what corals would you add, and where

[Robizzo]

this is my 55 gallon tank, has a 4 bulb t5ho, proflex model 1, aquac remora, mag5, eshopps overflow, 1 inch sea swirl, and 2 koralia nano power heads..as far as fish i have 3 green chromis 3 engineer gobies, lemonhead sleeper goby, and a tomato clown...also have 3 peppermint shrimp, emerald crab, bunch of different snails and hermits, and a black long spined sea urchin..my issue is i dont know what to keep as far as corals based on my equipment...right now i have a bubble tip anenome, frogspawn, some polyps a couple mushrooms, pulsing xenia and a bubble coral...what would add where would you put it and would you remove anything?

 

[Robizzo]

more pics

 

[Robizzo]

i have lots on room to put things, and 75% of what i have now isnt glued down

 

[Imbarrie]

I would see if you can get some more rocks stacked up closer to the lights.
You could get more lighting to coral that way.
You can get soft corals like mushrooms or zoa types but if you want higher light dependent coral you may want to look into a 6 bulb T5 configuration, or a different type of light.
Is that a gonipora or alveopora?
Either way you have a coral that is almost impossible to keep in any tank. I would consider seeing if someone would take that off your hands or you are likely to see a slowly dying piece of rock.

Did the LFS sell you that coral without telling you it is a difficult coral to keep? If they did I would not trust them with purchases going forward.
I have lost coral due to any number of reasons but selling that to an inexperienced reefer points to a LFS that is not being completely upfront.
I always research on my smartphone before making purchases.

 

[Robizzo]

i also have a pair of 175w metal halides ive been considering using but didnt know if it would be that much better than the 4 bulb t5, honestly i have no idea what that rock is i got it cheap at lfs id say green gonipora

 

[Robizzo]

Ive had it for about 4 months and its been doing well even after losing power for a few days after sandy i had no idea this is hard to keep

 

[Robizzo]

if i used my metal halides instead of the 4 bulb t5, would i still have to raise my stack or could i make that adjustment by how high i mount the lights

 

[Rich1022]

I would put the rocks closer to the lights and add some nice SPS

 

[fishman1069]

The metal halides will give you a hell of a lot more light then the t5. If you decide to switch to those, you're going to have to light acclimate your corals. Take 3 pieces of vinyl screen and put it on top of the tank, between the light and tank . Pull one piece of screen every couple of days until Thru r gone. This way you don't fry the corals you already have