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Tweetie127

New Member
Hi All

We have kept tropical fish for some time, but have now decided to move onto a marine reef setup. Completely new to all this and just bought 4 foot tank and all the equipment. Picking up saline water and live rock tomorrow.

Any help with corals, fish and invertebrates (and what goes with what) would be really appreciated. We'll be checking this website for past and future posts to hopefully gain from other peoples experiences.

Many thanks, in advance, for any help we get from you all
 
nanoreefing4fun

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
welcomefish.gif

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members
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Start a new tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along - we love pics :)
 
puffermike

puffermike

Active Member
You'll probably become an addict soon enough... sigh. Anyways, welcome to RS! When you start your tank thread throw some ideas around for what you actually like as far as livestock. I advise going to your local fish store and remembering or taking pics of the marine fish that catch your eyes. You can then ask questions here and look up the species online to get a general overview of their care. In this day and age I often find myself browsing my phone for information as I'm looking at everything in the store that I'm genuinely interested in. If you're interested I've recently started a series on youtube for starting up aquariums. The next episode I'll be doing is on livestock selection.
 
yorkieUK

yorkieUK

Member
PREMIUM
:swmfish::welcomera:swmfish::welcomera:swmfish::welcomera:swmfish:
Welcome to Reef Sanctuary. The home for reefers who care.

Hi Tweetie,

Here is some of the best advice I was given by Wrangy not so long ago.


Personally I choose the corals then build the tank around it :) So you're doing the right thing if that's the path you want to go. Think of some inverts and fish you want and then see if they're compatible and if not make some adjustments. Or you can divide your fish up again like the corals; do you want fast swimmers/active fish, bright colours, personality, practical fish or a mix :)

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get away with having the whole lot in your tank. Although if you do do that, you'll have to be careful and manage the system diligently as the care requirements of things like spider sponges and gorgonians are almost opposing to that of acro's and monti's. It can be done, you just have to care for your system :)
With that coral list I would look at it like this:
No Care:
- Zoa's, paly's and polyp's
- Mushrooms and morphs
When I say no care, I don't mean that exactly haha but you don't have to do anything special for them. They'll grow very happily in a well maintained tank with no extra care.

Some Care, Target Feeding:
- Euphyllia sp. these guys do really well with feeding's once a week
- Plate corals
- Chalice corals
- Candy Cane corals (although these guys can be rather finicky and need a little more attention to parameters)
- Ricordea yuma, r. florida are much harder to care for

SPS care:
- Acropora sp.
- Montipora sp.

Difficult and Serious Attention Required:
- Spider Sponges
- Gorgonians
- Gonipora
These are not impossible but I recommend that they go in the tank last once you have some experience!

I have greatly simplified these and I will happily expand on each on if you'd like :) I've added a few extra's in that you haven't mentioned just because hhaa
They are all compatible with each other but some mixes are harder than others and if you want all of them, I would stock in this order:
1.) Zoa's, paly's, morph's and other polyp's
2.) Ricordea
3.) The lps corals; euphyllia, plate, chalice
4.) Candy Cane and montipora
5.) Acropora and some of the other sps corals
6.) Spider sponges and gorgonians
I suggest this order as it's easiest to hardest and as you go along, you'll learn things about each coral that applies to the next batch and you'll be able to build a solid knowledge and ability to keep progressively harder to keep corals :)
I hope this helps mate and has shed some light for you :)



When you have time, put some more info on your profile page and share your journey.
We love Reef Chronicles, stories, questions and most of all.........
...................photos!!!
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whippetguy

whippetguy

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
Welcome to Reef Sanctuary! Best advice is take it slow and you'll be more successful. Don't hesitate to ask for help/advice.
 
T

Tweetie127

New Member
Many thanks for the welcome and suggestions... yes, I'm sure we will become addicted in no time at all
Thanks for the info regarding your Youtube series - we'll definitely be followers
 
T

Tweetie127

New Member
Wow!! So much information and so much to think about... thank you for all your help and advice - really appreciated. We will be taking it nice and slow even though we are naturally eager to get some livestock in there. Bought some twin blue reef lights and some timers so normal led on for 9 hours and the blue ones on for 12 hours - we were told these promote the health of the corals - and they look good too!! Bought 32Kg of live rock today and tank now set up - will have to monitor levels and take water sample in for checking in a week's time. Looking forward to gaining more knowledge and will post some photos up as we progress. Thanks again for all your help and suggestions
 
DianaKay

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
Hi Tweetie :wave:
:welcomera WELCOME to the best SW place ever...
You are going to L:heart:VE it Here!
Very BEST WISHES :biker
 
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