Pictures of my aquascaping... Looking for coral ideas!

[Bone'Collector]

Hey guys, here are some pics of my aquascaping... I am looking for some ideas as to which corals would do well in my tank... I will be passing by one of the best LFS stores in my area monday and im ready to pick up 1 or 2 corals and/or 1 or 2 fish!! So yeah fish recommendations would also be cool!! Thanks guys! :lol:

 

[ozadars]

I liked it, i actually liked your sand, looks very neat!
Dont know the size of the tank and lighting but in a tank like this, IMO sps, leathers and clonizing corals like xenia, zoo polyps, mushrooms... will look really good in that tank
Also i would put just very small fish in that tank like;
clown gobies,
neon gobies
firefish
royal gramma
skunk clowns
sixline wrasse
lyretail anthias
mandarin
cherub or fireball angels
shrimp gobies...
All opf these fish are gorgeous fish for your tank

Good Luck

 

[ChrisRD]

Looks like a nice, open layout. I'm assuming your tank has been running for at least a few weeks and water parameters are good if you're going to start stocking.

IMO, some of the hardiest corals to start with are zoanthids and mushrooms. Just be sure you like them because once they're established you won't be able to get rid of them!

Take your time with the stocking and good luck with your new setup.

 

[Bone'Collector]

Thanks guys!! I am definatly going to go with Zoos to start and work my way up from there... The tank has been up and running for weeks now and the diatom / hair algae has diminished!! All water params are 100% and its ready to roll! Planning on stopping by a local coral supplier on sunday evening and picking up some aquacultured zoo colonies!!

 

[Bone'Collector]

oh yeah the tank dimensions are 60" long x 12" tall x 16" deep... Its roughy 40 gallons or so... It was custom made for a reptile enclosure, but my friend didnt use it anymore so he sold it to me for like 25$ and i thought what the heck, it could probably make a pretty cool reef tank!! Its being lit with 220watts PC lighting 2 10k days and 2 actinic bulbs... its only penetrating like 10" of water so I figure it should be enough for almost any coral??? Do you think its enough lighting for most coral?? 220 watts PC over 10" of water?? Thanks guys!

 

[cdeakle]

I would suggest getting Metal Halides before you get corals. You can get some really good priced full retro kits for like 75.00 (aquaticlight.com) and there are a few other good lighting web sites that I'm sure others can help out with...

Could you post your water params for us?
When you state that your tank has been up for "weeks" how many weeks would that be?

-puff

 

[Bone'Collector]

Puff: The tank has been up for around 5 weeks now... I had a tank previously that didnt finish its full cycle before I had a electrical fire from not installing my wiring properly and salt dripping into my powerbar!! So most of my then live rock was all dead rock so the cycle was actually finished in just over the first week... then came the diatoms for about 10 days and the hair algae sprouted on the new peices of live rock that I added!!

My water params now are...

PH: 8.6 (stays steady 8.6 due to the dead coral base rock)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 6ppm
Calcium: 480

Are you sure that i need metal halide over 10" of water?? It would seem like it would be overkill??? I know people are using metal halide lighting when there tanks are 24" deep +... My whole tank is only 12" deep with 2" of the 12 being sand... I just bought the 4 x 55watt kit a while ago I hope i dont need to scrap it and go halide??

 

[Bone'Collector]

Oh yeah, I also have a bakpak IIr skimmer and 3 powerheads...

 

[cdeakle]

My tank is only 13" deep and without my metal halides I fear my corals wouldnt do so well. Metal halides are def the way to go especially if your going to have corals/anemones/etc. If you were to have a fish only tank then your current lighting would be more than adequate. Take my advice, get MH.

YOUR PH IS TO HIGH!

You need to get your ph steady between 8.1 - 8.4

-puff

 

[g.mcclean]

You have 5 watts plus per gallon and fairly shallow water, In my opinion metal halide lights are overkill. Sometimes it seems that we are encouraged to spend money where it is not necessary. MH is not only costly to buy but also to run. Check out Eric Borneman's book on aquarium corals for advise as to lighting, positioning etc of captive corals. This is an unbelievable book for starting corals. Good luck!