new here but i do have a few questions (pics inside)

[S2kdriver]

well my name is warren and i have a 20g long saltwater reef aquarium. i have had it for about 9 months now. I have a clownfish, goby, and a long fined colorfull fish that hides everytime i come in my room.i will try to get a pic of him if i can!! haha. but theres 2 pepermint shrimp, and a few snails and a few blue legged crab.i also have some coral i cant identify if yall could help me out that woudl be greatly apreciated!! i got 23 lbs of live rock in it.i have a 60 gallon filter on it so it provides enoughf filtration and i dont need a powerhead becuse it makes a good current. i have a 30 gallon heater in it as well and it keeps the water at a good 78 degrees. i attached pics at the bottom.


but im not sure if im my waters ok. so i tested it and heres waht i got:

pH: 8.0
Amonia test: 0 ppm
Nitrite test: 0 ppm
Nitrate Test: 5.0
Calcium: 280 mg/l ppm
Carbonate hardning: 11 degrees
phospate: ok

so thats what i got i know my ph is low so i put reef buffer in it. enoughf to raise to 8.2 and see if i need ot add more, before i put to much. haha. and i added a calcium, magneisum, strotium suppliment in to raise the calcium ( guy at local fish store recommended it). so is there anything yall recommend i put in?

also i have only a 50-50 coral life light so i cant have much coral in there. but i have a glass top i have been using btu i read on here that some of th elight gets trapped and the air and water can mix at the surface. so i took it off. should i keep it on or take it off. my light is sittin over the tank, it has little flaps on the side to keep it from sliding. and the waters about 2 or 3 inches from the light. but im not sure if when the water evaporstes it will mess up the light. i already broke one fixtrue cuz i think salt got in there.

also heres my pics!!!! can yall please help identify my corals and can you help tell me how to care for them. i know i have a mushroom(green) but not sure what i need to do with him. i put him in a crevis so he can get rooted. its about to split (bought it that way). also i bought a little rock with little plants all over it. dont know what it is. i have a few little flower looking things there like in a group. there green on top and one is red. i also have some of the same looking ones but there red, but there starting to turn white. bleeching?? im not sure but i dont want them to die!! i also have a little tree like thing. hes not looking good in the pics because hes just waking up!! but about a hour after the lights turn on he gets big and spread out. but he was the first coral i bought and hasent grown since i got him. about 2 or 3 months ago. just wondering if hes slow growing or its my water? but heres the pics!!!

 

[S2kdriver]

o and where would be a good place to put the little rock with the little green tubes coming off of it? anyone see a good spot!!

 

[yote]

Thats a good start.
The only thing I can see wrong with your parameters,is your calcium needs to come up.Keep it between 400 and 450.Everything else looks good.
Dont add any buffer unless your alkalinity drops.If you can keep it stable where its at,then thats great.
When you can,you might want to swap that filter out for a good skimmer.The skimmer and plenty of rock,is a much better filtration system than those HOB mechanical filters.
As for your corals,Those yellow polyps are a type of zoanthid,then the brown ones in the back of pic look like button polyps.Its kinda hard to tell about the green one,its either a mushroom or a small rose brain.
BTW
Welcome to the site,were glad to have you.

 

[mm2meyer]

good lookin tank. I can't be of much help with the identification of your corals but Yote is a great person to have answer your questions. Trust me he helped me a whole lot! Welcome to the site and hope all goes well with your tank!

 

[S2kdriver]

thanks for the welcome guys!!! yea im definitly wondreing what corals i have!!! haha.

 

[mm2meyer]

LOL this is definately the place to be to find out whats inside your tank.

 

[S2kdriver]

well i did have another question. when i was looking at the little yellow zoanthids there was a small red wormlike thing behind them. it was about a half a inch long and was red wiht little red frills around it. it was just at the bottom of the corals. and when i turnd aroudn it was gone. must have crawled back into the rock. didnt know what it was. haha
'

also do yall know what the third pic from the bottom is? the little flowers with the green tips? thanks

and also is there any other things i can add to my tank chemical wise to help the corals or fish? thanks!!!!!

