converting 30 gal. to a reef tank on a budget...can it be done?

[rabid seacow]

Hey everyone.
Little did I know that a week after buying my wife a tank in December, that I would catch the reef bug. The problem being that both of us are in school and on a tight budget. Setting up a larger tank with a reef is out of the question for the time being.
With that being said, can I convert my tank and keep nitrates low for $300.00?
About my tank at present....
Set up on dec.17,2000
livestock consists of:
1" valentini introduced jan 1
1.5" false percula same day
1" blue damsel (one of cycle survivors)
1.5" royal dottyback ...a real creep, very aggressive and killer of four fish introduced after it.
5" condy anenome
Three small juvenile engineer gobies.
Four large mexican turbo snails.
7 scarlet hermits
Filtration consisted mostly of an eclipse 2
26 lbs. of LR
Rio 600
Puka Shell substrate mixed with 13 lbs. of fiji LS
I have since purchased....
Red Sea Prizm skimmer
Hamilton halide pendant 175W 14K euro
32 watt PC smartlight
Can the conversion be finished for 300.00?
tank area is 24"x24x12
my readings are ...
amm. zero
nitrites zero
nitrates around 15-30ppm
Ph 8.2
All water used is RO/DI
What supplemental equipent would you buy?
How much more live rock and or sand?
I was thinking about a sump tank ( i think only a ten gal would fit under the cabinet)
has anyone done a sump or refugium that small
does it even make practical sense?
besides an overflow, bulkheads, and return pump, what else would I need?
What size return pump and what flow rate for a tank that size?
Would a deep sand bed work in a sump. How much?
Should I light it?
could inverts be used in a sump?
I cant wait to get this thing going and any help everyone could give me would appriciated. Your thoughts on beginers corals too would also help.
Thanks for your time.

 

[jond]

Sure you can do it. Ditch the Eclipse hood. Put your lights in a conopy(either make it dirt cheap, or bur a nice one for $60) Decide if you are going sump or not, add filtration and you are basically there. You have to decide if you are going to do berlin or add some mechanical/biological filtration. I just switched from an eclipse 3 on a 37 to an Emporer 280, prizm skimmer(just got today and not on tank yet) and VHO lights. So far everything is 200% better.
Good luck

 

[burnnspy]

For that money you should be able to add enough LS to have 5" and get more LR. Everything else is good to go. I would return some fish and the anemone(may damage coral if it decides to move) to your LFS though to reduce the bioload.
My 29gal reef :
1 Mandarin Dragonette
2 Blastomussa Merliti
Blue Mushrooms
Red spotted Mushrooms
Marbled Mushrooms
Colt coral
Bubble coral
Sun Coral
Green open brain
Red/Green open brain
Purple tip Acropora w/ green polyps
Fiji green finger leather coral
Anthelia
Xenia
Button polyps
1-175watt 12000K MH, airlift skimmer and 3 pumps are all the equipment there is. 11 months and going strong.
BurnNSpy

 

[brian foley]

You might want to add a little more sand and a few more pounds of live rock (make sure it's fully cured), but I don't think you need any more equipment. Just get rid of the bio-wheel, if you haven't already.
When you feel ambitious, I'd pull all the live rock out and remove the damsel and the dottyback. One overly aggressive fish in a small tank can ruin it.
I wouldn't add a sump, especially since you already have a hang-on skimmer. Wouldn't buy you that much, and you'd have to use a hang-on overflow box, which is a wet carpet waiting to happen.
Best starter corals are soft corals (such as leathers), mushrooms, and polyps.