Coral Experts (need quick advice to save coral species)

Ok, so I'm new to the hobby (My Intro Thread) and while I've been patient as my tank cycles before adding any fish, I jumped in about a week ago (right when I bought my tank) and bought 13 coral frags off of Ebay (I got sucked in with the high up-front shipping/low per unit cost, I'm a sucker).

Now I realize they need the right setup, food, chemical levels, etc. just like fish, but at this point, it's too late to prepare and I would love for anyone very knowledgeable about corals, mushrooms, whatever I happened to buy, to look at my photos and give me a few quick tips before I go out to the fish store to buy whatever it is you recommend I get (calcium, liquid Cyclop-eeze, etc.).

I guess the complexity of this is that I mixed together these species and don't have a clue what I should put in that would benefit them all, since I'm guessing they have different needs (Reef Notes, vol.3, by Sprung, should arrive today or Monday, but there's just too much to learn and not enough time).

I'm worried especially about my yellow Goniopora. I know now they're notoriously difficult to keep, but I think it's beautiful (*edit- "'was' or 'could be' beautiful") and it's browning in two spots and I'm not sure what the best plan of action is.

The coral are pictured in a 10 gallon tank with a filter to mainly create current, and a 10g lighting system with a dual 40W Actinic and a dual 40W daylight bulb. Salinity should be fine as I bought if from a quality LFS (1.024?), water temp is about 78 F, and I'll get the water tested at the LFS when I go to check Amonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate levels.

I also see some algae stalks shooting up on the far left guy; should I also go buy some shrimp, hermit crabs, whatever other reef-safe invertebrates, to eat algae, because I'm sure it's going to really start exploding (I'm leaving this setup on 24/7 currently. Horrible idea??)

I know the lighting probably isn't the best, but it's pretty bright and the best I can do for now. I'm planning to upgrade the lighting system but it'll probably be 2-3 weeks until I decide what to get and order/receive it. I do have a pretty bright daylight lamp that I use for painting miniatures; should I supplement my current setup with it as well?

 

Note: Also pictured is my 29g main tank. It's cyclying with my live/dry rock. Before I even put in the live rock, it had the coral and live sand in it for a few days and when I had my water tested on Thursday, Ammonia was 0, Nitrite was 0, and Nitrate was 5. Is that weird to happen in a week just from these coral and 20lbs of live sand?

And I know the setup is hideous, but I'm moving a few blocks away in about 3 weeks and have to keep it safe from my dogs. Thus, it's in my closet until I move houses and devise a more attractive and dual-Husky-safe setup

 

First and foremost we need to know your exact parameters as of today. These include:

Salinity
Temp
Calcium
Alkalinity
Magnesium
Nitrite
Nitrate
Phosphate
Ammonia

After all that has been established, IMO I would never run a tank 24/7. Your maximum photoperiod should not exceed 12 hours (I do 3 hour total actinic and 7 hour daylights).

Next, your corals appear to be zoanthids, palythoas, perhaps a pipe organ or clove species, goniopora or alveopora, green star polyps, a mushroom, perhaps a galaxia and some sort of SPS. With that being said, all the softies should fair okay with correct water chemistry...they do tend to do better in dirtier water. The goniopora/alveopora and sps IMO will not survive in that tank without proper lighting. You may want to look into the PAR 38 bulb for that small of a tank.

For the time being I would keep all the softies at the bottom of the tank until they appear happy and then move them as you see aesthetically pleasing. The SPS will demand higher light and therefore should be placed relatively high in your setup. I would continue to keep the goniopora/alveopora on the sand bed...but give them ample room from other corals as they due have some pretty wicked sweeper tentacles that pack a very powerful punch.

Hope this helps and if you have anymore questions don't hesitate.

 

you need to give your environment some time, more than you have.

Do you have any people you know that keep saltwater fish? Maybe you can ask if they can hold your corals.
If you dont have any people around then maybe you could seek out a LFS (local fish store) to hold your coral for you..

You need another month on that tank, to me it sounds like you have not even cycled the tank, so until that happens you can't put anything in it. It would be a death sentence to do so.

You need to start generating benificial bacteria and have it stable before putting one thing in there. There are products out there that will help "seed" the tank

You need to witness your levels be very high Amo, Nitrite, Nitrate and then see them go down to null.

Best of luck, and do your self a favor read everything you can get your hands on. you can learn alot from reading the forms here, just pick one and start going though. The ASAP one will teach you a lot, if you have not read thru it already.

 

Ok, I actually had edited my first post with the stats I know (salinity, ammonia, nitirite, nitrate). However, the others, I don't know.

Are the $30 kit at petsmart Any good? They also have the separate copper and other tests; are these any good either? My LFS is a little overpriced...

 

Ok, thanks, I've been reading the forums a lot this past week, but there's just so much!

Also, when I had my water tested on Thursday at the LFS, they said my Ammonia was 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate 5 and that that meant the tank had already gone through the Ammonia and Nitrite cycles. Is that accurate or do they just want to hurry up and start selling me fish (that will *strangely* need replacing soon)?

The corals were in the 29g with the live sand and large chunks of live rock for maybe 4 days leading up to the test, and it looks like at least one of the corals is dying to me, so is that possible it rotted and kicked off the first two phases?

 

You must be very careful when you have your water tested at the LFS. They are busy people and as luck would have it, telling you that your parameters are stable will allow you to buy things, go figure.

Get a basic test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates.

The sps will probably have the most difficulties it needs the proper intense lighting. Regardless of how bright your lights appear to you, it is not indicative of the correct spectrum, par........

Cycle is a miss leading term, aquariums are always in a constant state of either declining or increasing biological filter regardless of the age. You may very well have no ammonia now, but stick a fish in there with an insufficient biological filter and you will have ammonia again. You need to space out introduction of livestock to allow the tank time to adjust, the is especially true of a tank the size of yours.

As others have posted corals will often look less then ideal when acclimating to a new tank some may need a couple days to come around.

 

Ok, I'll pick up the $30 kit at Petsmart.

As for the lights, yea, I've read that multiple times this week, but I guess the corals will have to tough it out until I decide. I don't want to rush an important and expensive decision like that because I've already spent a ton more than I expected.

What about supplementing the tank with Calcium, Phosphate, plankton, etc.? I haven't put anything in yet, so will this definitely help?

 

No you do not need to supplement the tank at this point, trust me on this.

If you can not test for it, do not dose it. You will have many more problems to deal with.

At this point water changes and keeping the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate and specific gravity and temperature will be good enough.

Phosphates are something you want to avoid.

If you really feel like the corals need some nutrition than try some Marine Snow. Or very lighting feed with some Rod's Foods frozen, just a small amount. But honestly they do not need it right now.

The Goniopora will need supplemental feedings, but the others will not and at this point I would just let them acclimate. The more you mess with things the more they tend to go down hill. Keep it simple initially and make getting the lighting a priority, that will be the most helpful. Please google Zooxanthellae, if you are unfamiliar with the term.

 

Excellent, thanks!

And thanks Brannock and Nathan as well, I appreciate the help.

I'll try to update this thread as things progress and if anyone else wants to offer advice, please do!