General Advice for my 16g

[surfjnkie9]

hey guys just wanted to ask for some general advice about my tank.
Right now I have a 16g FOWLR tank.
Equipment:
-AquaClear Mini Filter
-Aqua Clear Powerhead
-15 W 50/50 Actnic Light
-Heater
-About 10lbs of live rock
-Live sand
-2 Perc Clowns
-1 fire shrimp
-1 Peppermint shrimp
-2 Turbo Snails
-Nass Snails (not sure how many are left)
-3 Red Leg Hermits
I plan on adding corals within 6 months or so. But right now I just want to increase the quality of my water, etc. My levels are all 0 except my nitrates which are around 25. I also have Red slime algae growing on the rocks.
Some questions I have are:
1) Should I upgrade the filter to a better one. If so, what would u suggest?
2) Should I add another powerhead?
3) Should I get a Protein Skimmer if so what kind?
4) How about lighting?
5) Any other suggestions you may have.
Thanks

 

[ivanfj]

If you plan on having some corals, I would suggest a skimmer. The small remora works best for small tank but it's also a little pricey (around $200-250 in my area). The small prism works good for its price, usually less than $100, but it's not the best hang-on skimmer out there.
What's the length of your tank??? Is it 20 inches across??? If so, you can go with the coralife aqualight quad-bulb 96w PC. That would give you a good set of lighting to keep most LPS and softies. If you wanna keep SPS/clams, you are definitely looking at MH.
Red slime algae is usually due to nitrate and phosphate. What's your reading on phosphate if any?? Give your turbo snails some more time. I find them slow starting off and later on they work like champs, but I also find them to be little bulldozers.

 

[surfjnkie9]

Ivan, Thanks for the feedback.
1) I definatly am looking in to getting a skimmer..thanks for the recommendations.
2) My tank is a bow front which means its only 18inches wide. What light would u reccomend for that?
3) Not sure what my phosphate levels are. I was using tap water about 3 months ago but since that I've been using RO water..plus I have a cartridge that is supposed to filter out nitrates. I'm gonna take a sample of my water to my LFS and have them really check out my levels.
My one turbo is an eating machine..I may buy 1 or 2 more though cause 1 of them died.