30 gallon FOWLR, reef transition?

[thatsruff]

HI, I am pretty new to all of this and to R2R (but I think we own every marine reef/fish keeping book there is).

My wife and I have a 1 month old post cycling 30 gallon FOWLR set up with 3 happy fish (1 clown, 1 royal gramma, 1 yellow watchman, with 2 clown gobies on their way next month), 15lbs live rock, 15lbs base rock, 2" live sand, and some hitchhikers (a couple vermetid snails, an asterina starfish, and a few pineapple/q-tip sponges, surely with others we haven't seen). We do about a 5 gallon water change every week, have very little algae growth and constant stable levels.

Our tank is a very simple set up: standard 30 gal glass tank, fluval sea protein skimmer, 750/850 gph kozilla powerhead, 200 watt heater, and the tetra ex30 mechanical filter that came with the tank. No sump, special lights, etc.

Down the line a little way (many months, year, not sure yet) we are thinking about transitioning into keeping coral in the tank. The fish we have (the gobies and gramma in particular) seem to prefer dimmer lighting.

Could we get some feedback on whether we should keep coral in this set up. If so, what types of lower level lighting corals you might suggest (some LPS perhaps?), and possibly a lighting set-up that wouldn't break the bank?

We are trying to keep a simple set up and any suggestions would be much appreciated, Thanks!

 

[Bad Company]

The reef radiance DM-155e would be plenty of light for $170. You do need a source of 450nm light in order to keep photo synthetic corals. The non-photo synthetic ones are typically even harder to keep.

 

[thatsruff]

That is a good deal for that light now, I might want to go through with that.

If I went with a single unit like that are there corals that would be happy with somewhat lower light; I would feel guilty if the bright light made the fish want to hide all day, being more confined than they already are.

 

[Bad Company]

The two channels have dimmers on them so you can customize both the spectrum and intensity.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

That light would be great and you would be able to keep most corals. You could slowly acclimate the fish to the new light so the adjustment to it is easier. Then, you can use the dimmers to replicate dawn, day, dusk and night.

 

[saltyfish]

I agree that if you can slowly increase the light intensity, the fish should be able to adjust. Most of the Brain Corals(Acans, Maze, Favites, and others) do best with somewhat lower lighting. The difficulty in doing a 30gal reef is keeping your parameters stable(pH, alkalinity, salinity, temp). Using two-part additives with a dosing pump would make things a little easier.

 

[thatsruff]

Thanks to everyone for the advice so far, this sounds very reasonable. That way my fish will hopefully be acclimated to the lighting by the time we are ready to get coral in there.

I agree that if you can slowly increase the light intensity, the fish should be able to adjust. Most of the Brain Corals(Acans, Maze, Favites, and others) do best with somewhat lower lighting. The difficulty in doing a 30gal reef is keeping your parameters stable(pH, alkalinity, salinity, temp). Using two-part additives with a dosing pump would make things a little easier.

I plan to start expanding my testing for calcium, alkalinity, and phosphate to be sure that the environment will be good for the coral. Hopefully with regular attention we can keep the parameters stable and if we feel it is becoming too difficult we can add a sump with a dosing pump etc. to gain some more stability.

 

[Pete polyp]

The easiest way to gain stability of your parameters in a small tank is to drip kalk. You can adjust the saturation to provide what's being consumed to keep everything perfectly stable. There does come a time that it's not enough by itself and will require a two part. There are many options as far as lighting is concerned. I would not recommend led lighting to someone as new as yourself. T5 is a very effective much simpler plug and play light. I wouldn't worry about the fish and high intensity lighting. They will be able to adjust well.

 

[thatsruff]

The easiest way to gain stability of your parameters in a small tank is to drip kalk. You can adjust the saturation to provide what's being consumed to keep everything perfectly stable. There does come a time that it's not enough by itself and will require a two part. There are many options as far as lighting is concerned. I would not recommend led lighting to someone as new as yourself. T5 is a very effective much simpler plug and play light. I wouldn't worry about the fish and high intensity lighting. They will be able to adjust well.

Thanks, basically is the concern with adjusting parameters without a drip that you will change things too fast all at once and therefore stress out/harm the corals/fish?

 

[fishroomlady]

I think it's just easier to drip the kalk than dosing. I agree with the T5 recommendation and your fish will be fine with the increased light. Lower light corals would be mushrooms, leathers, kenya tree, and various polyps.