Trying to set up my first reef

[Offthehook89]

New to the hobby. I Set up and cycled my 55 gl saltwater tank using live rock, live sand and ro water....its been almost 3 months and my levels are perfect. I only have 2 cleaner shrimp in the tank. i want to start putting in corals. I have an LED light system(cant think of brand at this time) but i was told i'd have to add an additional light to sustain corals. What are some of the more hardy types of corals to start with? Also, right now my temp is 78dg and my salinity is 1.23. Any help is appreciated, thanks in advance :bigsmile:

 

[Reefing Madness]

There are quite a few hardy corals to keep.
Ya need to bring your SG up to 1.025-1.027, also need to test for phosphates, alk, cal and magnesium.
Soft corals, most all are pretty good starters. Some LPS are pretty tough, but ya need those other parameters inline to keep them.

 

[ethridge78]

welcome

 

[Naiad]

Hello. I would follow madness' advice and check your other lvls after you bring up the salinity. You can start with some softies like mushrooms with low light. I would look around and plan out your tank before you buy too many though

 

[Mike J.]

Welcome to Reef2Reef. It's best to decide what kind of corals/tank you want to keep and then work backwards. An example is, if you wanted to keep just soft corals (easiest) you might not have to change your light. What kind of light is it? On the other extreme, if you want to keep a SPS tank, you'll have to look into intense lighting, strong flow, dosing methods, and phosphate/nitrate control.

Probably either way, you'll want to invest in complete test kits.