my first coral

finally got a coral after two months and its a green torch

any ideas on how to take care of a coral?

i got calcium liquid part 1 and 2 by Ocean's Blend is that all i need?
i also got a test kit for calcium by salfiate and kinda confuse after the water turns blue do i point the syrenge up and see how much liquid is left or do i read where the black piston is at

do i need to dose every day and how much with this ocean's Blend i need to dose i have 75 gallon tank

 

Basically, keep your water parameters pretty good (0 Ammonia, 0 nitrites, <10 nitrates), and keep your calcium and alkalinity up, and you should be good with a torch. You might want to make sure it gets food every once in a while when you feed the fish, but you shouldn't need to target feed a torch.

I don't know about the Salifert test kits, I haven't used them. To read a syringe in general, if there's no tip attached, you just turn it upwards, and read where the top of the piston is. If you have a reading of 0.6 on the syringe, and you had 1.0 in it to begin with, you usually need the amount you used, which would be 0.4 in this case.

You should be good with just that 2-part for a while, but magnesium is another thing to check for and supplement after a little while. You'd need the test kit and a supplement, but it typically gets depleted much slower than calcium and alkalinity, so it's not necessary immediately.

An alkalinity test kit is a must, though. That's the other half of calcium, and is extremely important.

 

You will love your Torch. I use them for the "Nem" look. I will not put an Anemone in my tank. They are very easy to keep and grow fast. No need to target feed. Just keep good water conditions and they will thrive!! I have 3.

 

Usually not, I agree. They tend to be very good at grabbing nearly anything that floats past because of their crazy tentacles and relative high stickiness. I just like to be safer than sorry when it comes to feeding lol.

 

thanks very helpful magnesium and mag test kit is what i need?

i have to feed these corals with fish food?

do you guys rinse your frozen food if so how do you do it?

 

I just dissolve the food in a shot glass. The food will sink to the bottom. I then get a paper towel and wad it up. Stick it in the shot glass, and let it pull the water off the top.

 

congratulations. looks good.

i wouldn't think that you need to worry about dosing anything yet, depending on your water change schedule/salt mix.

i would just get alk/mag test kits to do with your Ca. and just get a feel for what happens over the next few weeks to your levels. (this is what i am doing right now)

that way when your coral grows, and you start adding a lot more stuff you have a better idea on what/how much you need to dose.

at least that is my plan. i only have a handful of pieces right now.

 

I have heard that with any type of carniverous coral or anything that has the potential to eat anything but sunlight that feeding it will cause it to grow faster, Torches love mysis.

 

I just defrost it in about 6 ounces of tank water, and pour it in or use a turkey baster depending on what I'm trying to feed. I don't buy the food that has gel binders, though, which is something to look out for, as they have a huge amount of nutrients and can cause algae blooms. San Francisco Bay brand, and H2O Life brand, both have no gel binders.

I feed mysis shrimp, oyster eggs and a coral mix that H2O life puts out, and I switch it up kinda randomly with favoritism towards the mysis. The coral mix is some of the larger plankton type stuff, the oyster eggs is for smaller-particle filter feeders, and the mysis is for the brains. Torches will eat the mysis and the coral mix stuff, but not the oyster eggs unless a large chunk happens to hit them.

You need an Alkalinity kit, it has to be one of the accurate ones, not the Red Sea master kit style ones that is just "Low-OK-High". Also, the magnesium and mag kit. The mag kit also has to be an accurate titration type.

 

only got one coral and i been changing the water once a week for 3 months