Tank update coral ??

[tornado0123]

i have about 10 blue hermit crabs to 19 snails all sorts and 2 turbo snails was told to get rid of the turbo snails if i want coral? also read my lighting is not good enough i have two 18" t5 10000k on two 24 tops cus i couldn't find an 48 top i have a 45gallon 18" tall 13"front to back and well 48" long. anyway could i do any coral? here are some pics for enjoyment thanks in advance.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

You don't have to get rid of the turbo snails they are fine with coral. How many t-5's do you have?

 

[kschweer]

Turbo snails are fine with corals...they might just knock them over if they aren't secured

 

[tornado0123]

2 18in 15watt 10,000k tank is also kindycorner from window with sun most of the day

 

[tornado0123]

so is my lighting good enough?

 

[caudill187]

You may be able to keep some very undemanding soft corals with that lighting. Zoanthids or a few nice mushroom corals would be a good start. If you can afford it, even these corals would do much better under more light. I would not let my tank get natural lighting, because it is known to contribute to nuisance algae problems.

 

[tornado0123]

I went and got some coral last night i got a green zoa and a lavender mushroom. Both are open already! do i need to feed them anything in the water? my Halimeda plant is growing like crazy on or more leafs a night here are some pics. also my lights are on for 12 hr should i reduce that? I use kent reef salt cus it has added calc and other stuff and u add kent trace elements

 

[tornado0123]

i also found some 20000k t8s that put off a blue along with the white should i swing for theses as i can only find the 18in online i have 10000k t8s right now my lavender mushroom closed not sure why

 

[steamer51]

You will get more growth from the 10,000K you have than you will from 20,000K. You could do one of each for a bluer look by buying 2 of the 20,000K and replacing one of the 10,000K now so when your bulbs need replaced you have one of each on hand. A lot of people do this with equal numbers of daylight and actinic bulbs.

 

[kirklandp]

Heres my opinion to you. When I started, I used t8s but thats not getting the full spectrum of light I needed. IF your on a tight budget then go get two actinic blue bulbs and then keep the 10000k whites. If your not on to bad of a budget coralife makes a nice 48" light that has t5 ho bulbs and that would let you do a lil bit better. But, I wouldnt let that tank get that much of natural light because light goes in rays and if your fish are not getting verticle rays it offsets the balance. but in my opionion try to save up and get you that light. thats where everyone should start out. Also last thing, biggest thing that people get messed up on is be very very patient. dont go moving the new corals around to get better light and just do alot of research!

Hope this helps.