When can i start to add frags?

[rbtwo4]

Hi all,

New to Manhattan Reefs. I just started to cycle my tank its in the 4th week. Had the diatom bloom now its all gone, and now the coraline is growing on a few rocks. I wanted to know when is the best time to start adding frags to my tank? Or should the fish be 1st? Right now i have a clean up crew in there and theyre doing a good job. Im from Jackson Heights Queens and if someone in this area or maybe Manhattan sells frags who can I talk to? Thanks everybody!:tank:

 

[marki24]

Welcome. Can you give specific parameters of your water. That would help a lot before you add fish and corals. Anyways what kind of corals are you going for softies of Sps?

 

[emps]

There's a whole slew of vendors and people selling frags here. But you should definitely invest in some test kits and test your water before adding any livestock. Check your nitrate, nitrite, ammonia levels.

Have you done water changes since the cycle?

and Welcome to MR btw

 

[rbtwo4]

Welcome. Can you give specific parameters of your water. That would help a lot before you add fish and corals. Anyways what kind of corals are you going for softies of Sps?

well im shooting for softies & sps being new and all. my parameters are ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrates at 10. the nitrate doesnt seem to wanna go any lower. i have a wet/dry, bakpak skimmer, t5 vho, 3 powerheads running 1 koralia 2 and 2 Mj 900's. oh and its a 30 gallon tank. now i have a test kit for calcium and phosphates havent tested the tank for the calcium yet but the phosphate read 0.25 oh and ph was 8.0. my sg is at 1.025. alkalinity is confusing for me to figure out but i have the instant ocean test kit and i cant figure out how to use it but i have a 5 in 1 test kit that u dip it and it reads 240 so i dont know if thats right.

 

[rbtwo4]

There's a whole slew of vendors and people selling frags here. But you should definitely invest in some test kits and test your water before adding any livestock. Check your nitrate, nitrite, ammonia levels.

Have you done water changes since the cycle?

and Welcome to MR btw

i change about 20% of the water weekly and above i have my test results. forgot to mention i use ro/di h2o. got 35lbs of LR and 40 of LS.

 

[marki24]

well sps are not for beginners. We love pictures here. So if you get a chance take some pictures.

 

[rbtwo4]

well sps are not for beginners. We love pictures here. So if you get a chance take some pictures.

so what would u suggest? i dont know how to put up pics but here goes....

 

[rbtwo4]

well sps are not for beginners. We love pictures here. So if you get a chance take some pictures.

trying to post a pic...forget it gave up but u can see it in my gallery!

 

[reefman]

NO SPS FOR U!
stick with softies

 

[marki24]

NO SPS FOR U!
stick with softies

:lol2:

 

[marki24]

btw is that dead coral that you have in there?

 

[marki24]

when you type on the bottom click on the "go advanced" option and then go to "manage attachments" its towards the bottom of your screen. then you have to make your picture small enough to fit the screen and upload it.

 

[rbtwo4]

thanks reefman! dunno how u did it but........anyway so no sps for me why not?

 

[rbtwo4]

when you type on the bottom click on the "go advanced" option and then go to "manage attachments" its towards the bottom of your screen. then you have to make your picture small enough to fit the screen and upload it.

thanks marki

 

[rbtwo4]

yeah its dead coral. put it in there just so within time something will grow on it cus it sure as hell aint going to grow from it. why does it look bad?

 

[noodleman]

to post a pic just upload it ot your gallery like you already did and then post the BB Image Code which is located under your picture when you click on it :Hydrogen:

 

[rbtwo4]

to post a pic just upload it ot your gallery like you already did and then post the BB Image Code which is located under your picture when you click on it :Hydrogen:

gotcha thanks! so being we are from the NY area are there like any fragging conventions or something like that?

 

[NYreefNoob]

corals

i would wait a few more weeks before adding anything. i would toss that bakpak in the traqsh and get a decent skimmer. add corals slowly and fish slowly, bettter to be patient and have thing's live and save money

 

[spskibitzer]

read this first, it may help in your selection process

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/cj/index.php

 

[spskibitzer]

read this first, will give you a better understanding of stocking your tank

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-03/cj/index.php