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A 20 gallon learning experience


irondragon013

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irondragon013

Thank you to all who followed along with this tank. I did not have the time to maintain it so the tank came down.

 

 

 

I have had this tank running since January and figured it was about time to show it off some. Warning some of these FTS are hideous lol. This thread will be used to show how my tank evolved to where it is today. Second post will be a set of FTS from the beginning.

 

Current Equipment:

Top Fin 20L

Tek 36" T5

Aquaclear 50 with Filter Floss, Carbon and Cheato on top for good measure.

1 Koralia nano 425gph

1 Koralia evo 750

Top Fin 100w heater, solid as a rock

A bunch of rock, No idea on an exact #

DIY ATO purchased from BRS

Reef octopus BH-100 Skimmer

 

Fish:

1 Royal Gramma

1 6-line wrasse

3 Green Chromis

 

Inverts:

Coral Banded Shrimp

 

Corals:

Brain Coral (ID as a S. Wilsoni)

Hyacinth Birdsnest

Neon Green Birdsnest

Green Acro

Yellow acro

3 un-ID'ed zoa's

Eagle Eye Zoa's

Eye of the Storm Zoa's

Kryptonite Zoa's

Duncan

Red branching Monti

Cup Coral (hopeful rescue from the LR rubble bin at my LFS)

Green Pocilopora

Frog spawn

Green Long Tentacle Torch

Pulsing Xenia

Red Montipora Cap

Blasto

GSP

Branching Duncan

Ricordia

Brownish acro

 

 

CUC:

3 tricolor hermits

3 Scarlet reef hermits

6 astrea snails

2 emerald crabs (I love these guys)

1 Turbo snail

?? Cerith

?? Nassaurius

?? Nerite

??? Dwarf Cerith Snails

 

 

Current front tank shot.

 

5601158890_4bd37da1a4_z.jpg

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irondragon013

Thanks man. Coming from you that means a lot. The next post I put up will be a bunch of FTS that show It has come a long way to today when I finally fixed that left side island. I apologize in advance for the photos as they are all taken with my droid.

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irondragon013

Here is a dated series of FTS from the beginning to now. It has been a rocky journey to say the least lol.

 

December 25, 2010

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January 7, 2011

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January 12, 2011

Came home to find my parents surprised me with three fish added to my tank. Luckily my cycle had been short to practically non-existent. Not the type of surprise I like, Lost one of the 2 damsels they put in there.

5475376544_979875b32c.jpg

 

February 11, 2011

After repairing the Tek light that I bought with bad ballasts (was part of the deal from the start) from another member. I have to say I love this light but my droid’s camera doesn’t lol

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February 24, 2011

I finally ditched the last big piece of lace rock and built the left Island out of LR rubble. I can say at this point I’m much happier with the aquascape.

 

5475377348_5697ab713a.jpg

 

That sums it up so far.

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irondragon013

Thanks for checking it out. A lot has changed in this tank for how little time I have had it set up. It has been a heck of a learning experience for sure. I liked the look of lace rock starting out but over time it wasn't doing it for me. I need to see if I can get a better camera for some macro shots. My droid is good for a phone camera but can only do so much. Here is a fun pic of my brain coral. It is one of my favorites because of the tentacles.

 

5475782969_6e772a5ef7.jpg

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irondragon013

Here is some pics to show growth of corals. I found my camera. I'm a little proud of the growth ;)

 

Birdsnest at LFS. Sad I know

 

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Birdnest today. Colors are off but the growth surprised me.

 

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Corals that I'm holding for a friend who is moving. When I got them

 

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Today

 

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New Candy Cane and my GSP that started out as 3 polyps

 

5483942865_9853042831_z.jpg

 

Better FTS

 

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Feel free to leave comments or questions. I'm always looking to improve my tank and so the reason for this thread :D

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irondragon013

This morning I noticed a small burrow hole had been dug under the rocks of the right side island. It could be a HH shrimp of some sort. The rubble rock I got to build it was in my LFS's sump for their display so it could be anything. Also had a smallish mithrax type crab in the rocks. My buddy's mantis shrimp took good care of it.

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irondragon013

Well I determined the cause of the "digging." Turns out my damsel thought the sand need to be moved around. It does this by sweeping the sand with its tail making it look as if something is burrowing. Also added a Coral Banded shrimp. Better quality pics to come in the morning. I'm finally learning some photo editing stuff.

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irondragon013

New updated FTS in first post. Here are some others. I'm still learning on the photography stuff but editing even a little makes a huge difference. I wish I had more than a point and shoot but I spend all my free cash on this tank lol. Feel free to comment.

