is the system experiencing an overload?

[craftyx]

I've got a pretty established 6-month-old 55-gallon reef tank going on.

Inhabitants:
1 juvenile blue spot (naso?) tang - don't worry, I'm upgrading in March
2 peppermint shrimp
1 arrow crab with no claws - a wrasse tore it up, but it's still kicking after 3 weeks
1 small hammer coflake frag
1 small zooanthid frag
1 mangrove tree bud

Filtration's covered:
1 coflakelife skimmer
1 aquaclear 110 filter
1 UV sterilizer
1 heater
2 powerheads
40 lbs LR
15 lbs small-grain LS

Just some background info.
So, this huge 225-gallon reef tank in my neighborhood is being taken down, and the owner's giving away the fish for free.
We were the second ones to show up. The powder blue tang, six lined wrasse, both anthias, 1 percula clown with its host coflake, and some hermits and snails were all taken by the first person.
What was left unreserved was a bunch of stuff: about 10 trillion blue/green chromis, 1 unicorn tang, 1 yellow eye tang, 2 mated pairs of percula clowns (with a host carpet anemone) 1 gkento4t frogspawn coflake, some big leather coflakes, brown polyps of some type, 1 golden head sleeper, 1 purple dartfish, 1 gold-spotted spinefoot, and 1 tube anemone.
I snagged the 2 mated pairs of clownfish along with the carpet anemone, the dartfish, 5 chromis, the huge frogspawn coflake, and the yellow eye tang.
I didn't want to be too greedy, so I left the rest.
Pickup's in 2 days.
Will all this new stuff overload my tank and cause a huge ammonia and nitrite spike?
Should I add some to the big tank, some to my hospital tank, wait a week, and then move the fish from the hospital tank to the big one?

[felinxo]

I've got a 55 gallon reef tank that's been running for 6 months - that's about 250 liters for those who think in metric.

My tank's got a few inhabitants already:
- A juvenile blue spot (naso?) tang - don't worry, I'm upgrading to a bigger tank in March.
- 2 peppermint shrimp
- 1 arrow crab with no claws - a wrasse tore it to bits, but it's still kicking after 3 weeks
- 1 small hammer coflake frag
- 1 small zooanthid frag
- 1 mangrove tree bud

I recently scored some free fish and corals from a neighbor's 225 gallon reef tank. I reserved:
- 2 mated pairs of percula clowns with a host carpet anemone
- 1 firtideflow or dartfish
- 5 chromis
- 1 huge frogspawn coflake
- 1 yellow eye tang

Now I'm worried I might've bitten off more than I can chew. Will adding all these fish and corals overload my tank and cause a spike in ammonia and nitrite? Should I add some to my main tank and some to my hospital tank, wait a week, then transfer the fish from the hospital tank to the main one?

[craftyx]

I also have T5 lighting with 2 actinic bulbs, so that should cover the lighting needs for the Nem. I've been saving up and I've almost got enough for a 100 gallon tank, about 380 liters, but I'm actually planning to go even bigger. The carpet anemone is actually pretty small, it's only about 8 inches in diameter, so I'm hoping that will work out okay in my current tank.

[craftyx]

I actually meant 1 pair of perculas, not 2 pairs.

[craftyx]

Alright, so I've got a plan. Tomorrow I'm picking up the new additions. The list is: 3 blue/green chromis (2 are going to a friend), 1 pair of perculas, 1 small host carpet anemone, 1 purple firtideflow or dartfish, 1 huge frogspawn coflake, and 1 yellow eye tang.

First, I'll add the yellow eye tang and the frogspawn coflake to the main tank. The 3 chromis and the firtideflow goby will go into 10 gallon QT tank #1. The perculas and the carpet anemone will be in QT tank #2. I'll add the carpet anemone to QT tank #2 after a few days, then the perculas will join it 4 days later. After 5 more days, the chromis will be added to the main tank. One day after that, the firtideflow/dartfish will make its way to the main tank.

[rileyon]

Got a few questions about your lighting setup. You've got T5 lighting with 2 actinic bulbs, but what's the total number of tubes you're running? How many of those are white ones? And are they each equipped with their own reflector?

[craftyx]

Got a few questions about your lighting setup. You've got T5 lighting with 2 actinic bulbs, but what's the total number of tubes you're running? How many of those are white ones? And are they each equipped with their own reflector?

I've got 2 T5 tubes, both 18,000k and white. Had to go without the actinic bulbs for now, since they're out of stock for another month. There's one big reflector covering them, but I do get a bit of salt buildup.

[rileyon]

Two white T5s aren't enough for an anemone, you need more. Each tube should have its own reflector, not one big one for both. You'll have to upgrade your lighting before you can even think about adding a nem, the salt buildup is the least of your worries.

[craftyx]

Got a few questions about your lighting setup. You've got T5 lighting with 2 actinic bulbs, but what's the total number of tubes you're running? How many of those are white ones? And are they each equipped with their own reflector?

I'm in a bit of a bind now. I was under the impression 10,000 K bulbs could get me started with a reef tank, but I guess I was wrong. The bulbs I have are 18,000 K, so I thought that would be more than enough. I'm not sure what the issue is - is it the reflector, the bulbs, or the entire lighting system that needs an upgrade?

I did some research and found that my bulbs are 181 lux, 1500 lumen, but I couldn't find any information on the wattage. I'm not sure what to do now, but I'm definitely not looking forward to upgrading my lighting system.

[rileyon]

Two 10k tubes would be fine for basic soft corals, but an anemone is a different story. For a 55-gallon tank like yours, I reckon you'd need to upgrade to a more substantial lighting setup. If your tank is on the shallower side, you might get away with a four-tube unit, but for a deeper tank, I'd recommend a six-tube setup with individual reflectors for each tube.