Lights? plus a few questions.

[wademcarthur]

I have a few questions that you guys may be able to help me out on. I live in rural Nebraska so finding someone else that shares the same hobby is tough. I have a 55 gallon aquarium (Wal-Mart special) with a Lee's protein skimmer. My bottom is crushed aragonite gravel and I have 50+ lbs. of figi live rock. The tank has been set up for approx. a year. For lighting, I have a Coral Life Smart Lite power compact with two 65W bulbs. I also have the two 24" fluoresent lights that came with the tank with 50/50 bulbs in them, 18 or 20 watts apiece?. For livestock I've had a yellow tang and a cinnamon clown since the beginning. I've got some mushroom false corals that seem to be reproducing well. I've got a yellow polyp rock w. apporx. 25-30 small polyps on it that seem healthy. I also have a medium anemone and a moonstone coral (favia?) that I've had for a few days. Now for the questions, (I should probably post several threads.)

1. I can't afford better lighting at this time. What kind of corals would you suggest for me to keep? A reccomendation of a coral community would be helpful.

2. Can I keep any kind of SPS? If I put them closer to the surface (to the light) would that help?

3. With one cinnamon clown already in the tank, can I add two false perculas or would the cinnamon shred them?

4. My moonstone appears to have a damaged spot on it that is looking very discolored and fuzzy. Will it heal or is there a way to trim the damaged tissue off?

5. The anemone still hasn't attached. Currently I've placed him in a small depression in a piece of live rock and he's staying put as long as I keep one of the powerheads off. He's getting full light and I fed him some frozen brine shrimp yesterday and he seemed to eat them. Do I have anything to worry about? I can't remember his exact species name, I believe it starts with a C.

Sorry for all of the questions. They've been building up for some time. I appreciate everyone's help.

Wade McArthur

[DgenR8]

Hi Wade,
[welcome]

You do have a ton of questions there, I'll take a stab at some of them for ya.
Have you looked here to see if there is a Reefer's club near you?
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=80

For the lighting you have, I wouldn't recommend even thinking about SPS. For now, go with Leathers, Mushrooms, Zooanthids, Star polyps.
That Cinnamon Clown owns your tank now, trying to add any other type of clown will almost certainly end with the new additions dead.
Your Anemone, starts with a C, maybe a Condy?
Sounds to me like he is not happy in your tank. Anemones wander searching for the "sweet spot" in your tank, if they don't find what they are looking for, they don't attach. This means that they will wander, stinging anything that gets in their way, and possibly wind up sucked into a powerhead.
How long has it been floating around aimlessly?
I see your tank is about a year old, what paramaters do you test for with who's test kits, and what are your most recent readings?

[MalHavoc]

I agree with DgenR8 about not wanting to go with SPS for the time being.

Your Condylactis anemone is probably wandering because he's simply not getting enough light, and can't find a happy spot, as DgenR8 mentioned. Anemones are usually pretty picky about water and lighting quality. If you've only had him for a few days, I'd probably try to vigorously feed him each day with pieces of thawed raw shrimp from your grocery store. I feed my bubble tipped anemone ripped pieces of cocktail shrimp. You can get them in bags that are suitable for salads, and they don't have any preservatives added. Make sure they are raw.

Try feeding him every day. If he's not getting enough light, he'll definitely need supplemental feeding if he's going to make it. If he's still wandering after a few more days, take him back to the store, because he will probably waste away in your tank.

The Favia coral is a stony coral and will heal in time, provided it's getting enough light and current. Because it is a stony coral, it will need calcium and alkalinity supplementation in order to live and grow.

Keep the questions coming.

[wademcarthur]

Thanks for the replies.

The anemone has settled into a crevice in the rock. Is he actually attached? I don't know yet. I fed him two small pieces of snow crab (all I had at the time) and he ate them quite readily. He looks better tonight, much more "plump". Currently I'm testing only for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and Ph. Ammonia and nitrite have shown zero for the last several months. Nitrate has gone up and down depending on water changes. Ph is usually around 8.2 or 8.3. I can't remember what brand of test kit I have. Picked up all of the above tests in one kit at the LFS.

I'll stick to soft corals for now. I had suspected that there weren't any SPS that I could keep. That is the ultimate goal as money permits.

If I add another cinnamon clown that is smaller, will the existing one accept it? I had them originally as a pair and a blue damsel killed the smaller of the two. (The damsel is residing peacefully in a buddy's tank).

Thanks for the help.

Wade