Nitrates and mushroom corals

[jwright]

I am interested in trying a mushroom colony or 2 in my tank. It is a 180 gallon tank that has a fairly decent bio load. The tank contains 1 Blue ringed Angel, 1 Yellow Tang, 2 banner fish, 2 percula clowns, 1 royal grama, 2 serpent stars, 1 sand sifting star, 3 or 4 turbos and a half dozen hermits. None of the fish are anywheres near full size.

My question is regarding nitrates I have read that nitrates are hard on corals but I have yet to come across a nitrate range that corals have been successfully kept. My water Quality is fairly good, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, ph 8.2, but nitrates are always between 5 and 10 ppm. I have 2 tunze 6060 streams moving the water around the tank as well. Would I have trouble keeping the mushrooms healthy in this environment or would I simply be wasting my money is basically my question?

My lighting is also kind of strong for a fish only tank with live rock. I have 2 60" aqua sun VHO bulbs on the tank which are 280 watts of light.

You know what since im asking are there any other types of corals that may be suitable for this environment?

Thanks
John

 

[melosu58]

5 to 10 will be OK. Getting to 0 is pretty hard. I only get there because of feeding every other day , weekly PWC`s and a refuge packed with macro and a RO/DI unit. Alot of test kits dont accurately measure nitrates either. If you are at 5 or 10 I think your doing OK but always strive to get as close to 0 as possible. I`ve always said a long time ago that 0 was a mythical number when it comes to nitrates but I was wrong. It can be achieved.

 

[melosu58]

Also as far as the mushrooms, I would think you would be OK. I have some that are growing under rocks so they really dont need that much light but I think you would be stretching it for other corals as your lighting needs to be a bit stronger IMO. You really need to sit down and figure out what you want to do as far as your tank and plan accordingly.

 

[jwright]

Thanks for the info I appreciate it. I am not interested in going full blown reef with this tank. I liked the mushroom idea to give the tank just a little bit of a livelier look for the aqua scaping. I just want to make sure that my environment would'nt be too counter productive for them. I love my fish and I know that they are reef risky especially the heni's. They scan, pick at and investigate any thing new that has been added to the tank. I actually thought the lighting may be too much for the mushrooms. But I am thinking I can put them low in the tank, out of of heavy flow and in a shady sort of area.

Do you have a favorite type of mushroom that you really enjoy?

Thanks Again
John

 

[Devilishturtles]

Your lighting is fine for mushrooms, and maybe some zoanthids as well.

 

[melosu58]

This is my favorite mushrooms. I have hundreds in the tank on many rocks.