Alks 20 long gallons of awsome mini reef

ok so i finally got start (Restart) on my 20L mini reef:)
all i have is some water and a cpl powerheads runing right now cuz all i have in their is Live rock and some sand.


right now im not planning on using my 70 MH just becauze i dont have any corals in the tank yet.
equipment:
-20L AGA tank
-30" t5HO (stock bulbs)
-K nano for water movement- and another random powerhead
-( not on yet) penguin 200 bio wheel filter without the bio wheel
-HOB fuge

- Live stock:
-10lbs of LR
IDK how many lbs of LS i need more though! lol
as for fish.....
nothing yet waiting for water to cycle a lil more before adding fish and a clean up crew
-Future Live stock:
-pair of occilarus clowns
-Mandarin Dragonet
-MAYBE!!!!!! just MAYBE a baby tang!!! blue hippo or yellow at 1"! imma change my 100g into a SW tank so hell have a home when he gets bigger!


Corals:
-any coral i can get my hands on!! and that can stay under 70W MH's

: Inverts im goint to get / want
cleaner shrimp
-maybe a sexy shrimp
-Maxima Clam

Looking good!!!Can't wait to see when its finished!!

You know those Dragonets/Blennys eat a ton of copods a day right? They are really hard to keep in captivity. Just an fyi -dont want you to

lol i know!!!!!!
dude iv spent like a whole year reading up on SW tanks and how to keep em!
iv also read up on the fish i plan to keep!!!
im goin to wait a while on my dragonett!!!
i have a HOB fuge thats as long as the tank so when theirs a good population of pods flowing around ill know im ready!!
besides the LFS sell captive bred 1s that are trained to eat pellets!!
literally almost every SW fish they sell at LFS's are wild caught!!
especially mandarins!!!! i plan on getting a captive bred 1 even though ill have plenty of pods for him to munch on!

I wish I knew a LFS around here that sold em. I read they go through about 100 per day and they pretty much refuse to eat anything else. ---bastards!

yea!!! they real stubborn lil jerks!!!!!!!
but yea captive bred pellet trained ones are the way to go!!
even though theyre more Xpensive!! lol

Get a few peppermint shrimp to take care of any aptesias (sp?) that may pop up. An emerald crab will eat green algae.

Don't get a tang at 1" they are tough to keep alive at that size.

See alk I'm learning salt That's all from working at my lfs and paying attention

Wow, I didnt know that about they are able to be pellet trained!

very nice alk hope it goes well!!!!

Alkomist! I have a good feeling about your tank, I send good vibes your way! Make it awesome :D

Buy the "Marine Fishes" book by Scott W. Micheals
Great info:

Those mandarinfish vary when it comes to diet. Mine eats brine shrimp
and loves it. He was eating them before I bought him. I use a long syringe
to inject them right near the rock he lives in. That way, he gets his share
before everyone else eats them all. If I were you, I wouldn't buy one
unless you see him eating small pellets or prepared brine shrimp at the
store.

There is where my $60 went

Nice setup. Too small for me though. I don't even like the 75g I have. Lol

Fern: star your tank already!!! we needs more salt action!!!!! lol
Pillie: thanx fingers crossed!:)
Pmonck: Thank you!! im gettin good vibes from this build also:)
Nitty: thanks for the info!!! were can i find that book?
Sasquatch: i also want a bigger SW tank but i figured ill learn how to controll the parameters on a smaller tank b4 i move up o know get the hang of things.
K: lol naw all the stuff i have for this tank are either super used and free or Dirt Cheap!!!!!! im on the CL AWW DAY looking for deals!! and i always manage to find somthing:)
the LR and Sand were free from some guy selling his 10g nano so i cam up on that the lights were dirt cheap (used)

any one know of a good HOB skimmer thats real cheap???

