My 55

[Willis]

I have a fish only tank, 55 gal with a watchman gobie another small gobie "not sure of its real name" a sea robin, and a small jaw fish> my nitrates are on an average of 20 to 30...
I want to know if i could put a small hammer coral in my tank and if it would live with the nitrates at that level. If so what kind of food or nuitrients do i need to feed it????
Thanks,
Willis....

[reeferbill]

I would not start out with a hammer it will not make it. Try some easier not so expensive corals first and concentrate on getting your readings to zero before attempting any Large Pollup Stonies. You may try some green star pollups or any type of mushroom corals or any type of zoathids or paly colonies(button corals).What type of filtration and lights are you running?

[Willis]

I would not start out with a hammer it will not make it. Try some easier not so expensive corals first and concentrate on getting your readings to zero before attempting any Large Pollup Stonies. You may try some green star pollups or any type of mushroom corals or any type of zoathids or paly colonies(button corals).What type of filtration and lights are you running?

emperor bio wheel, whith plain jane lighting! I know i gotta get better lighting, at least thats what most people say. I have heard that i could put them up closer to the light and they might be ok but dont want to take any chances> looking for a used lightfor my tank that will support corals. want to reserch a little more first though.

[Original Fin]

I reccomend a 4x54w T5HO fixture. On a standard 55, you could grow just about anything with it. Start with easy soft corals like button polyps (Zoanthids/Palythoas), Green Star Polys (GSP), Kenya Tree Coral, finger leathers, toadstools, and mushrooms.

When you get your confidence, you can add some easier LPS if you like. SPS are the most challenging, and you'll probably want different tank dimension anyway when you progress to those. They are a bit more tricky to mix in with softies and LPS, some of them don't get along so well. Also, they need much more flow, and very strong lighting. T5 will do in a shallower tank, but Metal Halide or high intensity LED would be needed in anything deeper than 24".

Is it a 48" long 55? If so, that's the easiest size to find T5HO fixtures for. Around $300 get's you a decent 4x48" fixture.

[Original Fin]

Your Sea Robin would have to go though were you to do a reef system. They eat crustaceans and inverts. It's going to get too big for that tank anyways. From what I've read,12" or more captive, 36" in the wild.

It is a cool fish though. I see them once in a while at my local Pet Extreme. I don't think they have a clue how big they can get.

[Willis]

thanx original fin.... yea i definatly need to upgrade my lighting and filtration first. been looking at used fixtures at the local marine store and they got some good deals! i will definatly take all the advice i can get becouse without it all i could grow is sliiiime..
I have to go down and buy another power head becouse i have one dead spot in the tank and think that is a big contributer to some nitrates building up in that corner of the tank.
wish i would have done more research before jumpin into it! Im gettin it now but slowly.
Thanx again!