tank parameter

[55lookn2upgrade]

is my tank ready for any additions its looking really lonely.

my tank parameters were tested on 10/18
sg-1.022
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
ph-8.0
nitrate-10
phosphate-0.03
calcium-520
kh-196.9
water temp- 76*

i was looking at a couple of things like.. i just dont know what to start with.
( blue mushroom, superman mushroom, asf lemon drop zoanthds, candy apple reds palyothoas, cotton candy stylophora, eagle eye zoanthids, garf purple bonsai, orange delight zoanthids, tubbs blue zoanthids, nuclear green palythoa, purple hornet, chromis blues palyothoa )

im ready to add something new too my tank any suggestions thanks rc family for ur help ?

[Toddrtrex]

Raise up your SG to 1.026
Your calcium is on the high side -- 350-450
Not familiar with that unit of measure for KH.

What lights do you have?
What size tank?

[theatrus]

I'd slowly push up the SG to 1.026 as mentioned. 200ppm KH is fine.

I assume you have had a tank cycled? Do you have any fish?

As for corals, mushrooms will be fine anywhere, however, other corals require higher light, so what do you have?

[Michael]

sg-1.022 if you have corals then raise to 1.026
ammonia-0 very good
nitrite-0 very good
ph-8.0 very good
nitrate-10 try to get under 5, or as close to 0 as possible
phosphate-0.03 very good
calcium-520 slightly high, id suggest 420 ish
kh-196.9 ?
water temp- 76* imo too low, 78-82 is preferable

[Mylilreef]

i currently run sg at 1.022 in my 55g with mixed corals and have excellent results. the reason is because i don,t run an ato and lose about a gallon per day due to evaporation. even with topping off every night, that salinity jumps up in a hurry when your dealing with that much fluctuation in volume of water.

i'd try to bump that ph up to as near 8.3 as possible, use buffer regularly if need be. that temp needs to be at least 78 for corals to really thrive.

i agree with the mushrooms, very easy starter. i would hold off on the stylophora or any sps for that matter until your tank is really well established, at least 6 months.

just be sure to have lots of flow in your tank. i was running 2 powerheads w/ about 400gph each with minimal results. about 3 months ago i replaced them with 2 new wavemakers at 1300gph each. just a little overkill but not much. almost every coral in my tank has split or almost doubled in size or population in that 3 months.

WATERFLOW IS THE KEY TO HAPPY CORALS!

[aleonn]

I'm also curious of your lighting, but assuming you have adequate wattage, the mushrooms and button polyps are easy to take care of. I would probably hold off on expensive purchases and SPS for now, as you get the hang of reef tank chemistry, and allow the tank to become more established.

[55lookn2upgrade]

thanks for all the advice im going to slowly raise the sg to the suggested level of 1.026 how can i bring down the calcium level ? tank size is 55g, 69 lbs live rock, hippo tang, two clowns, 2 astrea and 1 margarita snail
ive been buying my rodi water from the store for my water changes. for the past month ive been doing weekly water changes 10 gallons every week. someone just informed me thats too much and suggested 5gallons every two weeks.
Current lights are made by Odyssea
48" 216W (4x 54W) T5 HO Light Fixture Professional
2x Odyssea 54W T5 High Output Daylight 12000K
2x Odyssea 54W T5 High OutputActinic Blue
4x Dual Bluemoon LED
time settings are:
actinic blues 11am-9pm
daylights 1pm-6pm
bluemoon led 9pm-6am

[RocketSurgeon]

First, I would invest in a RO/DI unit.

http://www.buckeyefieldsupply.com/sh...ry=170&Sub=166

I also try to keep my sg between 1.025 and 1.026.

The hippo tang will quickly outgrow the 55 and the margarita snail may not like the raised temperature.

http://www.freshmarine.com/blue-tang.html

Particular site listed above states: minimum 100 gallon for blue tang

Easy Corals:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/cor...5-Easy-Corals/

As far as water changes go, I thought the rule of thumb was 10% per week or 20% every two weeks. This is again, a "rule of thumb". Every system is different. Sometimes, using a skimmer will allow more time between water changes. Many factors can influence water change recommendations.

I'm running the same lights on my 75 gallon.

[55lookn2upgrade]

thanks for the info RocketSurgeon im going to look into it, also im setting up a 75gallon within the next few days hopefully i can swap things out of the 55g into the 75g