new to reef

[dicemanj]

I have been in saltwater for about 8 months. I am going to change my 55 to a reef. I just bought 4x65 watt PC Orbit lights with moonlights, there is a world of dif between these and the NO floresent lights on my aggresive tank. I have a Xenia and a GSP. So far so good. Now my question. I am currently testing for Calcium and keeping it at about 450. Is there any other supplements I need to add? Any other advice for a new reefer, fish suggestions. What are okay levels of Nitrate? I know zero is ideal, but what is okay?
Dicemanj

 

[msd2]

Originally posted by dicemanj
I have been in saltwater for about 8 months. I am going to change my 55 to a reef. I just bought 4x65 watt PC Orbit lights with moonlights, there is a world of dif between these and the NO floresent lights on my aggresive tank. I have a Xenia and a GSP. So far so good. Now my question. I am currently testing for Calcium and keeping it at about 450. Is there any other supplements I need to add? Any other advice for a new reefer, fish suggestions. What are okay levels of Nitrate? I know zero is ideal, but what is okay?
Dicemanj
First congrats on starting the reef, to me they are so much more enjoyable than fish alone You said your tank size i s 55gal im afraid with your current lighting your fairly limited, if your serious about making a diverse reef with lots of varied life you might want to think about a MH pendant or retro kit.
If you do reg water changes the only thing you will need to monitor /add would be ca at times and dose the kalk after things have been established and stablized. You will want to monitor the alk and ca levels fairly close to make sure that you dont get wild swings and they are in range on the chart.
Ates really should be under 10 for optimal growth. If your having trouble keeping it under 10 I would take a look at ur bioload and feeding habits.

 

[rwhite]

I agree with msd2, with 1 exception (no burn intended). We also have a 55 with 4x65 JBJ system and I feel that we have a plenty of diversity. Guess it all really depends on what your ultimate goals are. At this point, just over a year and a half since set up, we are keeping 2 types of mushrooms , 3 diff. zoo colonies, green and purple/orange ricordea, a toadstool leather, a patch of GSP, 2 button polyp colonies, a bubble, a favite and 2 BTAs (the original split). If want to keep stony corals or dif. species of anemones more lighting will be required. As for us, we like the softies, seem to be easier to maintain, JMO.
We dont dose anything to the tank other than food, some occsional DTs, and, if the calc. is low, some Reef Complete by SeaChem, but most of our calc. is replaced during water changes; we are using Oceanic right now and Reef Cyrstals prior to that.
As far as fish, all I can say is choose wisely. Stay away from damsels (not including most clowns) if you can. They usually dont get along well with others. Preferably, no tangs; the tank is too small. It really depends on what YOU want, best advice I can offer is: If a particular fish strikes your fancy, reserch it before you buy it. Same goes for the corals. Everyone here will be happy to share their experiences/opinions about anything.
Good luck and much success with your reef!