Fern: star your tank already!!! we needs more salt action!!!!! lol
Pillie: thanx fingers crossed!:)
Pmonck: Thank you!! im gettin good vibes from this build also:)
Nitty: thanks for the info!!! were can i find that book?
Sasquatch: i also want a bigger SW tank but i figured ill learn how to controll the parameters on a smaller tank b4 i move up o know get the hang of things.
K: lol naw all the stuff i have for this tank are either super used and free or Dirt Cheap!!!!!! im on the CL AWW DAY looking for deals!! and i always manage to find somthing:)
the LR and Sand were free from some guy selling his 10g nano so i cam up on that the lights were dirt cheap (used)

any one know of a good HOB skimmer thats real cheap???




You know its actually Easier to control your parameters on a larger tank right. You have more room for error and flexibility. If your NO3 levels spike in a small tank, the fish are a gonner. If you think about how much sand and LR you put in the tank, you really have about 12 gallons of water. --Not a lot of room for error--

J*Hawk*83 wrote:

Fern: star your tank already!!! we needs more salt action!!!!! lol
Pillie: thanx fingers crossed!:)
Pmonck: Thank you!! im gettin good vibes from this build also:)
Nitty: thanks for the info!!! were can i find that book?
Sasquatch: i also want a bigger SW tank but i figured ill learn how to controll the parameters on a smaller tank b4 i move up o know get the hang of things.
K: lol naw all the stuff i have for this tank are either super used and free or Dirt Cheap!!!!!! im on the CL AWW DAY looking for deals!! and i always manage to find somthing:)
the LR and Sand were free from some guy selling his 10g nano so i cam up on that the lights were dirt cheap (used)

any one know of a good HOB skimmer thats real cheap???




You know its actually Easier to control your parameters on a larger tank right. You have more room for error and flexibility. If your NO3 levels spike in a small tank, the fish are a gonner. If you think about how much sand and LR you put in the tank, you really have about 12 gallons of water. --Not a lot of room for error--

i am completely aware of that!! but the thing is i barly know how to control parameters!
so i want to try learning how to!
i know its much easier on a bigger tank but yea like i said
once i learn how to control params on a small tank a bigger tank should be nothing at all!!!

on my 20L i have a HOB refugium which is about 4 gallons?? and i have a bio wheel 2oo which adds a lil more to my total volume!! so i think ill be ok! lol

ivv seen nano reefs made out of glass vases, 1/4g tanks literally real tiny tanks!!! and all of em seem to be awsomly perfect!! lol you just have to know wat your doin to keep a mini reef!!

try looking up nanoreef.com! youll see what im talking about!

Yeah I've seen em. They are pretty cool. I would have a nano in my office, but at home is a little different. The more LR you have, the easier it is to control the parameters also. I let my LR do 70% of the work. Its in my tank,filters, and my protein skimmer.

Alk, how many inches is your sand bed depth?

nice!!!
how bigs your SW tank??
why dont you have a thread about it??
WE NEEDS MORE SALT!!!! lol
but seriously how bigs your tank? hehe

bout an inch....why?

My tank is a 75g sw. Havent upgraded to 120+ since I am recuperating from hosting a bachelor party and LR isnt cheap. The LR will cost 2x's as much as the tank! I dont have any pix cus my camera sux. I did take some last night, but every fish is blurry. But the sand and the LR look good! Just blurry fish.

I asked about the sand bed bc if its 1 inch or less you are good. If its less than 3 inches and more than an inch, they call it a "deadzone" bc its not benefiting the tank. So 1 inch or less or 3 inches plus, you are good!

If you look at SW pix or when you go to LFS, they always have a bunch of sand in the tanks. Its weird how that works though.

alkomist wrote:

bout an inch....why?

Needs more sand. I have between 3 and 4" in my tank. Your sand also helps with the filtering.

I have about 4 ish. Depends on where the Fish Caves are

J*Hawk*83 wrote:

I have about 4 ish. Depends on where the Fish Caves are

Same here. Rambling fish cant leave anything alone. Lol

lol i know bout the filtering!!
i was thinkin bout having a 2" sandbed!!!!
i plan on having a goby and i want him to burrow under rocks and stuff lol
Jhawk!! post pics anyways!!!!
ill say it again!! wee needs more slatness!!! lol
im bored with cichlids!!!!!!