[rebekwl]

I deffinitely will be doing alot of research!! We really want to have some pretty cool fish in the tank we currently have, but like you said, it's only 55 gal, so we can't get any fish that require alot of room to roam. We cannot get any fish that aren't reef safe, because they will probably try to eat the anemone. That is currently the only thing we have living in the tank (besides the newly added CUC) so everything is pretty much revolving around that.

I have been researching and trying to make sure that all of the fish on my list are reef safe. I do want to have some soft corals here and there, but I don't think we are ready to start a full blown reef yet. I really would LOVE to go out and buy all the lights and everything so that I could start one, but we are "saving $" right now so that unfortunately isn't an option.

We did buy some new bulbs for the fixtures that we currently have. We got 2of the blue lights (can't remember what they are called) and 2 18,000k. I put one of each right above the anemone and he perked right up (even after his unfortunate encounter with the power head). I thought he was a gonner for sure, but he seems to be a trooper. He's going strong, severed tenticles and all. The only thing that I don't understand is that every time I feed him, he swollows it, then rolls it up into a little ball, then spits it back out, usually overnight so i'm not sure how long he has it in ihis stomach. Why would he spit it out? He has done this with fresh shrimp cut into little pieces, brine shrimp, and mysis shrimp. I also have some krill, but I'm not sure if I should try to feed it today because I just did yesterday (mysis that he rolled up and spit out). This confuses me to no end. I've heard of them spitting out big chunks of food that they can't digest, but every single thing I feed it?? This is a bad sign isn't it? Come on, I'm ready for it.

So if all of my fish are reef safe, and I ahve a few soft corals here and there, is that considered a reef tank, or a FOWLR? Could I have some soft corals in there without going all out with the lights and all, or would they be ok with what I have? I will deffinitely not buy any unless you guys tell me they will be happy in there!! Also, what types of extra chemicals to you have to have with corals? I already add iodine for the anemone, anything else i need? I am not ready to run out and start buying corals right away, just wondering what I will need when and if I decide to. Thanks so much for all of your help!!!

Oh, I also remember seeing metal halide lights that are not necessarily for fish tanks. Could I use one of these and just place it right above the anemone for a certain # of hours each day? Just a thought...