Switchover to reef

[Larry]

I'm in a tight spot here. I have or did have a fish only setup. 20 gal. 3" bed of crushed coral over a UG filter with a power head. A Skilter 250, and about 10 lbs of dead base rock. This tank had the normal 15w daylight bulb in the hood and was inhabited by 2 damsels that were used to cycle the tank. This setup had just reached 0 amonia and 0 nitrites.

My brother who is into freshwater comes along and gives me a gift of a coral piece. I don't know much about corals so I don't know what they are except they are some sort of soft coral polyps with a few mushrooms on the piece. They were sold to him as a begginer coral not needing much light and so on.

Well I knew right off they would need a better lighting setup than I had so I ran out and bought a power compact unit. 55 watt 50/50 bulb which I run with the original 15w daylight strip. I plan on getting another identical pc fixture soon.

My question boils down to this. Can I keep a coral piece with the crushed coral UG/skilter setup. I know the way to go is with live sand and no UG/better skimmer/lots of live rock but is my present setup workable. I do plan on adding some live rock anyway.


If I do have to go to the live sand, what is the best method to convert.

This is the reason I registered here. Have been lurking for awhile and finaly decided to post to get more targeted information.

Thank You for Your time:

Larry

[Alice]

Hi Larry and Welcome!

I'd lay odds that if it was sold as a "beginner coral" with polyps and mushrooms that it's either Xenia or a "Colt" coral of some variety. Several soft corals get sold under the common name "colt." With another PC unit you should have enough light for it.

With the UGF and the crushed coral what you'll need to watch for most is nitrates. In a reef tank they should register 0 or darn close to it. Test your nitrates and let's see where you're at.

When you decide to switch out the CC and UGF, this is what I would do. Get a box of live rock and the bags of sand you will need for your sandbed. Get a big rubbermaid tub, powerhead or two and a heater, put the rocks and sand in the tub full of saltwater and let it cure until ammonia, nitrites and nitrates reach zero. This will take somewhere between 3-5 weeks. When that's all done, just junk the CC and UGF in your tank and add the sand and rocks from the tub. With the new lights and a protein skimmer, you'll be ready to rumble

~Alice

[Larry]

Thanks for the info Alice. I'll have to get a nitrate test kit and the other Pc fixture. The expense of the full chageover will have to wait till after Christmas.

Larry

[Larry]

Looking at pictures aroud the net I have gathered with my limited ID talents that the coral piece is a colony of zooanthids. I would say about 50 of them.

I noticed when I fed the fish frozen brine shrimp the zooanthids would devour any that fell on them. Now I have started feeding them with the brine shrimp. I put a little in a syringe with water from the tank and give them each a shrimp or two. I do this about once a week. Is this a good idea or not?

They seem to be doing ok. Opening good and excreiting waste. The brine seems to make them real happy.