How much coral?

Hi everyone!;D

It's been a little while since I annoyed everyone so I figured that I would request help with my latest dilemma. I have a 55 gallon reef tank(currently without the reef):-[ with 45# LR, 40# LS, a 10 gallon fuge with new chaeto, feather caulerpa, and grape caulerpa, and a wet/dry with a sealife system skimmer.

I plan on getting coral for it in about 2 or 3 weeks. Do I need to buy pieces separately or do corals not have the same effect as adding new fish do, where you have to wait for the tank to adjust to the new bioload before you can add more? I was planning on getting a bunch of zoa's (probably about 10 with about 8-12 polyps each) and a couple of lps frags. I wanted to just mass order quite a few from ebay (the sellers recommended on 3reef of course) but I want to make sure that this would be ok for the tank. Any opinions?

Currently, I have 2 blue/green chromis, and I just added a coral beauty 2 days ago. (My cats love me).I'm not planning on adding anything else until I sort out the coral situation, except maybe a cleaner shrimp.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

P.S. How long do you all recommend that I wait in between adding fish? I added my CB about a week after the 2 chromis, but checked the water before I bought it and water params were very good.

 

Hey! Never bought from this guy but I've talked to him and he seems on the up and up, and he's got good prices. . If you order from him let me know how his stuff is...Thanks Has anyone here ordered from him?

eBay Store - Reef Creatures Unlimited: zoanthids and button polyps, brain coral, mushrooms and ricordias

 

Thanks cuttingras. I'll let you know about him if I order from there. I still haven't made my mind up yet.

Anybody else know about whether it's possible to overstock corals in one go?

 

Just keep in mind these things are going to grow. Give them plenty of room between each other...Put them in places where you will happy when they get much larger.

If you are in this hobby for the long run, like most of us here, consider buying frags and get the enjoyment of watching them grow.

 

Generally, corals do not add bio load so there shouldn't be an issue, other than too much at one time puts a load on you to watch for health, water checks, etc. That being said, you'll need to alter your feeding of the tank a bit with coral-friendly stuff like Phyto-Feast and/or Cyclopeeze.

Also, being the parent of an at-the-time highly desired Eiblii Angel, keep in mind that any angelfish may have a tendency to eat coral, even a Coral Beauty. Our "little angel" was good for a while (plenty of seaweed clipped to the side of the tank for snacks helps) but then became voracious and has had quite a few expensive meals.

But back to your question - in general, everything in moderation always seems the best path with the tank. We've added as many as 5 over a weekend without adverse conditions, but 10 sounds like it's pushing the limit - not crazy, but pushing it. As long as you're prepared for a possible loss, and keep an eye on the water tests, and feed them well, it could work out OK.

 

ok, thanks everyone. I was planning on adding frags in the first place so I could watch them grow. I just won't add as many as I planned.

Thanks everyone!;D

 

Yes, corals can be purchased in bunches as oppossed to fish, however as Omard stated be careful with the placement of your corals as some are more toxic than others, contain sweeper tentacles or grow and spread over another coral killing or reducing light being afforded to them.

 

in general you can add bunches of corals but if you get a few at a time you can research them before making mistakes.some sting (hydnoporas,torches),some lps can dirty the water (brains)just a little cause they eat and then it comes back out their mouths later.some leathers can shed their skin alot (cabbage)and it lands on corals that don't like it.some don't sting but release toxins (finger leathers,toad stools)to kill off their neighbors.if your not carefull its easy to put a bunch of corals in the tank that just fight each other.thats worst case .i may be a lil to careful but i won't put more than 2 very large finger leathers in my 55 gallon for fear they may fight with toxins.food for thought,happy stocking.

 

Has anyone noticed a significant benefit of using phytoplankton for their SPS corals?

 

Coral does not eat Phyto. Coral eats Zooplankton

J