Three Things To Keep In Mind When Purchasing Corals

Posted by Frag Garage on September 29th, 2021

No matter if you buy SPS coral in Canada online or from your local fish store, it is always best to be vigilant while spending the money on it. Also, make sure that you do thorough research on the vendor to ensure you are dealing with the best in the market. 

Once you choose the best, go ahead and cross-check these three things to ensure you are spending the money on the right product. After all, buying the corals without prior research will not only waste your money and time but also damage your entire aquarium. 

1- Buy aquacultured corals

This process can be a little more challenging than it is when buying the fish because corals take longer, in fact, years, to grow big enough to frag. 

Besides, it is not always ideal that you will end up with aquacultured corals due to the new trend where corals are cut to be resold instead of letting them grow into larger colonies.

With that being said, the reason we ask you to buy aquacultured coral is that you can stay assured of not pulling them from the reef directly. 

2- Check for the signs of illness and pests

Even illness is a little too hard to recognize on corals. But, you can look for signs like:

Bleaching: When the corals expel zooxanthelae, they start losing their colour, therefore turning white. Even though the coral won’t die due to bleaching, but it is a huge sign of stress. 

Gaping mouth: This may not be the case with SPS corals but, LPS corals tend to have large enough mouths that can be viewed. The mouth should be closed tightly. 

Brown slime: This is quite common on certain corals. Brown slim infection is enough to wipe the entire colony out. It usually appears on the base of the coral polyps and has a brown jelly appearance. 

Similarly, even pests are a little hard to find, but you can get rid of them with close inspection and coral dip. But, that should be done before the coral is added to the display tank. This means a quarantine tank is a must for all your corals.

3- Polyp extension

A healthy coral will always have its polyps out and extended for a good amount of a day. Polyp extension enables photosynthetic zooxanthellae to consume light and generate food. 

And since every coral has a different looking polyp, it is best to Google a few pictures of healthy corals you wish to buy. This way, you will know if you are spending money properly or not.

Over to you

Even though there are a couple of more things that you consider when purchasing SPS Coral in Canada, cross-checking for these three things are enough to ensure your investment is worthy. 

Kevin Astle is the author of this article. To know more details about Chalices coral in canada - Frag Garage please visit our website: fraggarage.ca