to reef or not to reef

[dreamreef]

I am new to this site, and after reading some of the posts, I can see there are several people with HUGE knowledge on reefs. I have had a fish-only tank for about 15 months now, and am getting the reef 'bug'. I have a few local fish stores, and I get different information from all of them :notsure: Heres what I have now, and maybe someone can tell me what the next steps would be to get it running smoothly:
equip:
72 bowfront
Rena filstar xp3 filter-350 gph
Coralife 260 watt power compact (2 10k's and 2 actinic, with the blue l.e.d. nights)
60 lbs crushed coral
85 lbs fiji live rock
As for the inhabitants the tank currently has:
(1) Vlamingi Tang
(1) Angel ( i cant remember the name, but he is black with evenly spaced white vertical stripes, and a yellow tail. The dorsal and bottom fins??? make him appear twice his size when extended)
(2) sm. green chromis
(1) lawnmower blenny
(1) Choc chip.
(1)Red serpent star
(1)Bristle star
About 2 months ago I added
(1)sebae anenome with a tomato clown,
and last week I introduced
(1) Saddle anenome
(1) flame scallop
(1) emerald crab
and there are a few tiny crabs and snails.
I was wondering what type of equipment ( extra light, protein skimmer, etc) and treatments or foods I will need to transform this into a full blown reef tank. Thanks in advance for any comments and/or pics you can help with, Dave

 

[kdfrosty]

A few of the things that you have in the tank now are not reef safe. For example, the Choc. Chip Star, and most Angels.
To get a good start on a reef, I would add a protein skimmer (don't buy a cheap one!), possibly convert to live sand (remove UG if there is one), and increase the tank's turnover to 20x. Your light will probably be ok if you are housing soft corals (shrooms, zoos, etc.) but if you have the "reef bug" now, you'll probably end up buying better lighting (i.e. metal halide) later down the road.

 

[dreamreef]

I am considering a prizm hang on skimmer, any reccom. Also, i had no idea choc chip starfish were not reef safe, thanks for the warning, and finally, 20x turnover, what would you reccomend? A strong powerhead or a couple smaller ones? I have also seen the swivel type.

 

[lion_crazz]

I would go reef if I were you. It will require some work, but it is well worth it.
My recommendations are:
-Get a skimmer, and one that is good. I would recommend an ETSS Super Reef Devil. A prism is not very good.
-Get rid of all the crushed coral and do aragonite sand. This will help in keeping your nitrates lower for a reef.
-Decide on which corals that you like. There are many that will not do so well under your current 3.6 watts of light. You may want to upgrade your lighting to something like (4) 96 watt PCs or VHOs.
-Get rid of the angel and the chocolate chip star. They will both eat corals.
-Get 2 or 3 smaller powerheads that will give you between 200-300 gph each. Stay away from the swivel powerheads. They are not made for saltwater.

 

[vlondi]

A few, weaker powerheads is much better than one strong one. The idea is to get as much of the water circulating as possible. I currently run 3 powerheads plus the one my AquaC uses. I have around 23-26 times turnover in my system but will get more when I build a refugium/sump. 20x turnover is really a minimum for a reef tank; it isn't difficult to get 25x or higher, and many reefers think 30x is a good, solid turnover.
Lighting will also take more of an importance. I don't know the light requirements for sebae or saddleback anemones but they could be higher than what you currently run. 260w of PCs really aren't much on a 72 gallon tank; I would think of upgrading to higher lighting especially if you want to care for the more interesting, higher-light demanding corals.
A few other things to think about include a refugium/sump (read through a few pages of the DIY forum), 30-50lbs more LR for better filtration/place to put corals, and more testing supplies (if you plan on heavy coral/invert loads).
Research is the best tool you could use right now, though. Look around a bit, ask questions, don't be bashful.
*hint* (I would ask about your two anemones in the Clownfish and Anemone forum to see if your tank can support them as it currently is; you don't want them dying)

 

[ophiura]

I would also strongly consider trading in the vlamingi tang, which is not suitable for that size tank. It will be a large very active swimmer. But the advice given thus far sounds spot on :yes: