That's a big misnomer in the hobby, corals (most of them anyway) are easier to keep than most fish and far easier than nems. Adding a fish to your tank, especially without QTing them first, is like playing Russian roulette whereas corals can be dipped, cut, etc if you see something up front or if something happens once in your tank. Dipping corals for 15 minutes pretty much takes care of any potential nasty hitchhikers but you can't do the ame with a fish (and you certainly can't frag a fish 
). Even if you feed them often, corals also add very little to the overload bioload of a system whereas fish and nems account for a much larger percentage.
If you wnat nems and corals either buy a RO/DI unit or find a place (a place you can trust) that sells quality RO/DI by the gallon. If RO is all you can do, it's better than tap but not nearly as pure as RO/DI. Of course, the qulity of the wtaer supply in your area will dictate how much filtration is required and an RO may be fine for certain areas but adding the DI component removes anny doubts.
Hosting carpets (haddoni, gigantea, mertens) are pretty much the hardest animals to keep and I would not add one to a new tank for at least a year. Lots of reseach should be done before you pull the trigger on on of those. Simply beautiful animals though so I hope you are successful when you reach that point. Bubble tips are pretty much considered the easier of the hosting nems but they still need a stable environemnt and probably would add one for 6+ months. This is a great starter article for hosting nems...http://www.wifeofnerd.com/images/AnemoneFAQ.pdf
Powerheads - I would suggest 2 minimum somewhere in the 600 to 1,000 gph range depending on how much rock (flow obstruction) you use and what you end up stocking in the system. This is one of the reason "mixed reefs" are so difficult. SPS want a lot of flow and some LPS and softies, not so much. Assuming you use single speed, non-cotrollable PHs, you will want to place them in a way that creates the most random flow pattern and that is typically done by facing the PHs somewhat facing each other pr bouncing the flow off rocks and or the tank walls. If you pony up for some controllable PHs or a wave box, then that PH or PHs will pretty much take care of things for you as long. Prolonged high flow can tear flesh from corals so reagrdless you will need to consider that when buying and placing PHs. Flow is something everyone plays with over time as you add coral/nems and/or rearrange your rock.
). Even if you feed them often, corals also add very little to the overload bioload of a system whereas fish and nems account for a much larger percentage. If you wnat nems and corals either buy a RO/DI unit or find a place (a place you can trust) that sells quality RO/DI by the gallon. If RO is all you can do, it's better than tap but not nearly as pure as RO/DI. Of course, the qulity of the wtaer supply in your area will dictate how much filtration is required and an RO may be fine for certain areas but adding the DI component removes anny doubts.
Hosting carpets (haddoni, gigantea, mertens) are pretty much the hardest animals to keep and I would not add one to a new tank for at least a year. Lots of reseach should be done before you pull the trigger on on of those. Simply beautiful animals though so I hope you are successful when you reach that point. Bubble tips are pretty much considered the easier of the hosting nems but they still need a stable environemnt and probably would add one for 6+ months. This is a great starter article for hosting nems...http://www.wifeofnerd.com/images/AnemoneFAQ.pdf
Powerheads - I would suggest 2 minimum somewhere in the 600 to 1,000 gph range depending on how much rock (flow obstruction) you use and what you end up stocking in the system. This is one of the reason "mixed reefs" are so difficult. SPS want a lot of flow and some LPS and softies, not so much. Assuming you use single speed, non-cotrollable PHs, you will want to place them in a way that creates the most random flow pattern and that is typically done by facing the PHs somewhat facing each other pr bouncing the flow off rocks and or the tank walls. If you pony up for some controllable PHs or a wave box, then that PH or PHs will pretty much take care of things for you as long. Prolonged high flow can tear flesh from corals so reagrdless you will need to consider that when buying and placing PHs. Flow is something everyone plays with over time as you add coral/nems and/or rearrange your rock.
Last edited:
