Building a Hard Corals Budget Reef
- Aug 15, 2021
- Anshika Mishra
- 278 0 0
Just like the soft corals, the hard corals also need cleaner water than the budget build tank. If you plan to build a budget reef tank with the hard coral, keep on reading!
Two things to know right the bat
- The hard coral budget reef tank needs a more powerful light than the soft coral budget reef.
- Hard corals need more flow than soft coral.
Hard Corals
Besides stronger lighting and flow, hard corals have different water chemistry needs than soft corals. They like cleaner water, and they also like the water that can more elements for healthy growth.
Starting on the cleaning water side of things, if you are not already using ro/di water in your tank, now is the great time to start. We highly recommend you start using ro/di water before adding any hard corals to your tank.
A ro/do unit delivers immaculate water to help you kick contaminants out of your reef tank. Of course, some prefer to make their own ro/di water, but at the very least, you should purchase ro/di water for your local fish store.
Better water chemistry for the hard coral tank also means lower nutrient levels. The good news is you don't need to have a much cleaner nutrient level than you should already be maintaining in a soft coral tank.
For the hard coral budget, tank, keep your:
- Nitrates below 10ppm
- Phosphate below 0.07ppm
Remember, you can keep your nutrients low by:
- Not overstocking your tank
- Feeding a high quality frozen food
- And only feeding enough for fish to get 2-3 bites when you feed
Besides nutrient levels in the hard coral budget reef tank, you will also need to pay close attention to alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium levels. Hard corals use alkalinity and calcium to build their hard skeletons, and if you are cleaning, calcium levels aren't in check. Then those hard corals won't grow, and they can even die.
Magnesium is also used in coral growth but not as much as alkalinity and calcium, and Magnesium still needs to be on your radar. By monitoring calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels to test your tank water, you will provide the right kind of water for your hard corals' healthy growth.
Water changes are party done to reduce nutrient levels in your tank, and another reason to do water change is to increase the level of elements in your tank water. For example, on the hard coral budget reef tank, when alkalinity, calcium, or magnesium get below the range, you must change water to boose up those levels.
But the catch is, you do not want to water change with any salt, but only with reef tank salts. This is because reef salt has a higher level of alkalinity and other elements that your coral needs to grow.
When Do You Need to Do A Water Change?
The simple answer is when your tank tells you to, which you will know when your water primers are outside these values.
- Nitrates at or above 10ppm
- Phosphate above 0.07ppm
- Calcium <400ppm
- Magnesium<1200ppm
- Alkalinity<8dKH
A 25% water change would gently bring your water parameters back in check. However, since hard corals are more sensitive than soft corals, they do no bigger than a 25% water change, as bigger ones can drastically change your water parameters, harming the hard corals in the tank.
Conclusion
Well, hard corals are picker than soft corals, don't be scared off by them. You are used to keeping hard corals and keep your tank's water chemistry in the parameters when your hard corals are happy. Those hard corals are gonna reward you with all the colors of the rainbow and some wild growth patterns.
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