 

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I should have turned off the powerheads for this one :P

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It is hard as hell to get colors right under my lights

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hey you got a tank thread!!! awesome tank!! and amazing scape! I really like it -- and (correct me if im wrong) the sps with no skimmer ... *AMAZING*!! :D

 

I gotta get more fish.. been concentrating on corals, but I realize now that the fish is what really gives it personality!

 

What do you think of ur flow? I got the same powerheads -- was thinking maybe.. I dunno.. more?

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irondragon013
hey you got a tank thread!!! awesome tank!! and amazing scape! I really like it -- and (correct me if im wrong) the sps with no skimmer ... *AMAZING*!! :D

 

I gotta get more fish.. been concentrating on corals, but I realize now that the fish is what really gives it personality!

 

What do you think of ur flow? I got the same powerheads -- was thinking maybe.. I dunno.. more?

 

Skimmer is in the works. I just have to build a big hob fuge to put the aquaticlife 115 in. I'm pretty happy with the flow as it is with the k-nanos. I have them both on the left side and it makes some nice chaotic flow with my ac 50 pouring over them. Have you tried moving them around? It took me forever to figure out where to put them.

 

 

Very nice, I love the scape!

 

Thanks man. Your tank is awesome.

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irondragon013
I really like the cave.. and those duncans are going to look so nice in a few months. :) Great Job.

 

Thanks nebthet,

 

The cave is currently home to my coral banded shrimp I got a few days ago. He needs to come out more so I can take pictures. The duncan I got from a friend a while back. The main head has pieces of the skirt missing and had a line of hair algae growing up the side of it, but it has done really well in my tank. It has 4 smaller heads sprouting from the side that are already showing feeding reactions :D

 

My damsel has recently taken up construction and cover the ducan in sand the other night. Hopefully the burrow building stops soon. I really wish I could catch the damsel and put it in my 10g mantis shrimp tank.

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Skimmer is in the works. I just have to build a big hob fuge to put the aquaticlife 115 in. I'm pretty happy with the flow as it is with the k-nanos. I have them both on the left side and it makes some nice chaotic flow with my ac 50 pouring over them. Have you tried moving them around? It took me forever to figure out where to put them.

 

Yea I move them around every now and then experimenting... I think I have more than enough flow, and I have the ac110. But I see so many ppl with 20l's puttin up more flow for sps. However, two powerheads on one side -- didn't think about that.. .. especially with the AC right next to it creating even more turbulence.. very nice!

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irondragon013

I really didn't think of having the two on the same side until I looked at driftsaru's 20L. It certainly makes for some interesting flow. Though my buddy is about to take back the big acro and pocillopora that I have been holding till his new tank cycled.

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irondragon013

Here is pics of the shy CBS. I have wanted one of these and he fits in with all the other aggressive livestock I have. Even my brain coral is aggressive.

 

Just hanging out as he does most of the day in his cave. He is an inverted invert lol

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He wants a hug :P

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irondragon013

Update:

 

I caught the blue damsel with a bottle trap and put it in my 10g mantis shrimp tank and wished it luck. I feed the main inhabitant that is about the same size as the damsel to give it time to adjust. The mantis was giving the damsel the eye which is easily swayed with a piece of shrimp lol. This will take a lot of the aggression out of the 20 and open up space for another fish.

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irondragon013
How big is the mantis? Good move for the long run.

 

The mantis is a G. Ternatensis and is somewhere in the range of 3-4 inches long. He is going back to my buddy at the end of the week and I want to get a N. Wennerae to fill the void in the 10g. The Ternatensis is really a shy creature and I rarely see more than its front half. Wennerae are known to be more outgoing and active. Mantis shrimp are awesome creatures to have. Just a note, they rock at staring contests. It scared the crap out of the damsel when it tried to sleep in one of the mantis shrimps many opening lol. Damsel is uninjured but made quite the racket. The shrimp is a creeper ;)

 

I'm glad to have the opening in the 20L for another fish, any suggestions?

 

I'm currently planning a 40B that will use this 20L as a sump/fuge in the future. I want more fish space. This is still being planned and construction of the stand won't even start till the summer. It gives me plenty of time to plan and wait on the $1 a gallon sale to happen again at petco

 

Edit: woot 2 pages :P

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im doin the same thing... sometime in the future... 40g breeder and makin this 20 my sump

 

get some pics of the mantis up!

 

i dunno if you could get a passive fish in there right? royal gramma aggressive?

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irondragon013

I would say the gramma is more territorial than aggressive. It is always cautious, keeps to it area in the center of the tank, and was kicked out of a nice cave by the damsel, so not that aggressive. Live Aquaria and NR's database list them as peaceful actually.

 

Here is the 10g's current inmate

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