A Little Advise Never Hurt

[turbocav250]

Hey guys I was overwhelmed with the amount of responses I got for the What is this !?! thread so I figured I would ask another question. Here is my complete setup so I helps you out alittle.
30 Gallon Long 27" Tank
Old Perfecto Single Bulb Ballast
304 Fluval Canister Filter
In_Tank 150 Watt Heater
3 Air Stones for Air Circulation
30 lbs Hawaiian Crushed Coral
2 Plastic Decorations
One Small Green Star Polyp Colony (Thanks Guys!)
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Coral Beauty Angelfish
1 Blue Damselfish
1 Domino Damselfish
1 4 Stripe Damselfish
1 Maroon Clownfish
2 Blue Leg Hermits
3 Pieces of Algea Rock
2 Pieces of Base Rock
Now In the near future I want to use live rock and have a reef tank in inspiration of the Detzel Gallaries (I love those Pictures!)
What should I do in purchasing new equipment for my future reef tank. PS I have no Protein Skimmer.
Thanks for your time!

 

[michaeltx]

30 Gallon Long 27" Tank youll have to watch the parameters closely in this small of a tank the can change rapidly Old Perfecto Single Bulb Ballast Diffenatly have to get new lights I would check into PC's or VHO for this size tank
304 Fluval Canister Filter
In_Tank 150 Watt Heater
what type of heater is this
3 Air Stones for Air Circulation
Really dont need these they will eventually cause problems in a reef tank from the bubble its better to use power heads for circulation
30 lbs Hawaiian Crushed Coral
this is a highly debated thing about CC a DSB is a better choice in a reef tank for many reasons including filtration
2 Plastic Decorations
ditch these guys go with a more natural look and you will be more pleased in the long run
One Small Green Star Polyp Colony (Thanks Guys!)
these are really kewl but normally need a little bit higher light. how are they doing under your current lights?
1 Coral Banded Shrimp
1 Coral Beauty Angelfish
1 Blue Damselfish
1 Domino Damselfish
1 4 Stripe Damselfish
1 Maroon Clownfish
pretty much maxed on fish but all a decent choices for a reef. you will have to watch the damsls they can get aggressive as they get bigger
2 Blue Leg Hermits
I dont like crabs all that much LOL
3 Pieces of Algea Rock
2 Pieces of Base Rock
not sure what you are calling algae rock but you will deffenatly need more rock for a reef tank
HTH helps a little bit
others will add to or elaborate or make other suggestions thats whats great about a forum LOL.
Mike

 

[turbocav250]

So far the Star Polyps are doing fine but I"ve only had them 2 days now. I want to do this right the first time Well try to anyways. Should I ditch the airtsones and get a powerhead? What about an exact lighting fixture? I'm not sure on the model of the heater but it serves its purpose. The Algea rock were decorations in a petstore's tank that had organisms crawling all over it. The rock had been in there tank for along time so I figured it would cycle the tank faster. I've had this tank for about 2 weeks now.

 

[goldrush]

Today is not April 1st,so I'm going to assume your post is real. Just one question for now. Has your tank cycled yet?

 

[nas19320]

I'd say patience is the key. Give the tank some time to mature before adding more livestock. Make sure that your tank has really cycled.

 

[turbocav250]

Alright So I would just test to see if the ammonia, nitrates, nitrates are all at zero?

 

[krux]

you should be able to fit a dual 55 watt power compact light fixture over that. they are 24 inches if i remember correctly.
definately go with a pwerhead, if you have the option, i would get two smaller ones as opposed to one big one, and have them pointing toward each other from opposite sides of the tank.
ditch the plastic as said above, it will become an eyesore if you are not willing to constantly clean it.
i would buy 2 20 pound sacks of aragonite sand from your fish store as opposed to using the crushed coral. if you do not want to break it down to make the swap, you might want to throw in at least 10 lbs of sand to get some diversity of grain size in your substrate. do not go with silicate based sand... if it doesnt say aragonite, ask here or search online for the brand to make sure it is the right material.