Reef tank tips for beginner

[fishy11254]

I setup in my first reef tank about 2 moths ago. It is a 20 gallon tank. I had a briopsis outbreak and am using FluxRX now. The Inhabitians are: 4 blue legged hermit crabs, a Royal gramma, six line wrasse, Blue sponge on live rock and a Small Coral beauty. All the fish look healthy and eat well. Any suggestions what else I should add?. What soft corals should I get first?

 

[JTP424]

I'm no expert on the species but I'm sure people are going to tell you the tank is too small for the Beauty, unless you have a larger tank for it on standby.
So long as you've gone through your cycle and your parameters are in line (feel free to post them for advice) you should be good to add something. It depends on what you like, with it being your first, I would start with something forgiving, maybe a zoa, a mushroom, etc.

 

[fishywishy]

That coral beauty is going to be way too big for that tank once it reaches full size so I would upgrade before then, or rehome it. maybe get flame back or something instead.

I would consider adding a couple of clownfish, a sapphire damsel, and one or two gobies. After that, your tank will be pretty much fully stocked.

I would start with soft corals, almost all are beginner friendly, just stay away from palys, gsp, and xenias.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Personally I would add more rock, it will give you more space for corals, and also fill in the tank a little, it looks kind of empty. I would add another powerhead on the opposite side and aim it upwards to agitate the surface more, I see a lot of build up on the surface. I would start adding corals to build the biome, the more you add, the more diversity and healthy bacteria is being added to the tank. I would add some leathers in there to get some height and movement, add zoa's, mushrooms, and couple of easy lps like blasto's and favia's, maybe a hammer or frogspawn...

 

[fishy11254]

Thank you all for the tips. I will be returning the coral beauty, and possibly getting more live rock. Any ideas how I can keep it from falling over?
After how many days should I see the briopsis dying off, after flux RX treatment?

 

[JTP424]

Appreciate you listening to our suggestions and taking them to heart!

Super glue is a common adhesive, you can also get some reefsafe epoxy to attach things.

On average I think I see people saying results from flux after day 10ish. But it may take longer. Be sure to do your water changes after treatment.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Glad to hear the Coral Beauty is going back. Instant Ocean makes a great epoxy that will work for securing more rock.

 

[Daz_1978]

To dip your toes in the water... Try out some cheap mushrooms. Leathers are pretty easy too.
The biggest thing with both of those will be finding a flow that they like.

The Coral Beauty may or may not decide to start eating coral. They're "reef safe, with caution".

I second the Instant Ocean HoldFast Epoxy. If you think you'll use 1 package, get 3...

 

[BryanM]

Re: securing rock work, I don't. I fight with it until I'm convinced it won't fall, but I also have large rocks, one of which must be 30+ pounds.

I am also glad to hear you're listening to sizes, and here's why... Besides being a good steward for the fish, when you have rock, and hiding places, if you were to take on a fish and plan to rehome it when it got too big, its dang hard to catch them.

I had to remove 90% of my rocks to catch two bad actors in my tank, and that was simply not fun at all.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

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