Coral choices

[keddre]

Wasn't sure which corals to put in, so I placed in general reef.

I want to convert my fowlr into a reef tank, but my options are limited and I don't know what they are limited to.
I have a 55 gallon tank with stock lighting and a 500 gph powerhead plus a 300 gph canister filter. I also dose (almost) daily with pytho and zoo plankton for my feather duster and flame scallop.

Due to having fish that love to jump during feeding, I can't put on a reef light and take my lid off, so what corals could survive, or preferably thrive in this setup?

Reading:
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Ammonia: 0
PH: ~7.8
S.G.: 1.026

Feedings:
Frozen brine
Frozen krill
Frozen spirulina brine
Zoo plankton
Phytoplankton

Fish:
Two firefish
AA pistol shrimp
Tiger pistol with yellow watchman
Guppies that breed (tank use to be brackish)
Flame scallop
Feather duster
Green Chromis
Yellow tang
Scooter blenny
Blue damsel
Yellow tail damsel
Blue legged hermits

 

[keddre]

Attaching pictures with lid included in case anyone knows lights that can replace the ones in my hood

 

[AntarcticIkeelu]

It's going to be difficult to keep coral under those lights. If you are worried about fish jumping out you might be able to switch to a glass lid if your tank has a rim. If you don't want to do glass you could always put a screen on top but in order to keep coral healthy and growing you will need a different light. Also since those lights are white only you won't get the colors on coral that you get with blues. For now if you really want coral I would start by trying to make a budget for a lid and new lights. I know this probably isn't what you wanted to here but I learned this first hand. When I set up my tank I had a cheap 4 foot led from lowes and I couldn't get any color or growth out of any of my corals.

 

[AntarcticIkeelu]

Also forgot to put this but you will want to adjust your parameters slightly to provide a better environment for any corals you add. I would slowly adjust your ph to 8.2-8.3, and you will need to start checking alkalinity and calcium. When you do test your alkalinity will need to be around 8-9 dkh and your calcium needs to be between 400-420. This will help you get your ph up as well and keep it stable.

 

[keddre]

Money isn't the problem. The main problem was finding a lid that fits, but maybe I'll try the screen. Are you talking about window screening, or something special?

 

[divetoday]

Checkout bulk reef supply (BRS). They have kits to make screen tops for both rimmed and rimless tanks. They also have great video instructions and investigations on how it is as good as glad and helps to bring your pH up. One other thought... don't go cheap on your lights get some good LEDs or T5 hybrids.

 

[AntarcticIkeelu]

Was referring to window screen but if you can find a lid that would be preferable.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

Holy sandbed! Pick up a sand sifting star and a couple fighting conch for that bad boy.

 

[RJ Harris]

Holy sandbed! Pick up a sand sifting star and a couple fighting conch for that bad boy.

Maybe some garden eels too

 

[keddre]

Holy sandbed! Pick up a sand sifting star and a couple fighting conch for that bad boy.

I want a sand shifter but I heard they eat themselves out of food and kill the sand bed. That's why I'm keeping the the pistol shrimp and will get a jawfish as soon as I can locate one

 

[alex.mccann99]

First things first, I would take out all the dense rock. Looks like I see some kind of red and grey rock, it's really non porous rock. You'll see them use this kind of stuff at the big box Pet stores. Also, I would definitely take out at least half, if not more of that sand, it'll just end up becoming a problem for you down the road. It will trap detritus and food, and you end up with red cyano algae / gas bubbles etc. Do some research on proper amounts of sandbed for a reef tank and you'll see that most people go with only a couple of inches at most. Once you take out the dense rock, create a few islands with the rock you still have, this will allow better flow and islands that you separate corals and create some territories for your fish.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

I want a sand shifter but I heard they eat themselves out of food and kill the sand bed. That's why I'm keeping the the pistol shrimp and will get a jawfish as soon as I can locate one

You'll be fine with adding 2/3 fighting conch.. I also reccomend removing some of the sand bed (slowly) and getting it to no more than ~3 inches

If you do wind up taking out some of the sand, 1 fighting conch and some other assorted sand sifting snails will work

 

[Annahra]

You'll be fine with adding 2/3 fighting conch.. I also reccomend removing some of the sand bed (slowly) and getting it to no more than ~3 inches

For natural nitrate reduction, you want a healthy live sand bed of 4"+. Otherwise you want less than 2". Anything in between, or not enough microfauna (bristleworms, baby brittle stars, etc.) and you risk the wrong kind of anaerobic activity.

 

[brett_schn]

I have those lights. Can’t even support my low light shrooms

 

[keddre]

I like the island idea and I do need to change my rocks out anyway. They were bulk rocks I got when I had the tank as brackish. As far as the sand goes, I plan on keeping it 7 inches like it is as all the fish I want a burrowers. Pistol/gobies. I am special ordering jawfish, and I'm picking up my engineers tomorrow, so I don't want to get rid of the sand as they all require it. Plus I would gladly change the sand out whenever it becomes problematic to keep those fish. I am looking into the conch snails now and am still hesitant about the sand shifting star.
As far as the reef goes, I may just wait until I get a bigger tank in two years (graduation present to myself) to make a reef; I was just hoping that I would be able to get it sooner.

 

[Annahra]

Don't get a sand sifting star! They eat the critters you need and then frequently starve. In addition to adding live rock, add some real live sand from a reputable vendor (not the bagged stuff) to seed your bed with microfauna that will keep it stirred up.

 

[ciscomania]

Every reefer I know that has goby/shrimp combo has a 2"-3" sandbed including myself.(mine being around 2" and i also have blue spot jawfish)

 

[Pife]

I like the island idea and I do need to change my rocks out anyway. They were bulk rocks I got when I had the tank as brackish. As far as the sand goes, I plan on keeping it 7 inches like it is as all the fish I want a burrowers. Pistol/gobies. I am special ordering jawfish, and I'm picking up my engineers tomorrow, so I don't want to get rid of the sand as they all require it. Plus I would gladly change the sand out whenever it becomes problematic to keep those fish. I am looking into the conch snails now and am still hesitant about the sand shifting star.
As far as the reef goes, I may just wait until I get a bigger tank in two years (graduation present to myself) to make a reef; I was just hoping that I would be able to get it sooner.

The first place to start is getting your nutrients in order and practicing how to keep them low enough to keep coral. I'm assuming that they are high because it's a fowlr system.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

For natural nitrate reduction, you want a healthy live sand bed of 4"+. Otherwise you want less than 2". Anything in between, or not enough microfauna (bristleworms, baby brittle stars, etc.) and you risk the wrong kind of anaerobic activity.

I don't see the difference between a 2" sand bed and a 3" sand bed as you apparently do.. As long as you have a healthy population of micro fauna and assorted CUC, you really won't see any mal-effects to adding that extra inch. Of course with deeper sandbeds (that especially includes sandbeds over 4") if you don't have enough critters to consistently turn over that sand, you will get a nutrient buildup which will leach into the tank over time. On the other hand when you have a deeper sand bed, you will most likely have more deoxygenated areas in said sand bed which leads to more conversion from nitrate to nitrogen gas via bacteria. I personally only have a 1" sandbed for a more natural look to the tank and not for nutrient reduction.

 

[Annahra]

I don't see the difference between a 2" sand bed and a 3" sand bed as you apparently do.. As long as you have a healthy population of micro fauna and assorted CUC, you really won't see any mal-effects to adding that extra inch.

Here's an older article, but for me the science checks out:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/deepsandbeds.htm