I just ordered a power head for this tank they gets here tomorrow! It is XStream SDC Powerhead (270 - 2250 GPH). I plan to start the flow at the lowest setting 270. I got this one so I can use it in an upgrade if I chose to in the future.

 

[skey44]

This tank had been set up since May. I am going to attach a picture. I had access to a par meter so I do have some preset lighting I can just switch over to. I plan to get soft corals like toadstools to begin with..thank you for all of your advice!! I am getting a clean up crew coming in for that tank tomorrow.

Looks ready to me. Good lighting for mid to low light. Bump that alk and get going