what kind of corals can i have

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thumperss

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
295
Location
kelso ,wa
i have a 55 gal tank with 48" coralife Retrofit - 2-65 watt Actinic and 2-65 watt 10,000Kâ„¢ Daylight Compact Fluorescent Lamps Straight Pin with a cpr Protein Skimmer Overflow Box with a 10 gal sea reef Wet/Dry Filter with bioballs 300 w heater & 800gph pump 2 180gph and 1 120gph Powerheads 45lbs of Marshall Island Live Rock 5lbs Fiji Live Rock 25 lbs of live sand and 1 Ocellaris Clownfish 1 molly that is prago and 2 Lemon Damsels 10 Blue Leg Reef Hermit Crab 5 Cerith Snail 1 peperment shrimp
Brandon
 
IMO your lighting is more geared towards LPS & Softies. There are a few sps you can keep under lower light such as some monti caps, even some
m digitata & hydnophora but you will likely not get the bright colors one expects from sps. You will need to place any sps high in the tank.
Your lighting is similar to what I had when I started and the above mentioned is what I was able to keep at that time.
 
I would start by getting rid of the bio-balls. They'll become a nitrate factory!! If you insist on keeping the wet/dry filter, at least take the bio-balls out of it. You'd be better off going with a large rubbermaide container or the largest tank that will fit in your stand. Those would both be better than the wet/dry filter. Next, I'd add more circulation via more powerheads. You want to look for about 600-1000GPH, NOT counting your sump return. I'd also think about adding more live rock. You mention having a CPR skimmer overflow box, but you don't mention if you actually have a protein skimmer or not. That info would help out. You definitely want a decent skimmer if you want to keep corals. I'd stay away from CPR skimmers. Look at the Remora skimmers. Great Hang On unit for your size of tank. They can also be used in a sump.

With the lighting set up you have, you shouldn't have any problem keeping most soft corals and some or most LPS corals. Boosting your flow will definitely help with both of those as well. As far as SPS goes, If you have rockwork pretty close to your lighting, you may be able to grow Montipora Digitata or Montipora Capricornis if you keep them close to your lights.
 
i do have a cpr Protein Skimmer and Overflow Box my curnt in my tank is moveing well now i got a powerhead 804 and an 402
Brandon
 
Hello and welcome to Reef Frontiers :)
You can keep most photosynthetic soft corals as well as Large Polyp stony (LPS) corals. In addition to the Montiopora sp. there are a few other Small Polyp Stony (SPS) corals that can be kept. They need to be positioned within 12" of the bulbs. Acropora valida, Pocillipora damincornis, Porites porites, Porites lobata (often with Christmas Tree worms), Acropora nana, Acropora granulosa, Acropora loripes. That's all I can think of right now but there are others too.

HTH,
Kevin
 
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