money to burn! coral question.

coral ?'s new to keeping coral

I am looking to add some coral to my lonely 125 gallon tank that only has two fish (Maroon Clown, & Royal Gramma) and three little corals (LTA, Torch Coral, Green Mushroom) Lighting consists of 3 175W MH's and two VHO 72" actinics. My questions are....
Can SPS corals be mixed with soft corals?
Do you need to have a calcium reactor to keep sps corals?
Lastly am I better off with LPS corals and zoos since I have the anenome and torch?

 

My questions are....
Can SPS corals be mixed with soft corals? Yes, just run carbon 24/7 to reduce the risk of damage via chemical warfare.
Do you need to have a calcium reactor to keep sps corals? No but if you keep a lot of stony corals, you may want to install one as you'll end up having to do a lot of calcium supplementing
Lastly am I better off with LPS corals and zoos since I have the anenome and torch? I wouldn't worry so much about the torch as I would the anemone. If you start putting sps corals in your tank, you may have to increase and/or readjust your water flow which may cause the anemone to move

 

+1 to all of the above. I keep LPS, softies, and SPS all in my 40. And I don't run a calcium reactor either But you will be dosing constantly. I have to dose about every other day to keep my CA in check, specially with my clams.

 

+2 could not have said it better myself, the best thing you could do is get rid of the anemone, then you are pretty much limitless to what kind of corals you can add. Like said above, increased flow will force the nem to scout out a new home, destroying everything in it's path. I always think of them as like mini tornado's waiting to strike!

 

I wouldn't say the BEST thing to do would be get rid of the anemone. And an increased flow is NOT a guarantee that it will move. Like amcarrig said, it "may cause" it to move.

If you try it, chetrod, just keep an eye on the anemone. If it does start to move, you will have to take defensive precautions on behalf of your corals, which may include getting rid of it.

 

i agree w/what everyone said but is 3/175 mh enough for sps in a 125 , big tank will that light be enough? maybe montis not sure about acros i never went w/a reactor but i do drip kalk every day to maint calcium,lta can get pretty big how big is the one you got i would think it would be able to find a comfortable spot in a 125

 

Why wouldn't the MH be sufficient? they are supplemented with two 72" VHO Actinics as well. The anemone is about 10 round when fully extended on the right side of the tank at the bottom anchored under a rock.

Thank you All for the info very helpful.

 

What brand and bulbs and ballast of 175 w are you using?
My Odyssea 175 bulbs were fine for about everything except my monti and another SPS. They were losing color. I ugraded to 250w with better bulbs and ballast.. It's a huge difference... mainly a good bulb will make the biggest difference.

 

Bulb xm 15k ballast not sure my uncle is an electrician I bought 3 m57 ballasts and he wired them up for me in a metal box.

 

what i meant was 3/175 =a little over 4 watts per gal imo thats really not alot for acros as far as color and growth i think montis or lps would be fine just not sure about acros they are demanding i have almost 9 watts per gal in a 75 and never had much luck w/acros with 150 hqi mh everything else was fine though good luck w,whatever you decide on