What can I keep under these lights?

[Jpizzle]

Equipment for my 29 gal. tank: prizm skimmer, 2 powerheads ~250 gph. 70 lbs of LR and 3-4 in. DSB. 50/50 55 watt retrofit kit via coralife.

 

All readings are optimal except my calcium level, bought test kit yesterday and I'm at about 350 ppm and am adding small doses of kent marine liquid calcium daily to slowly bring it up.

 

Current inhabitants: 1 false perc, 1 royal gramma, 2 neon gobies. 3 peppermint shrimp, 1 fire shrimp, 2 cleaners (I know it's a lot, they all get along just fine and are molting regularly, I recently downsized from my 55 gal. FOWLR to afford low-cost and low-wattage reef lighting :x Few astrea snails, buncha red-leg and blue-legged hermits) Few olive snails that do a great job in burrowing and mixing the sand bed.

 

First question is about the olive snails, I've tried researching info and reading books on them, and I've read they aren't reef safe. I never see my olive snails off the substrate and have never ever seen them on the rockwork. When my calcium levels are 400-450 I will introduce corals, which ones are my next question, and with the amount of LR I have you can imagine it's stacked up high close to the lights, and I will be placing corals close to the lights because of the low wattage I have. Anyone have experience with olive snails? are they not reef safe?

 

Next question is about my coral stocking possibilities. I know my wattage is quite low. Here's my wish list and please advise me whether this is feasible. Zoanthids and mushrooms for now... I was hoping for Xenia, green star polyps, and frogspawn placed real close to the lights up on the rock work. I will only try zoos and shrooms for now due to my inexperience with corals.. but will I have to upgrade lighting in order to keep the other stuff?

 

I have a 20 gal long that's not in use that's the same hood as the 29... so in the distant future I'm probably going to upgrade my lighting anyways along with a new skimmer (probably CPR bakpak) and put the prizm and old hood with the 50/50 lighting on the 20 long... but not until I get some solid experience with corals and more money :*(

[offsprg01]

softies and other deep water corals. you don't have very much light for 30 gallons of water. i'd upgrade the lighting to atleasst double what you have before i put corals in. 90 watts of light would only give you 3 watts per galon. (i know i know watss per gallon rule does not apply to nanos but it makes a good refrence to start from) rioght now you have less than 2 watts per gallon. (not enought light for much of anything) so i'd upgrade my lighting. it would probably only cost you the same amount as a coral purchase to upgrade your lighting to two of what you have now. (i.e just add one more of the pc setups you already have.)

[jasontatro]

I wouldn't keep a frogspawn under that lighting. Softies would be fine.