When To Add? What Kinds?

[SaltNoob]

Just looking for some general help on when/how long to wait before placing things like polyps, zoas, etc. to my reef tank.

I would like to start with Zoanthids as I have read that they are fairly easy to take care of and a good beginner way to go.

Is there a specific type to avoid?

Most importantly, How to acclimate these guys, both from the LFS and or Online(shipped).

Thanks for all inputs.

-Tyler

 

[ALW]

How to acclimate these guys, both from the LFS and or Online(shipped).

Just like you do with inverts, drip acclimatise them over a few hours.

 

[SaltNoob]

What is the minimum type of lighting to have for these guys?

-Tyler

 

[ALW]

What is the minimum type of lighting to have for these guys?

-Tyler

Depends on the type of coral. T5s are a good start and are ok for most corals. Are cheap and last for about 12 months.

 

[SaltNoob]

Maybe this is more for the hardware section, but I would like to build a hood that has an open back (screen back) to allow air in and out, but house the T5s inside.For my size of tank I was thinking (2)T5 bulbs? Its a 29g long so, 12.5" deep. I am quite the handy man so building the hood should be a sinch. I will post the creation in my Journal once I figure out the final design based upon the recommendations of lighting.

-Tyler

 

[SaltNoob]

Ok so for my 29 Gallon tank..... I am hoping for these.

Pulsing Xenia
Toadstool
Zoanthids, several colors (have a few)
Mushies (have two)
Yuma/Ricordea
Duncans! (so cool)
And either a bubble tip or frogspawn (these might be too big?)

Any thoughts?

-Tyler

 

[Donya]

Ok so for my 29 Gallon tank..... I am hoping for these.

Pulsing Xenia
Toadstool
Zoanthids, several colors (have a few)
Mushies (have two)
Yuma/Ricordea
Duncans! (so cool)
And either a bubble tip or frogspawn (these might be too big?)

Any thoughts?

-Tyler

Duncans are great - peaceful and hardy. I had a frag with two heads that got badly damaged right off the bat and made a splendid recovery under just two T5s and feeding pellets and meaty foods. Wouldn't want them or softies in a small tank with anything that has sweepers though, unless it's got dimensions that allow substantial distance between mean things and the rest. If by bubble tips you are meaning the nems, ditto for those too in case they wander (extra space = more warning time if you have to move something out of the way all of a sudden).

 

[SaltNoob]

What are "sweepers" And yes I mean anems.

-Tyler

 

[Donya]

What are "sweepers"

Sweepers are the nasty long tentacles that certain LPS have, sometimes as much as a foot long. They are often put out defensively and can nuke neighboring corals.

 

[SaltNoob]

I love the anems, but I am not a fan of the sweepers. Id like to not lose any of my anems. The candy coral has SUPER short sweepers. I just don't know if I have enough room for some of the 6" sweepers. Will they kill my zoas and xenia?

-Tyler

 

[lljdma06]

I'll tell ya. I'm pretty darn satisfied with my yumas and zoanthids. Plenty of color. Easy to care for.

 

[SaltNoob]

I can not find yumas with the colors you have. I have looked in every aquarium specialist store within 50 miles. Even liveaquaria.com does not have the pretty colors you have. I also am not holding much cash to ship these beautiful things. I am looking at a pretty torch coral though, so my clowns have something.

-Tyler

 

[Donya]

I love the anems, but I am not a fan of the sweepers. Id like to not lose any of my anems. The candy coral has SUPER short sweepers. I just don't know if I have enough room for some of the 6" sweepers. Will they kill my zoas and xenia?

-Tyler

It's possible; hard to say since I don't know who the victors are in most species vs. species turf wars with softies and LPS. As an example of an extreme case though, I have a little patch of non-photosynthetic LPS polyps that somehow managed to burn the crud out of everything around them one night - everything in about a 8" radius was damaged and even pest anemones were running away. Anemones don't like getting popped either! While you can easily find tanks where people have crammed a bunch of LPS and other stuff almost rubbing right up against each others, it's far more risky than spacing things out. For example, I know Galaxia isn't on your list, but it's one of the best known for nuking neighbors relatively unprovoked.