 

[mm2meyer]

uh I'm just going to take a stab at the worm thing that you've seen. I'm not sure and hopefully if I'm wrong someone will correct me but it might be a bristle worm. If you google bristle worm it should show you a picture. All I know about them is that they can BIG, they are good for your sand and DON"T TOUCH THEM WITH YOUR BARE HANDS!!!! they apparrently hurt like all heck. But wouldn't know for sure. I'd wait til someone with more knowledge can confirm it or not. Try and get a pic of the worm if you can.

 

[dcantucson]

Hey Warren. Welcome!
Pics of the worm will definitely help. It's probably a harmless bristle worm.

 

[tankedchemist]

the bright green flower looking one (3rd from last picture) is definitely a green star polyp. Leave it exactly where you have it-- away from all your other rock-- unless you want it to take over your entire tank. Everyone else has got ya on the rest of it. :)

 

[ckckck]

yes i aggree you calcium is on the low side but in the same breath you have no hard corals in there so it wont be affecting ur system to badly if ur not using a skimmer do a 10% water change once a week hope this helps

 

[S2kdriver]

i will try to snap a pic of the worm if i ever see him again. haha. i also had a quick question about the glass top. i have a glass top but i know some peoploe dont like them. what do yall think. should i take it off or leave it on?? thanks!!!!

 

[dcantucson]

I would leave it off unless you have a jumper. It will help keep your tank cooler.

 

[Bifferwine]

I also would recommend taking the glass top off. It will help oxygenate your water if it's off, and keep your temps more stable.

And I think everyone else is right on with the IDs, green star polyps, zoanthids and green mushrooms. All great choices for your tank. Good job picking those corals out!

 

[S2kdriver]

thanks guys!! tops coming off as i type!!!! haha. thanks agian for the warm welcome and looking forward to spending some time on the forum!!

 

[S2kdriver]

well today i got some kents marine calcium to raise my calcium, and i have been puting kalk +2 calcium, magnesium, and strontium in my tank when i top it off with new water. also i got some kent marine phytoplex concentrated aquacultured marine phytoplankton, and surenges to feed my coral. first i wanted to konw if this is good stuff. and also does anyone have a sticky or a tutorial to feed corals with surenges? thanks agian guys.

also i put my little rock with all the flower things on it on a rock in my aquarium but it somehow keeps moving. so is ther a way i can glue it or somehting. someone said i can use super glue but i wasent so sure putting super glue in my tank was a good idea. thanks agina guys!!!

 

[yote]

What kind of corals are you feeding?
Theres actually very few corals that feed on phytoplankton.But theres a lot of inverts that do.A lot of different copepods do,feather dusters,clams,stuff like that.But the addition of phyto seems to get those bugs to reproduce pretty good,and the corals like to eat the baby copepods.

 

[S2kdriver]

button pylops, zooanthids, mushroom coral. and the little flower thing. the ones on the first page. haha. i did up the phyto in front of my shrimp and crabs and they went crazy. they were gorging down everythign. haha. and i put a little in front of my clown and he enjoyed them as well. so i should get some copepods for my corals???

 

[yote]

You've already got copepods.You got them when you put the live rock in the tank.
The addition of the phyto gives the pods another food source,more food means more reproduction,which leads to more larvial copepods for some corals to feed on.
Most zoanthids and mushrooms feed on dissolved organics in the water.

 

[Bifferwine]

I would advise against using any coral foods for the corals that you have right now. They all get their food mainly from the light. Adding coral food to the water will just add more nutrients to it, more uneaten food, and will lower your water quality, leading to algae problems and possibly unhealthy corals.

Yes, some corals need to be fed, or like to be fed, the coral food that you bought, but the corals that you have right now do not fall in that category. They won't take food from a syringe as you're planning to do.