advise please

[rrrobt]

Achilles Tang

youre in the forum now right, help me with this.

my tank is still cycling 1 week only,and i got 3 small coral from my friend who give up ,1 red cynaria ,1 green cynaria n 1 mushroom can i put in my tank now or put in lfs or anyone tank.?

thanks

robert

[Wei]

Hi rrobot,

since no one reply yet, i add my 2 cents.

U can add the 3 corals if the water parameters is good. start dripping kalk since the LPS need it.

if u still have detectable NH4, NO2 and high NO3, then dun put in.

Wei

[Achilles Tang]

Wei's right.

As long as your water parameters are fine... you can put the cynarias in.

They and the mushroom don't require extremely strong light too.

What colour are the meat/donut corals you got?

[Tanzy]

What wei contributed is right, but I wouldn't be too hasty about adding corals to the one week old tank. Don't forget that very soon you will have the algae cycle starting and you might want to do a few water changes.

To be on the safe side, don't add corals until you see coralline algae growing on the glass.

[Achilles Tang]

Coralline algae is notoriously fickle and may not grow that fast.... my old tank took a lot time to grow coralline on my glass....

IMO, as long as water parameters checks out, corals should be fine. Of course, when nuisance algae comes, I am sure those hardy corals he mentioned will appreciate the water changes!

I don't think Rrrobt will let the water quality degrade.... right?

[Tanzy]

If water parameters are really that good then coralline algae only takes about two months at the most to start growing on the glass.

[rrrobt]

thanks everyone,

now do we need to on the light,chiller,cal reactor,power head ???

you see i got the coral from my friend and his tank is full of algae, will my tank be infacted by the algae even if i remove all the algae

robert

[Wei]

Hi rrobot,

if you have placed the corals in tank if yr tank water is good, then leave it and let it cycle. dun add any fishes yet till you see yr sandbed is populated with live form. When you got algae boom of diatom, get clean up crew to do the job. Soon, you will see many new life forms growing out of the rock & its very cool. i will let it cycle for at least 2 mths so that i can see the new life forms personally.

U do not really need to wait for coralline to grow on glass. rocks is enough. this isn't a very gd way to gauge. It just means that the water got high level of alk & ca for them to grow.

we all know most coralline dun grow under strong mh light. if rrobot got strong mh, liao, he no need to add anything in the coming yrs!

Wei very bright!

[derf]

hi wei,

i understand that inverts (clean up crews) are v sensitive towards nitrates... if there's a algae boom, wldn't it be harmful to them? cos no matter hw many inverts (esp shrimps) i put in my tank, they'll not survive one day. i've given up on them totally for nw till i start re-doing my tank.

care to advice me on that?

[rrrobt]

Hi rrobot,

if you have placed the corals in tank if yr tank water is good, then leave it and let it cycle. dun add any fishes yet till you see yr sandbed is populated with live form. When you got algae boom of diatom, get clean up crew to do the job. Soon, you will see many new life forms growing out of the rock & its very cool. i will let it cycle for at least 2 mths so that i can see the new life forms personally.

U do not really need to wait for coralline to grow on glass. rocks is enough. this isn't a very gd way to gauge. It just means that the water got high level of alk & ca for them to grow.

we all know most coralline dun grow under strong mh light. if rrobot got strong mh, liao, he no need to add anything in the coming yrs!

Wei very bright!

wei,

i mean on the light,chiller,cal reactor,power head during cycling ?

and the algae i mention is not the one on the glass, it like a forest in the tank.so if i take my friend coral and put it in my tank will my tank become like his ?

what it mean by this by TANZY

[ Don't forget that very soon you will have the algae cycle starting and you might want to do a few water changes ]

if there are algae cycle then must change how many time and how much water ?

[Wei]

hi, derf,

invert is also very senstive to heavy metal. did you add any copper medication in yr tank before? Is yr no3 very high. dun go beyond 50 should be ok. algae boom will happen if yr tank got excess nutrients for the algae to grow.

hi rrobot,

you dun need to on the light if no coral inside. powerhead must, chiller, contant temp & ca reactor, better.

Hair algae. Place the corals separate from yr rockwork. no contact, just on yr sandbed. prevent it from spreading to rocks. check yr no3 and po4. make sure they are low or undectable. add phosguard to play safe.

Wei

[derf]

wei,

nope, did not put any medication in my tank b4. but my nitrate level's definitely v high. guess that mite be the cause.

[Achilles Tang]

hi wei,

i understand that inverts (clean up crews) are v sensitive towards nitrates... if there's a algae boom, wldn't it be harmful to them? cos no matter hw many inverts (esp shrimps) i put in my tank, they'll not survive one day. i've given up on them totally for nw till i start re-doing my tank.

care to advice me on that?

Derf...

Shrimp need to be acclimitised SLOWLY.... they may get osmotic and temperature shock if you dump them straight into your tank.

Put the bag in the water until the water temp is the same as the tank's.

Then slowly dispose some water from the bag and replace with your tank water, do it until over a period of minimum 15 mins until the water parameters are more or less the same, giving the shrimp time to adapt.

Some people take up to 30 mins to acclimitise their livestock.

[derf]

AT,

er.... i've always acclimatise my livestocks b4 introducing them into my tank, so i dun think it's the osmotic or temperature shock that killed them.

[Tanzy]

The algae cycle is the stage in your tank that grow different types of algae. Diatoms which are the brown dusty kind will start on the glass then the sand. They are quite harmless and will eventually go away once all the silicate is used up. Next up will be the various type of green hair algae which are a real pest. If phosphates and nitrates are in control then the problem stops here. As the tank matures and detritus is given a chance to buildup, cyano and dino will start to take hold. Those are a real mess! During the algae control stages, the reefer might take drastic actions like scrubbing of rocks and large water changes or increase pH which might adversely affect the corals. I've even heard of people leaving the lights on for 16 hrs/day to let the algae grow till they use up all the nutrients and die-off naturally. Having corals and fish in the tank will be so troublesome!

Wei,

Coralline algae will always be able to find darker and shaded spots in the tank to grow even under strong MH lighting and it is usually on the glass near the sand. If the water has high enough alk and ca for them to grow, as you say, why isn't it a good gauge? Isn't that what we have to provide for the corals to grow too?

[Wei]

Hi Tanzy,

wat you said i correct. But i assume wat rrobot was asking was when his tank finish cycling. Therefore, waiting for coralline to grow is a bit too long & I have seen tanks that coralline just dun grow although owner kept high alk & ca & good water parameters.

Wei

[Tanzy]

I've got nothing to add.

I just believe in taking things real slow.