As I have stated in the past, most of my tank-keeping "skills" and philosophies have been passed down from my parents-- most of the equipment terms I am familiar with are their terms and far different then the term used on this board, I apologize if this post seems, well, uneducated. (just "inherited" the tank and its equipment last Mother's Day).
My current tank set-up (the same set-up my parents used for the last 10 yrs or so) is as follows:
1) underground filtration system- there are four tubes running up from the filter, the tops of the tubes are filled with carbon. I have heavy air flow coming up the tubes (supplied by air stones). (from what I have read I understand this to be a "primative" protein skimmer)
2) I have two high-pressure power heads. I'm not sure what the actual brand is, but they are maked as "powerhead 402's" They seem to provide fairly good water flow.
3) I have filter that hangs off the back of the tank--sucks water up a tube, gets filtered through a sponge layer, then more carbon, then back to the tank.
When I set the 95 gal tank up I put a layer of new crushed coral, seeded from the crushed coral that was in the old tank set up. On top of that I put in 60 lbs of live sand. As this is cuurently a FO tank (I plan to be adding live rock as I can afford it) I have a cave buildt out of several "lave rocks" (red in color, large in size, light in weight" There are also severl large "sandstone" feeling rocks (red and white streaked rock, very dense). Other than that all of the dead corals, plants, etc are purely decorative. (Most came from my parents, some are there to appease my husband and kids)
The current inhabitants of the tank are: 1 cleaner shrimp (my current fav), 4 camel shrimps, 1 Zebra damsel, 1 dominoe damsel, 1 three-stripe damsel, 1 tomatoe clown fish, 1 decent sized crab.
I know that my lighting needs updating. I currently only have a single 48" coral life bulb on the tank.
I have been dutifully testing my water levels. I currently test for ph, nitrite, nitrates, and ammonia. I had used tap water eek: mixed with coralife salt. Specific gravity stays between .022 and .024. I treat the water I add to the tank during water changes with stress coat. I am hoping to buy a RO filter, but as I mentioned before, my pocket book is a factor here. . .
Now that you've made it this far, I will now pose my question
.
I am hoping to "tranform" my FO tank to a reef tank. As I have to do this on a budget, I know that it will probably take years to get there. The next step I was planning was to add live rock (one piece a week if needed), but after reading hundreds upon hundreds of threads (not to mention info I've devoured elsewhere) I find that I am completely clueless. Does the set-up described above seem to be fairly solid "starting grounds"? Is there something I should update before I begin to add LR? (the adding LR timeline will take me at LEAST 6 mos before I will feel comfortable adding any corals ect.... I also want to revamp my lighting system (in about a year-- budget wise) my tank should be fairly mature before I get to where the tank can be a "reef" tank.
OK, so maybe I had more than one question, but I would appreciate any comments, suggestoins, or advice you can offer.
My current tank set-up (the same set-up my parents used for the last 10 yrs or so) is as follows:
1) underground filtration system- there are four tubes running up from the filter, the tops of the tubes are filled with carbon. I have heavy air flow coming up the tubes (supplied by air stones). (from what I have read I understand this to be a "primative" protein skimmer)
2) I have two high-pressure power heads. I'm not sure what the actual brand is, but they are maked as "powerhead 402's" They seem to provide fairly good water flow.
3) I have filter that hangs off the back of the tank--sucks water up a tube, gets filtered through a sponge layer, then more carbon, then back to the tank.
When I set the 95 gal tank up I put a layer of new crushed coral, seeded from the crushed coral that was in the old tank set up. On top of that I put in 60 lbs of live sand. As this is cuurently a FO tank (I plan to be adding live rock as I can afford it) I have a cave buildt out of several "lave rocks" (red in color, large in size, light in weight" There are also severl large "sandstone" feeling rocks (red and white streaked rock, very dense). Other than that all of the dead corals, plants, etc are purely decorative. (Most came from my parents, some are there to appease my husband and kids)
The current inhabitants of the tank are: 1 cleaner shrimp (my current fav), 4 camel shrimps, 1 Zebra damsel, 1 dominoe damsel, 1 three-stripe damsel, 1 tomatoe clown fish, 1 decent sized crab.
I know that my lighting needs updating. I currently only have a single 48" coral life bulb on the tank.
I have been dutifully testing my water levels. I currently test for ph, nitrite, nitrates, and ammonia. I had used tap water eek: mixed with coralife salt. Specific gravity stays between .022 and .024. I treat the water I add to the tank during water changes with stress coat. I am hoping to buy a RO filter, but as I mentioned before, my pocket book is a factor here. . .
Now that you've made it this far, I will now pose my question
I am hoping to "tranform" my FO tank to a reef tank. As I have to do this on a budget, I know that it will probably take years to get there. The next step I was planning was to add live rock (one piece a week if needed), but after reading hundreds upon hundreds of threads (not to mention info I've devoured elsewhere) I find that I am completely clueless. Does the set-up described above seem to be fairly solid "starting grounds"? Is there something I should update before I begin to add LR? (the adding LR timeline will take me at LEAST 6 mos before I will feel comfortable adding any corals ect.... I also want to revamp my lighting system (in about a year-- budget wise) my tank should be fairly mature before I get to where the tank can be a "reef" tank.
OK, so maybe I had more than one question, but I would appreciate any comments, suggestoins, or advice you can offer.