55 Gallon Long Lighting

[adperkin]

Hello Everyone,

Well everthing is going good with the 55 gallon. My green mushrooms are doing well and my shrimp ate all the aptasia. The water was tested today and everything was fine.. The Nitrates were not at zero, but I put some Prime water condition in to make the nitrates notoxic and slime coat for the fish. My tangs are looking better. I bought some algae and have been feeding them that. I think the HLLE has almost dissapeared.

But there is one thing that scared the hel out of me. My hermit crab shedded his skin. I thought he had been attacked, but soon seen him walking around on the other side of the tank.

There is one problem. I think my lighting is fines but I am ready to upgrade . I currently have a single bulb that stretcheds accross the tank. It is a Corallife 50/50 . 6000K. Please let me know if this is ok or what I can pick up at the store. I was thinking about just adding the same bulb behind the other(Double Light). I plan on getting a tube anonme on thursday. So I need to get my bulbs right. I would love the lunar lights but cant afford right now.

PLEASE HELP

[pastina]

mushrooms will grow great in that lighting...but not many other corals will.
im not familiar with anemones sorry i cant help you with that.
i know sun corals (tube coral) like dim lighting they would work in your current lights, they need alot of care though, each polyp has to be fed or they soon starve to death.
i bought my pc lighting from dr fosters and smith. 4x65 watt with 4 lunar lights, it was on sale for only 199.99. im not sure what the price is going for now but you can check it out. i think for a 55 lighting will set you back at least 200 bucks.
try thatpetplace.com sometimes they have sales too

[VWD]

I say stop the slime coat for the fish, Not needed and will add junk to the tank, That is a carry over from freshwater tanks, as far as the prime , I say stop that also, Best way to keep nitrate down is less feeding , and waterchanges with RO/DI water. Is prime a two in one and hads the slime coat
?


Welcome to TRT!

[wharyat]

Lighting really depends on what you want to keep. LPS and SPS will do good under 150/175 watt MH (metal halide) lighting -- as long as the SPS were in the top half to third of the tank. A T5 (another type of light) arrangment would be another good option for a 55.

Tube anemones are strictly heterotrophs (need to be fed, they do not use photosynthesis). It is best to wait at least one year before adding any type of anemone, as the are very intolerant of the minicycles/swings that take place in a tank of less than a year.

Welcome to TRT!!
Keep asking questions.

[adperkin]

Prime is a 2 in 1, Slime Coat and Nitrate and Nitrite Detox

[adperkin]

What is LPS and SPS?

[VWD]

Originally Posted by adperkin

Prime is a 2 in 1, Slime Coat and Nitrate and Nitrite Detox

I say stop using it. Not good for your tank in the long run. JMO

[adperkin]

prime also rids the water of Chlorine, Chloramine

[VWD]

Originally Posted by adperkin

prime also rids the water of Chlorine, Chloramine

Find one that hads no slime coat protection in it and only use it for fresh water to remove the Chlorine, Chloramine only and not to take care of Nitrates or anything thing else in the tank. If You can use RO water to top off amd mixing saltwater.

[wharyat]

Originally Posted by adperkin

What is LPS and SPS?

Here is a link to the commonly used acronyms you'll see around.



I have to agree with Vince, a lot of that stuff that they sell is not the greatest for a reef. These reef tanks have a lot of special equipment; an RO/DI filter, IMO, being the most important.


Here are some good articles with some of the basics for beginning a reef.