How Soon?

[ldmk]

I've had my 190 tank (72X24X25) tank up for six weeks. I have three 250W MH (10,000 Kelvin) and two 5" Actinic "03" VHOs. I have a 5" DSB. Right now I have a bunch of "softies" and a lot of invertebrates. How long should I wait before getting a clam and what sort should it be? I've seen suggestions of getting them from www.clamsdirect.com on this forum, but I'd love to get any "newbie" tips that you have.

Thanks in advance.

K.M.

[Geoff]

i waited to get my clam until i saw new growth on all of my mollusks and stonies. when my SPS started showing good growth i knew things were getting there. when i saw that my conch has grown a whole new spiral then i was pretty confident that my water was pretty good.
also make sure you have lots of coraline algae on the glass also.

this took 9 months! and i still think i may have been a touch early, no reason, just feels early. i originally wanted to wait a year, but Casey made me do it.

what are you using for Ca?

G~

[ldmk]

Hi Geoff:

I'm using a MyReefCreations CR-2 (two column) calcium reactor. Currently my calcium is at 470 ppm, my alkalinity is way too high, and my pH a bit high (that threads under the General Reef discussion ).

So, would you suggest getting SPS first and seeing how they do before getting clams? If so can you suggest any specific places online where I can get SPS frags? The LFS stores don't have any and I don't have anything to trade at a frag swap.

Thanks.

K.M.

[Casey]

Originally posted by Geoff
i waited to get my clam until i saw new growth on all of my mollusks and stonies. when my SPS started showing good growth i knew things were getting there. when i saw that my conch has grown a whole new spiral then i was pretty confident that my water was pretty good.
also make sure you have lots of coraline algae on the glass also.

this took 9 months! and i still think i may have been a touch early, no reason, just feels early. i originally wanted to wait a year, but Casey made me do it.

what are you using for Ca?

G~

Hey dont blame me you bad boy

[Geoff]

i do suggest getting a frag before going into a clam. if for the fact that they are generally less expensive. also due to the fact that it will take you a long time to see if it is actually growing, which in turn gives your tank a little longer to mature. like i said i also suggest snails for the same reason. i was able to find a frag at my LFS for under $20. it was a Pocillipora, i knew they were hardier than the acros.

i remember reading your Ca thread now, sorry i did not make the connection sooner. i would not suggest getting a frag until you have that under control. once again, a chance to let the tank mature a little bit more.

i know www.premiumaquatics.com carries frags. since you are on the left coast you should be able find a closer frag supplier. CA is loaded with them.

hth,

G~

[ldmk]

A-O.K. I'll get some frags and try and be patient. It took me over a year to get the tank up and running so I'm finding it even harder to be patient than normal

Thanks for all the advice.

K.M.

[Ranran]

I just bought four frags from spsfrags.com Patrick has some nice corals to choose from and are priced right. He is also located in Portland OR if you are in town you can pick them up.
Randy

[Sue Truett]

I would also suggest your getting the tank water settled before adding andy sps frags to your system. I also though wouldn't suggest you get a sps frag til the system matures. Eric Borneman suggests not to add sps frags/corals to a tank until the tank is well matured and if a brand new tank not for a year. I have heard clams need to be added even after sps. Since I do keep both clams and sps in my 180 I didn't add the sps til the tank was about 9 months old. The clams didn't get here for 1.5 years but they are doing awesome. Clams are extremely sensitive to pH swings. Having everything working and in balance will help with clam/sps coral health in the long run.

Oh, and I highly suggest Barry of www.clamsdirect.com for all your clam needs.

[yardboy]

I know everyone's going to yell at me for this, but I put my first frag (a brown acro) in the tank after just two weeks. What can I say, it was only $5 and about an inch long. Six months later its 3 inches long and turned a fluorescent green over the brown. A friend gave me some other frags that are thriving too (hydnophora, staghorn,) None grew much at first, but in the last 2 months they've grown quite a bit. All I'm saying is if you get too impatient (this is after your chem. parmeters settle!) frags seem more hardy and are much cheaper. (or free) Least I sound too cocky, I bought two small brown acro colonies (4"dia) and one turned a beautiful blue color a couple of weeks before it bleached and died (sickening) but the other has full polyp extension and has stayed brown.

[ldmk]

Originally posted by Geoff
when i saw that my conch has grown a whole new spiral then i was pretty confident that my water was pretty good.
also make sure you have lots of coraline algae on the glass also.

this took 9 months! and i still think i may have been a touch early, no reason, just feels early.

G~

Actually a bunch of my snails are showing new spirals (these are mostly the Star snails that I have had in the tank pretty much from day one - as soon as the tank finished cycling). I guess my snails are overachievers I am starting to see quite a bit of coraline algae on the glass - and mostly on the plumbing parts (shows up nicely on the white). So I think I'll get some SPS frags in a few weeks and see how they fare.

Yardboy - thanks for your message. It's nice to know there's someone else out there who is impatient like me

Thanks again to all for your suggestions and responses.

K.M.