Coral Care Sheet

I remember when I was getting into the reef keeping hobby it was very intimidating. There is a lot of recommendations and opinions out there trying to steer you in multiple directions. One very important thing I’ve realized throughout the years is that there are many ways to find success in this hobby. My goal with this guide is to make coral care seem simpler. 

-The Setup + Importance of Water Volume

When shopping for your setup the one key thing you need to keep in mind is that you can’t have a successful reef tank without stable water quality. A swing in alkalinity or a spike of nitrates can stress or kill coral cancelling out months of hard earned growth and progress. Where this ties into the setup aspect is that smaller bodies of water are more prone to parameter swings since there is less volume to dilute potential issues. To put it simply; a smaller tank is much harder to keep than a large one. Now that is not to say nano reef tanks won’t be successful, but they are definitely an uphill battle and best suited for more experienced reef keepers. I recommend your aquarium be as big as your budget/means will allow.

-Soft Coral

Soft coral gets its name because the entire piece of coral is composed of zooxanthellae algae and flesh. They do not have calcium carbonate exoskeletons like LPS and SPS which makes their care a lot less complicated. Softies are far more forgiving when it comes to handling parameter swings and sub-optimal levels so they are best suited for beginners who are still getting the hang of things. 

As far as equipment goes you’ll want a decently strong full spectrum light and a power head for additional flow. The power head will help prevent detritus from settling in dead spots and keep algae growth under control. The parameters in the table below are the most important that you’ll need to worry about.

Usually just a partial water change every 2-3 weeks is more than enough to keep these levels in line. In some instances, however, you’ll need to do water changes more frequently or dose supplements to keep these regulated. Each tank is different so frequent water testing is important. For feeding, these corals can consume all the nutrients they need photosynthetically through your light. While not necessary, spot feeding with coral food and dosing amino acids is a great way to get quicker growth and brighter colors.

-LPS

The next step up the ladder of difficulty is large polyp stony coral. This grouping is composed of coral with large polyps and a calcium carbonate skeleton. LPS coral are not as durable as soft coral but still somewhat resilient. The most important parameters are listed below.

Caring for these corals is when you are first introduced to the "Big 3"; Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium. These elements are the 3 most crucial for skeletal growth so keeping them in not only optimal ranges but stable is vital for success. When you first start off building your reef, water changes alone are enough to keep these parameters where they need to be. As your coral grow and you fill out your aquarium, it is important to monitor these levels with a test kit and dose supplements when required. Keeping these parameters stable is most of the battle.

You will need a good, full spectrum reef light set for around 10 hours out of the day. If possible, integrate a ramp up and down feature in the beginning and end of the schedule to imitate sunrise and sunset. This will allow the coral to slowly adjust to the light as the intensity changes. LPS species like moderate, indirect flow. Usually one powerhead on the opposite side of the return jet is enough to achieve this.

As far as feeding goes, the coral will consume most of its nutrients photosynthetically. For quicker growth and better health spot feeding and dosing amino acids is recommended. For some species like Goniopora and Acans, they need supplemental feeding to truly thrive.

-SPS

Last but not least, SPS coral, which stands for Small Polyp Stony. It is the most sensitive of the 3 groups because it is mostly skeleton and very little algae/flesh. Parameter swings can bleach SPS overnight so they are best suited for experts in the reek keeping world. Now with all the groups some species are easier than others but stable water quality and a dialed in lighting schedule are paramount to your success.

The only difference in water quality between LPS and SPS is a slightly lower nitrate and phosphate level. As far as lighting goes, SPS need stronger light compared to LPS and Soft coral. They also  require a higher mixture of red and green in the schedule to bring out color. More specifics for lighting will be down below. Shoot for high, indirect water flow so debris doesn't settle on any of the coral and food gets pushed around the aquarium. SPS have much smaller mouths and most species have shorter tentacles so they need the extra flow to help catch food out of the water column. Spot feeding and amino acid supplements are recommended twice a week.

-Lighting 

All coral is composed of zooxanthellae algae which is photosynthetic. For this reason having the proper light is very important for your success with coral. High quality reef LED’s are expensive up front but last awhile and make your reef keeping journey easier. 

When it comes to programming the light, there are a lot of schedules out there you can use or you can create your own. The intensity you run your light at will vary depending on what light you have and the size of your aquarium. Since there is no single “perfect” lighting schedule, I will offer the general guidelines I use when setting up programs for our operation.

The goal is to find the right balance between sufficient light to grow coral but not so much that you are feeding excess algae growth. To achieve this you will want your schedule to be around 10 hours long. It’s important to add a sunrise/sunset feature to gradually acclimate your livestock to peak intensity. Coral and fish can stress easily under the stronger lights and 10 hours at max intensity may turn your aquarium into an algae farm. Your goal should be about 3-4 hours of peak "sunlight" with a 3 hour ramp up and down window before and after. The color spectrum should be blue heavy with some white and trace levels of reds greens and purple. Example below- 

 These percentages would be for peak daylight so you’ll want to scale the intensity for the sunrise/sunset. Often times lighting is something that needs to be tweaked here and there to get it dialed in to your aquarium, it’s best to start low and increase rather than start high and decrease. Stronger light does far more damage than weaker light in short time periods.

Another option is to invest in a PAR meter. PAR stands for “photosynthetically active radiation.” Each coral species has a PAR level they do best in, and having a tool that measures it eliminates the guessing game and gives more certainty. 

I hope this guide helped you understand a bit more about reef keeping. If you have any questions that I didn’t answer please reach out to jeremy@areefersharvest.com for help.