Acclimation, parameters, and the honest truth about each coral. It’s the least we could do.
The second your delivery lands, get the bags out. Corals tolerate one night in transit, but they do not enjoy an afternoon baking on the porch. Inspect for leaks, note the water temperature and take a pic or 2.
Takes 2 Minutes
Float the sealed bags in your display for 10-15 minutes so the bag water creeps up to tank temperature. Lights off or dimmed is ideal since your corals have been in the dark for a day and bright light can be a shock.
10 – 15 Minutes
Give every frag a coral dip to evict snails, pods, or cleanup crew you didn’t invite. Swish, rinse in clean tank water, and never pour shipping or dip water into your display. Lugol’s Iodine is always a safe option that can only help. Dose in separate bucket of tank water until tea colored and then leave coral for 5-10 minutes.
5 – 10 Minutes
Set frags, in the correct location based on the species requirements. If you don’t know it is always safe to put the new frags in the sand bed or low rock in gentle flow for the first week. Let them adjust before you move them up into stronger light. Most “it’s not opening” panic is just a coral that got blasted with too much PAR on day one.
5 – 10 Minutes
If you have any questions about the parameters I keep the coral in or any other parts of the hobby feel free to direct message on Instagram or Facebook!
Eternity
| Parameter | Target range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 76–78 °F | Stability is key. Replace heaters and controllers often. |
| Salinity | 1.024–1.026 sg | ~35 ppt — check with a refractometer |
| Alkalinity | 8–10 dKH | Keep daily swings under .5 dKH |
| Calcium | 400–450 ppm | Works with Alk & Mag together |
| Magnesium | 1300–1450 ppm | Keeps Ca & Alk in balance |
| Nitrate | 3–30 ppm | In my experience nitrates just need to be stable unless you are dealing with Acropora which require redfield ratio and extreme stability |
| Phosphate | 0.03–0.30 ppm | In my experience phosphates just need to be stable unless you are dealing with Acropora which require redfield ratio and extreme stability |
| pH | 8–8.4 | Fine to drift a bit across the day. Kalkwasser is a great way to elevate PH |
Test weekly and adjust to what your corals tell you — steady numbers beat "perfect" numbers.
Almost never. Shipping is stressful, and most corals stay closed for different amounts of time while they settle. Give it stable water, gentle flow, and time. If it still hasn’t opened after 8 hours, reach out. That’s what the Live Arrival Guarantee is for.
Usually 1–3 weeks as the coral adjusts to your light and chemistry. New corals often lose some color briefly and then color back up once it gets used to the new environment.
Not strictly; light plus stable water does most of the work. But feeding SPS and meatier LPS once or twice a week has been linked to accelerated new tissue growth, skeletal calcification, budding and energy reserves.
Chasing numbers. People swing their parameters trying to hit “perfect” values and stress everything out. Pick parameter ranges that you find easiest to maintain and work hard to keep them the same.
I personally have done many tests and here are the corals that I hit with 500+ par from my metal halide (often believed that corals can withstand higher par from halide vs. LED): Yuma Mushrooms, Torches, some Montis, some Goni, Acropora, Rhodactis Mushrooms. A theory I am testing right now is if all properly acclimated long-stalked Zoanthids can handle 500 par. Stay Tuned