As more and more hobbyists are becoming reef tank keepers, more will come to value the captivating natural surroundings that are found on the coral reefs and understand its significance. Captive proliferation is truly picking up steam and ideally some time soon we’ll be mostly trading captive raised corals. Buying corals for sale is the easiest way to lay your hands on them however directly or indirectly they need to be procured from somewhere right? When the demand is high then obviously sellers resort to harvesting them from the wild(ocean).
You’ll hear a few people contend that keeping corals is deceptive or as hurting the reef. While the aquarium trade certainly affects the reefs, we feel that the knowledge and appreciation picked up from keeping these creatures far exceeds the extremely minor effects from collection of these species for the aquarium trade.
Alright, how about we talk about a portion of the main topic and things to remember while venturing into coral keeping.
Water Parameters
You should keep the reef tank water boundaries at optimal levels so as to keep corals in your aquarium. This may imply that you need to perform standard partial water changes or potentially supplement with various saltwater aquarium additives. It’s generally more affordable to perform partial water changes all the time though.
Water Flow
Corals require turbulent water conditions to carry food to them and to wash off bodily fluid that can develop because of aggravation from others or potentially to whisk away residue that has fallen into or on the coral. High turnover in the tank is certainly suggested. 20 or 30 times for every hour is a decent flow rate to focus on with some reef hobbyists having significantly higher flow rates in bare bottom tanks.
A unidirectional, straight or one way stream could harm your corals. Design the power heads or closed circulation outlets with the goal that the outflows point in different directions to create the turbulent effect. Or on the other hand point them such that their outflows smash into one another. There are many gadgets you can purchase for the output nozzle on power heads to make a round or wave type motion for the out flowing water.
Coral Lighting
The measure of aquarium light required for keeping corals relies upon what you need to keep. Corals that have zooxanthellae need light to live and grow and these are called hermatypic corals. Corals without zooxanthellae are called hermatypic and these are frequently found in places where not a great deal of light reaches the ocean floor. They get the greater part of their energy needs from filter feeding and catching living organisms. In this way, settling on a specific lighting setup needs to come after you choose what you are wanting to keep.
Coral Food – To Feed or Not To Feed?
You’ll frequently hear people boast about how they don’t feed their corals anything and they grow like there’s no tomorrow. It’s true in some cases and not so true in other cases. Hermatypic corals get a lot of their required energy from the zooxanthellae living inside them. Zooxanthellae fundamentally need light, so theory goes that in the event that you give them enough light they’ll be fine.
Then again Ahermatypic corals will quite often need to be fed and they could be viewed as probably the most difficult to keep for the average hobbyist.
So an honest advice is to keep corals that you are comfortable handling. And as a thumb rule consult your local dealer for any live coral for sale as mostly the coral is locally grown and they are experts in providing valuable tips for your own aquarium.
