Need help planning for coral

[dunnman39]

Okay so I know currently my tank is not ready for coral but I wanna start planning for it. Currently I have a 55 gallon tank with 60 pounds of LS and 50 pounds LS. All my water parameters are good and the stock in it right now is a blue damsel, clown fish, a peppermint shrimp, snails abd crabs. Everything has been running for a little over 2 months.

I would like to know what type of corals are best to put into a tank. What the water parameters need to be at to keep them safe like the salinity levels and temperature. I talked to a guy at my LFS and he also said I need to add some chemicals like iodide and calcium. So i would also wanna know what kind of liquid chemicals I need and how often i need to add it to the tank.

Again only looking to get educated on everything about corals.

 

[fish wrangler]

When I started my reef I added a Kenya tree and Umbrella Xenia first. Both of these DO NOT need any extra dosing if you use good salt, I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals.
I keep my salinity between 1.024-1.025 and temperature between 74-78.
You start needing andded chemicals when you go to harder lps and sps.

I'm just a reef noob but I kinda have an understanding of easy corals.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[bribo12]

Fish wrangler makes a great point! Start with easy hardy corals like softies. My first 3 corals were a mushroom, Kenya tree and gsp. Even when you get into lps you don't really need to dose. Weekly wcs keep everything where it should be.

Also iodine never needs to be dosed. Imo the 3 important parameters for a reef are calcium, alkalinity and magnesium

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[dunnman39]

How do I go about getting things like calcium, etc..


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[fish wrangler]

The salt I mix contains magnesium, calcium, and some other elements which is how I get it in my system.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[54seaweed]

everyone seems to be pointing you in the right direction with coral
what I didn't see was no one asked about lighting as it serves a big part for coral
don't want you going out buying coral if your light may not be able to support it,
better safe than sorry

 

[dunnman39]

I have the coral life lighting system. I just purchased it. I do use instant ocean salt. Is that okay for coral? Do I need ti add anything?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice