Welcome to RS!!
and more importantly the RSM owners club
First off NEVER EVER be scared to ask any questions here
We're all super nice and love helping (I know I do lol) secondly as everyone has said make sure you go slow, take your time, have some sort of plan and be patient!!
A couple of questions you should answer that will greatly help get you on your way to creating an amazing underwater home for your fishy and coral friends
These are for the long run too because one day you'll get there and if you plan now it will save you time and money
regardless of what skill level you feel you are at be honest to yourself about what you want
1.) What do you want to keep in your tank?? Fish only, fish only with live rock (FOWLR), coral/invert only, or a mixed reef with fish
2.) What sort of corals do you want to end up with as the dominant type in your tank?? Soft corals, large polyp stony corals (LPS corals), small polyp stony corals (SPS corals)
3.) The type of rock you want to use?? Dead (not live) rock, dry live rock or live live rock
Bit of info on some of the things I've said (you may already know all this but better I say it than not? lol):
The soft corals
(Not really a soft coral man but I'll do my best to explain) Soft corals are corals that have little or no stony (calcareous) skeleton are generally very fleshy with large-ish polyps (some have smaller polyps). The soft corals (softies) are generally the easiest corals to care for as they do not require intense lighting and can be quite tolerant of less stable water conditions. As they have no
zooxanthellae they require their energy to come from either nutrient uptake directly from the water, feeding on micro-particles in the water like plankton and small pods (copepods and amphipods) and some softies require some more meaty foods like chopped up prawns (shrimps) or bits of fish. Soft corals are corals like
stoloniferans, gorgonians, sea pens, mushrooms,
zoanthids and anemones. While these are generally the easiest types of corals to keep there are exceptions so always double check things and make sure you do your research on something before a purchase
The stony corals
LPS:
LPS corals are large polyp stony corals, they generally are a little hardier than SPS corals but are similar. While they maybe called large polyp stonies there polyp size doesn't always determine whether they are lps or sps just to confuse you a little bit haha. LPS corals are corals like acans, hammer or torch corals, plate corals or brain corals to name a few. These corals require very stable water conditions and generally high to moderate lighting conditions, they also require some calcium to be present in the water because they are stony corals and this means that they have a hard calcified skeleton and require calcium and a few other elements to ensure proper healthy growth LPS corals can generally be feed and seen consuming the food which is pretty awesome IMO but generally only need so once a week or so.
SPS:
SPS are, you guessed it, small polyp stony corals. They are the much harder to keep brothers of the lps corals. They require near perfect water that is exceptionally stable and high amounts of strong lighting in most cases. Sps corals are corals like the
Acropora, Montipora and such corals. They require plenty of calcium in the water as they need plenty for proper growth along with other trace elements as they have more hard calcified skeletons with small polyps on them and can grow quite quickly but they are the most beautiful type of coral out there IMHO and are truly incredible creatures!
Both types of the above corals contain
zooxanthellae (in most cases) which is why they require such strong lighting because they get large amounts of their daily requirements in terms of energy from they symbiotic relationship with these photosynthetic algae (which are brown in colour by themselves). LPS corals have large "mouths" on their polyps which is why they can be feed and thrive from the occasional feeding and most sps corals don't need feeding just strong lighting as their
zooxanthellae produce most of their energy but some people add corals nutrients to the water with great success but in the beginning nothing is more important than stable water conditions and strong lighting for both these types of corals
While they are harder to care for with a bit of patience and determination you can have a wonderful sps, lps or mixed sps-lps coral reef in your very own home (would strongly recommend against having soft corals in there with them due to the coral warfare that you will have go on in the tank if you do)
Rock
There are several different types of rock that you can put in your tank as the basis of its make up. The general rule of thumb )that applies across all types of rock) is the more porous the rock the better it is! The reason being is there is a larger surface are for beneficial bacteria to grow on.
Dead (not live)
rock:
Is just 'normal' rock that has been dried and sometimes boiled so there is no life or bacteria on it at all, people like this as creative aquascaping is easy to achieve as there is nothing to kill on it by having it exposed to air for extended periods of time. This rock will eventually grow the good bacteria's but you won't get any hitch-hikers with it (HH) which some people see as a massive positive and other see as something that isn't what you should be doing (me for one).
Dry live rock:
Is live rock that hasn't been kept submerged or completely wet. It still retains a large amount of the positive bacteria but no HH (hitch-hikers) on it which is a good balance if you really want to avoid them. It usually also has some coralline algae on it which is a good thing.
Live live rock:
Is live rock that has been keep submerged and completely wet through it's life. This retains virtually all the good bacteria's and has the added bonus of HH along with plenty of coralline algae.
Hitch-Hikers:
Hitch-hikers are all the little critters that can tag along on live rock (LR). They can be all sorts of things; pods, small crabs and snails, small corals, bristle worms, sea stars and I've even seen some get a fish or two that survives as a hh. All these little creatures will turn your tank into a real reef (I strongly recommend the use of LR as it completes the ecosystem you want to create rather than the barren wastelands of dead rock). However, that being said there are a few evil little critter you want to get rid of if you find them (which is why a careful insepection of everything as it goes into your tank is good
) and they are:
Majano or aptasia anemones (they will sting every coral insight and can reach plague proportions)
Crabs (if you don't want any) they can knock things over and eat your snails and other things
Eunice worms (absolutely the worst evil thing to find, they eat everything, corals fish you name it and they can grow quite large and they are considerably hideous and disgusting)
Feel free to ask about anymore info on anything I've said as I try and do my best to help everyone
so I hope this has helped!
Dom
