what do i need to start

[fishcurse]

i have a 125 gal tank with 70 lbs of live rock. i have a coralife twister uv sterilizer, i have a protien skimmer, i also have a magnum 350 canister filter. i would like corals and maybe a clam i just dont know what lighting i need. plus what is sps and gps and so forth im kinda lost. im a newbe to coral and live rock. also what do you have to test for with corals ie calcium, phosphates and what is good ranges for these
thanks
niki

 

[ric maniac]

your equipment sounds good. and for lighting i would go ahead and buy metal halides now instead of spending the money later. clams and sps do awsome with mh lighting. i would get a master sw test kit and then a calcium test kit. ive never heard of gps but gsp is short for green star polyps. sps means soft polyp stony corals like acropora and montipora. they need high lighting and strong water flow, wich is why mh lighting is so good for them. and you might want to get a couple of maxi jets just to increase the water flow. and is the tank cycled? it must be cycled before you add anything

 

[fishcurse]

yes its cycled i have fish in it right now with live rock. i just purchased 2 550 gph power heads it that 2 much flow? plus people talk about the different watts on mhs and certain strength k i have no idea and ive been burned so much by my lfs i dont even ask them questions anymore.

 

[rcbruce]

what kind of corals you can get depends on what kind of fish you already have? Some are reef safe, some not.
What worries me more is you say you have a 125 gal tank with only a canister filter? If this is true, before you do anything else, your going to need a sump for a tank that big. I did my first 55 gal with a canister, but when I upgraded to a 90 I added a 30 gal sump.