some help please

fallen04

fallen04

Member
i want to do the best for my tank that i can but i still am having a few problems so any help would be appreciated!! I have a 27 gallon reef that I am trying to build. I use real sea water i have a protien skimmer and I use compact fl. for my lighting 32watts. My filter system is a canister more than sized for this tank. I have a small colony of mushrooms going. and they seem to be ok but anything else i put in just cant seem to survive. my alge is under control and as for fish i have a small yellow tang 3" and a baby lionfish. I have live rock but not much just a few pieces. I am wondering should i add more rock and build a multy level setup and maybe add some live sand. My thinking is that maybe i should raise the corals higher to the light. i want to add either star polyps button polyps, or plate coral but i dont want them to suffer. please i need some help.
 
cyn

cyn

Member
For everyone here to help, we need to know more. When was the tank set up? What are your water paremeters? pH, alk., ammonia, specific gravity, nitrates and nitrites? What is the temp. of the tank? Substrate? Providing all of this info will help us to help you.
cyn
 
fallen04

fallen04

Member
the parameters of my tank are good. i hold 0 on nitrares,nitrites and ammonia. the tank has been set up for about 7 months. i maintain the tank at 75 and my substrate is #3 crushed coral
 
nm reef

nm reef

Active Member
Just for starters I'd suggest additional lr....a DSB of at least 4"....also start to raise and maintain calcium around 400-450ppm and alaklinity around 2.8-3.5 meg/l......insure a good moderate current through out the system....possibly additional lighting if you intend to expand your coral selection.......
steady levels....system stabality....and lighting will take time but it is the right path to follow...prior to establishing much in the way of a reef...you do have the right idea on initial corals....just be patient and go slow :cool:
 
burtonjr

burtonjr

Member
Depending on the coral, more light might be required. I have heard that a minimum of two watts per gallon is necessary for a healthy reef. My 55gal has 2 65watt bulbs. One blue actinic and one white actinic. All of my corals have grown very well in these conditions. Mushrooms like to be a bit further away from the light as compared to other soft corals. A friend of mine has two 30watt bulbs on his 90gal and can grow mushrooms like nobody's fool, however, other soft corals have not faired well in his tank.
 
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