Overstocked on corals???

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fishiefishie

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Nov 12, 2006
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Ok, so I'm only stocking a 20gal long tank, but I THINK I've gotten WAY too many frags! I have a total of 21 frags, each about 1" big. Is this even doable or have I overstocked my tank? They are mostly zoas, a few palys, a few mushrooms/ricordias, a couple I'm not sure -- was given them to try in my tank.
Is it possible to just keep them trimmed smaller, or will this kill them?
Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, should I does each day with some phyto-feast or something? I'm sure they couldn't all be able to eat just based on what is naturally in the tank.
TIA! :help:
 
Zoas, shrooms, palys and rics do not need anything but light and good water. No you're not overstocked. Feeding phyto is going to increase nutrients in a tank that size very fast so unless you are skimming heavily and doing frequent WC's you're going to have problems. How many fish are in the 20? The only issue I see with that number of corals is that they will eventually start competing for space. I would cluster them in groups. Rics play nice with rics, zoas play nice with zoas, etc.
 
I'm overstocked on fish - I know that for sure. But this is my second sw tank in 5 years, and I'm diligent about WC, have an oversized skimmer, use carbon and purigen, and mangrove in the HOB... that kind of thing. I have four fish, the largest of which is an oc. clown, all about full grown now... had them all almost a year.
So I shouldn't give phyto-feast at all then? Or at very most sparingly?
I was thinking of trying to mass most of the zoas along both sides and front-center, then the palys between them in the middle-center, with the rics in the front, off-center. The mushrooms I figured I could put in between where ever space allows.
Does this sound doable?
When they start encroaching on each other's space, what is the min. size they should be before I frag them to give more room?

Thanks for the help!!
 
You know you're tank better than anyone. Sounds like you have things under control. With that kind of system you could feed sparingly but I really don't see the need with those types of corals. Shrooms and zoas are very prolific and will spread like crazy even without the addition of phyto. Sounds like a good softy tank too me! What are the other corals you have in there? The shrooms and rics are probably going to win any war that breaks out but the zoas and palys can hold their own as well.

There really is no mimimum size to frag those corals. You just need a shroom/ric or zoa polyp. You can cut shrooms and rics in half/quarters with a razor blade (just try and get a part of the mouth in each part). You can even put shrooms (not the rics) in a blender and poor them in your tank.
 
One of the ones given to me to try is a rusty gorgonian. Not sure how well it will do (I haven't gotten it yet actually) but I'm willing to try. And another is a 1/2" frag of a orange montipora. Again, not sure about these, but was told they should do ok.

I appreciate all the advice -- it's scary first starting out! LOL
 
as long as you have the trace elements getting refueld by your salt mix frequently enough you can't really be overstocked. some of teh nicest tanks ive ever seen were so full of large corals that you couldnt see an inch of LR in a 240 gallon tank with rock from top to bottom.
 
I don't think you have too many corals. You may find yourself needing to make some frags on a regular basis, but that's just a little money back in your pocket to buy supplies or stuff to trade for more / different frags.

I'm not sure I'd dose the tank with phyto, unless some of the frags you're getting are non-photosynthetic. Fish poo makes excellent coral food, and if you feel your tank is pushing the limits with your fish load, the corals should have plenty of food available to them. :)
 
As long as all are doing well, "Why fix something that's not broken".

You seemd to be on top of things and only problem I can see is that you may need more tanks/space for all the fraggin you may do. Well, welcome aboard!
 
i think the key with smaller tanks is good water changes and testing the water atleast every 2 weeks.
i have a over packed 20g high tank with way to much in it with no problems, corals just growing to fast lol. if they get to big for you just frag and sell or trade them off. thats just what i did today with my leathers and mushrooms, great way to make some of your money back from these expensive little guys
 
Sweet! SO glad to know I haven't just wasted money on frags I can't use!!
What all tests should I be taking, other than the normal ammo, nitrite & nitrate?

Once I get everything settled in I'll take some pix!
Thanks!!
 
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