Add corals to a FOWLR?????

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Fishbone13

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 14, 2011
Messages
325
Location
Boston MA
I have a 75 gal FOWLR. With 1 T5 actinic blue and 1 T5 daylight I beleive and both are 39w. I have a marineland 360 multistage canister filter, 2 power heads and a heater. I have between 80 and 100 lbs of LR closer to 90 lbs. This set up has been go'n strong for close to 3 years. My CUC is the basic set up of different hermit crabs and snails and a couple shrimp. One is a Blood Red Shrimp and the other is a Banded Coral Shrimp. 7 Hard Tube Coco Worms. Fish at the moment are 1 Clown soon to be 2 (again), Yellow Prawn Gobie, Banded Watchman Gobie, Diaomond Gobie and 1 Two Lined Monocle Bream. Had a few more inhabitants but thats a long story for another time.

I want to take the plunge and add corals to my aquarium and I need to know what do you guys suggest I add or change to the set up? What do the water parameters have to be? do I have the proper lighting? What could I do as far as fish? Meaning what fish are basically off limits.

I know it's a broad question and there are probably a million and one different answers to this question with the variables be'n what types of corals and whatnot but I was hope'n you guys could point me in the right direction to make it an easy transition? Better phrase would be to make it easier because I know as well as anyone anything worth have'n or do'n isn't go'n to be easy. Since be'n on this site I have really gotten the urge to take it to the next level. Any help or input at all would be great.

:fish2::thanks::fish2:
 
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I'd recommend 5-6 watts of lighting per gallon but it really matters about the par. As far as fish if you go to Bluezooaquatics.com they should let you know which are reefsafe but there are chromis, clownfish, firefish, gobies, anthias, and many more!!
 
As far as corals you can get zoanthids, mushrooms, frogspawn, hammers, and some leather corals if you upgrade your lighting
 
When we bought our 75 off craigslist it had 2 t12 bulbs (the same size as standard fluorescents) 1 50/50 and 1 10,000 Kelvin. It seemed pretty dark and it had mushrooms and zoanthids that were healthy. So you could probably start with those. Now that we've upgraded our lighting they are really thriving but they are pretty hardy. We've actually moved the mushrooms down a bit in the tank. They like lower light and lower flow.
 
Yep just what Maya said. I'd prefer zoanthids over mushrooms because of the look but you can keep both with 78 watts of light.
 
+1 on the skimmer. It's a good idea, especially if you are taking the plunge into coral. It's a whole new addiction and while i don't know that the two listed above really care, some corals are pretty finicky.

Also quick side note on the zoanthids... Most are fairly safe but some carry a really dangerous neurological toxin. Be extra careful when you handle them. Good hand washing and extra vigilance about accidentally touching mucous membranes (no rubbing eyes nose mouth, etc). That's the mom in me lol but better safe than sorry.
 
I have a 4 tube t5 light over my 55 I changed the cheap bulbs for better bulbs and found it made a big difference in the coral growth. If you try low light corals you might want to upgrade the quality of the bulbs.

You can usually find good used lights on local forums or craigslist if you are looking to upgrade but remember chances are the bulbs are going to have to be changed out, which you will have to consider in the cost of the light.
 
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