New to coral. Need as much help as possible

[Dunnman39]

I am looking to get into corals as soon as i can so i am looking to gain as much information as possible before I go spending money. Before I ask questions about corals I will say some stuff about my tank. It has been up and running for over two months. It's a 55 gal. 60 pounds LS AND 50 pounds LW. The temperature stays around 80 degress. My salinity dtays around .24-.25. My ammonia and nitrIte levels are both at 0. My nitrAte however is at 25 I believe. I believe my pH is on the low side at 8.0 also. The tank stock is currently snails, crabs, peppermint shrimp, blue damsel, and a clown fish. Now is all that okay or is there something that needs ti be fixed?

Now for the coral I would like to start off easy to get the feel for it. So I was thinking some soft corals. I would like to know what types of coral and how they should be placed in the tank. What all the levels should be like temp and salinity, etc. should anything be added to the tank like iodide or any other chemicals? If so how often? And what do corals eat? Finally when can I start corals?

 

[SplinterCell]

toadstool

 

[jayball]

I am looking to get into corals as soon as i can so i am looking to gain as much information as possible before I go spending money. Before I ask questions about corals I will say some stuff about my tank. It has been up and running for over two months. It's a 55 gal. 60 pounds LS AND 50 pounds LW. The temperature stays around 80 degress. My salinity dtays around .24-.25. My ammonia and nitrIte levels are both at 0. My nitrAte however is at 25 I believe. I believe my pH is on the low side at 8.0 also. The tank stock is currently snails, crabs, peppermint shrimp, blue damsel, and a clown fish. Now is all that okay or is there something that needs ti be fixed?

Now for the coral I would like to start off easy to get the feel for it. So I was thinking some soft corals. I would like to know what types of coral and how they should be placed in the tank. What all the levels should be like temp and salinity, etc. should anything be added to the tank like iodide or any other chemicals? If so how often? And what do corals eat? Finally when can I start corals?

What all the levels should be like temp and salinity, etc. - Start by reading the stickies in the new to the hobby section

some things you should be tracking is temp ~78*(80 is fine but try to not let it get much higher) keep your salinity at 1.023-1.026 (1.025-1.026 is best for coral) Alk somewhere in the mid 8's is best but you are okay from 7-11

should anything be added to the tank like iodide or any other chemicals?

Nothing other than a water change, weekly is best. In the future you may need to supplement Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium; Some times a tank can develop deficiencies in some of the minor elements but you do not have to worry about that for a long time. Do not worry about it for now and do not let the local store to sell you random potions.

And what do corals eat?
Depends on the size of their mouth, but anything from photo-plankton to large meaty bits. For the most part they consume light and most of their supplemental food is provided by fish poop.

Finally when can I start corals?
You can start with some hardier stuff now. Toadstools, leathers, and polyps are generally easy and can withstand the swings of a young tank.

 

[3dees]

my 120 gal. is full of softies and lps. wc's are every other week. no dosing and no direct feeding. there are lots of "easy" corals to choose from. your ph is fine. try to get the nitrates down below 10. adding another reef safe fish or two wouldn't hurt.