FAQS

Aquacultured means the coral is a “second generation”. It was cut from a wild frag and then after it healed and grew in an aquarium was later fragged once again. This frag is considered aquacultured. Aquacultured corals are often preferred as they have a better survival rate, better coloration, and are less likely to have pests.

What You See Is What You Get. Every coral that is labeled WYSIWYG will be the exact coral that you will receive.

DOA stands for Dead On Arrival. Corals that are shipped, go through a lot of stress. While Sunnyside Corals does have a great track record of delivering healthy corals, every once in a while a coral will arrive dead. Our policy on all DOA corals can be reviewed in our shipping policies.

How to qualify for our 72 hour guarantee.

1. Be consistent with your communication with us.
2. Send pictures of the coral upon arrival.
3. Updated pictures of the coral once you have noticed an issue.
4. Information about what you believe to be going wrong.
5. A detailed list of any medications, dips, and placement of the frag in your tank.

Send all pictures and info to sunnysidecoral@gmail.com or 801-300-1228

Our Auctions are a fun way for people to pay what they want for corals they love. Oftentimes resulting in amazing discounts! Here is how you get started.

1. Sign up / sign into your account.
2. On the coral, you want to bid on, select the bid now icon in the right corner near the shopping cart icon on the product.
3. Input the max bid that you wish to put on the coral. This allows our proxy bid system to incrementally keep you as the top bidder until you reach your max bid.

For more step-by-step instructions you can view our tutorial on YouTube here.

Shipping Pricing

Utah, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada – Flat Rate Shipping $30

The Continental United States – Flat Rate Shipping $44.99

Free Shipping – All single orders over $300 ( excluding Hawaii)

Hawaii – We will ship to Hawaii but will not guarantee any of our shipments there

Saturday Delivery – Required to add our “Saturday Shipping Service” product to your order.

Acclimating new corals can increase the rate of survival. It only takes a few minutes to do and is well worth it.

1. While still in the bag, place your coral inside of your tank to float for 10 minutes. This allows the water temperature in the bag to become consistent with your tank water.
2. Remove your coral from the bag and place the coral and the water inside in a clean bucket designated for aquarium use.
3. Fill your bucket with 50% water from your tank and 50% water from the bag. (use all of the water from the bag)
4. Now is the perfect time to treat your coral with a coral dip in order to get rid of any unwanted hitchhikers.
5. After dipping and rinsing off your coral, you can place your coral in your tank. We recommend placing corals lower in your tank and moving them up slowly to find a happy spot in your tank. Every coral on our site has instructions on recommended placement requirements. Please, refer to the product page for specific requirements.

Acclimating new corals can increase the rate of survival. It only takes a few minutes to do and is well worth it.

1. Take a picture of your coral inside of the bag and send it to us.
2. While still in the bag, place your coral inside of your tank to float for 10 minutes. This allows the water temperature in the bag to become consistent with your tank water.
3. Remove your coral from the bag and place the coral and the water inside in a clean bucket designated for aquarium use.
4. Fill your bucket with 50% water from your tank and 50% water from the bag. (use all of the water from the bag)
5. Now is the perfect time to treat your coral with a coral dip in order to get rid of any unwanted hitchhikers.
6. After dipping, you can place your coral in your tank. We recommend placing corals lower in your tank and moving them up slowly to find a happy spot in your tank. Every coral on our site has instructions on recommended placement requirements. Please, refer to the product page for specific requirements.

We recommend that you use Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer when dipping corals. It does that best job with the least amount of harm to your corals in our experience.

Dipping Acropora can be scary. Most coral dips are too potent and often kill or stress out Acropora, especially smooth skins. We recommend that you use Bayer Advanced Complete Insect Killer when dipping Acros. It does the best job with the least amount of harm to your corals in our experience.

Being able to tell if your corals are getting too much or too little light can be tricky. The best way to tell is by the change in the coloration of your coral. If your coral begins to lighten or even bleach, chances are your coral is getting too much light. If your corals on the other hand are browning out and have poor coloration, you might want to try moving up your corals or increasing your light intensity. If corals do not receive enough light, they often grow and a slower rate as well.

It is recommended that you have your lights on for 9 to 12 hours every day. We run our lights for 12.5 hours every day with a variation of colors and intensity. To learn more about our lighting schedules check out our blog post “The Best Saltwater Aquarium Light Schedule”.

LPS and Softy Corals are the best coral types to add to any new tank. They are hardier and react best to fluctuations that occur in a new tank. For more information on Beginner, Corals check out our Beginner Corals category page.

Some of our favorite beginner corals are Bam Bam Zoanthids, Christmas Clove Polys, Magna Zoanthids, and our Neon Green Toadstools. We also have beginner packs already picked out for you that will help you get started.

Every new tank has to go through a cycling phase where your tank’s water parameters start to balance out and your tank has the correct bacteria to support reef life. This cycle time can vary from tank to tank but you should always wait about a month before adding in coral. You might consider adding live sand and rock as well as snails and some hardy fish like damsels to add nutrients and healthy bacteria.

There are many factors that make it hard to say for sure how long you should wait before adding SPS corals to your saltwater tank. Typically you should wait 12 months to a year before adding any SPS corals, especially Acropora. When you do start to add SPS check out our SPS beginner packs to get an idea of the best corals to try first.

Some of our favorites are Mystic Monti, WWC Grafted Cap Monti, ORA Green Birdsnest, Orange Digitata, and Poletti’s Yellow Tip. Typically types of Montipora are the best SPS corals to introduce first.

Some of our favorites are the Green Alien Eye Mycedium, Frogspawn, Molten lepto, Blasto Merletti, and Aussie Duncans.

Acropora can be one of the touchiest corals to grow. They require a stable system with very little fluctuation in water parameters and temperature. Because of this most tanks typically need to be close to a year old before you start to add acros. You need to give your tank enough time to stabilize in order to be successful in growing Acropora.

There are two main classifications of Hard Corals. One is the Small Polyp Stony Corals or often referred to as SPS Coral. The other classification of Hard Corals are Large Polyp Stony Corals, also known as LPS Coral. LPS are often identified by their soft fleshy body with large polyps or mouths. Each mouth or polyps is its own organism but grows together to form a colony.

There are two main classifications of Hard Corals. One is the Small Polyp Stony Corals or often referred to as SPS Coral. The other classification of Hard Corals are Large Polyp Stony Corals, also known as LPS Corals. SPS corals are often identified by their smaller polyp size and hard calcified internal skeleton. This identification method does not always hold true for all SPS corals, however. When people think of reefs found in the ocean, they often picture SPS coral. SPS coral are often referred to as the architects of the ocean because of their intricate growth patterns and structure.

Soft coral, unlike hard corals, do not grow a hard carbonite skeletal structure. This allows soft corals to move and flow with the water movement. This type of coral is particularly popular with newer hobbyists because of its ease of care. Soft corals are not as susceptible to parameter changes in your water and often do better in a dirtier tank. this makes them the ideal choice for anyone testing out a new tank or looking for low-maintenance corals.

Some of the most common types of LPS corals are Blastomussa, Euphillia, Chalices and Favias. For more information on LPS corals check out our Categories page on LPS Corals.

The two main types of SPS corals are Montipora and Acropora. To learn more about SPS corals check out our SPS Corals categories page.

The most common types of Soft Corals include Zoanthids, Anemones, Mushrooms, and Clove Polyps. To learn more about Soft Corals check out our Soft Corals categories page.