t8raff's 20L AIO... RAP orlando!

[t8raff]

hey everyone! this is my first nano tank, well saltwater tank in general. its a 20g long. got about 18 pounds of live rock, 20 pounds of sand. 2 fixture t5 lighting. 24w each bulb. not the best but what i can afford right now and will work for what i want. marine land 400 circulation pump and a marine land penguin 200 hob filter. no filter pads in just running carbon. its been cycling for the past month. just put my first fish and coral in yesterday. a clown fish and frogspawn. all water parameters are good except phosphates are a little high. working on getting them down right now. here are a few pictures.





one question. how can i clean up the sand/rocks from the green algea that im dealing with because of the phosphates? i really dont want to suction up the sand but if its what i have to do then its what i gotta do.

[t8raff]

just added a few more corals. picked up a ricordea, green star polyp and some type of zoa (if you know what kind please let me know!).

 

 

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130512_110611_zps68037565.jpg.html'>

 

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130512_125359_zpsb2d361a5.jpg.html'>

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130512_125417_zps2674e390.jpg.html'>

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130511_195854_zps62d4026b.jpg.html'>

 

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130512_125426_zps0897e002.jpg.html'>

 

here is another pic of my frogspawn. it is doing great!

 

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130512_125310_zps9ea329e1.jpg.html'>

 

and fianly one of the snails! lol

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130512_115325_zps580703cb.jpg.html'>

[MGDMIRAGE]

I hearty cleanup crew will help a ton with the algae on the rocks. Without a skimmer I would look to a refugium for nutrient export perhaps a hang on the back or an aquaclear 70/110 converted. Chaeto macro algae is your best and safest friend when it comes to nutrient export

Also what kind of sand is that?

[andi.rahl]

I vote some emerald crabs >.>

 

I hearty cleanup crew will help a ton with the algae on the rocks. Without a skimmer I would look to a refugium for nutrient export perhaps a hang on the back or an aquaclear 70/110 converted. Chaeto macro algae is your best and safest friend when it comes to nutrient export :)Also what kind of sand is that?

[t8raff]

as far as cuc i have 5 blue leg hermits and 5 snails (forgot which kind). what else would you suggest i add? if i get a refugium should i ditch my hob filter? the sand is natures ocean sugar fine sand. so far im really not liking it. wish i got something coarser.

[PiscesFish]

You could try to use your hand to mix up the sand and get the algae off to get it into your filters. Also, some snails and hermit crabs will help. Emerald crabs are great too. I got one the other day and its been cleaning up things nicely. But becareful with them cause I've heard that they can feast on sleeping fish if hungry.

 

For your size tank, I would recommend more of a CUC cause the clownfish will kill the hermit crabs if they come out of their shells

[MGDMIRAGE]

I wouldn't bother with emerald crabs unless you have very small bubble algae. Once emerald crabs reach full size they get clumsy and end up inevitably tearing into coral and they end up liking it. I would keep running carbon even if you are doing a refugium.

[andi.rahl]

I wouldn't bother with emerald crabs unless you have very small bubble algae. Once emerald crabs reach full size they get clumsy and end up inevitably tearing into coral and they end up liking it. I would keep running carbon even if you are doing a refugium.

 

I dont think they grow that fast though. Mine cleaned my rocks of algae in general.

[PiscesFish]

I find emerald crabs great cleaners so far with no problems lately.

[t8raff]

hmmm... just googled how to make a refugium with a aquaclear filter. i might just do this! just need to find somewhere that sells chaeto.. now if i run chaeto can i also put carbon in there as well? i would need to find a small clip on light as well... ideas are rollin!

[t8raff]

just picked up 5 more hermit crabs and two peppermint shrimp. as soon as the hermits hit the sand they started cleaning so i am happy about that. i think my other 5 are defective or something lol.

[PicoPerson]

Good Work. Can't wait to see how it evolves!

[t8raff]

got bored and took a few pics. ignore my nasty sand. stirred it all up yesterday and it looked somewhat nice. now its back to crap lol. those new hermits got some work ahead of them!

 

one of the peppermints checking out the frogspawn

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130513_161919_zps3f4aa44c.jpg.html'>

 

one of the new hermits

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130513_161855_zpsbce81a9f.jpg.html'>

 

took my zoas off the plug and found a new spot for them

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130513_170407_zps8feafe75.jpg.html'>

 

another frogspawn pic.. man i love this thing!

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130513_184057_zps5b21422a.jpg.html'>

 

i think im going to make a little ricordea garden on the rock/sand on the left where the one already is. should i leave the ricordea on the plug like it already is? or try to glue it to the rock? also when gluing frags down can this be done with everything still in the water?

http://s315.photobucket.com/user/t8raff/media/20130513_184207_zps80737fe0.jpg.html'>

[Zia]

Looking good, congrads on your first reef!

[t8raff]

thanks!

[10001110101]

got bored and took a few pics. ignore my nasty sand. stirred it all up yesterday and it looked somewhat nice. now its back to crap lol. those new hermits got some work ahead of them!

Yeah seems like you've got an algae bloom goin on, looks like cyanobacteria.

 

What are you feeding and what is your feeding schedule like? since your tank is still relatively new algae blooms aren't uncommon, but there may be some things you can do to keep it under control, as the tank develops algae blooms will become less and less common but you will still need a long term strategy to keep them under control. You may need to increase nutrient export with macroalgae like Chaeto or a protein skimmer or more/bigger water changes, you can also control nutrient intake to the tank by reducing feedings or by target feeding so that little excess food accumulates in the tank. Tank looks good hope you're having fun!

[t8raff]

im feeding the clownfish some flake food right now once a day. just a tiny tiny pinch and he gobbles it all up. my phosphate levels are just a tad high which i believe is why im having the algae bloom right now. for water changes i havnt been suctioning up the sand. should i do that?

[t8raff]

Well i moved a couple rocks to change up the aquascape just a tad. Do you guys like it more or less? I really need to get rid of that dang algae!

 

Also if this was your tank what coral would you get and where would you put it? I have a 2 fixture t5. One white and one 10k both 24 watts each. And for flow circulation pump on back left aimed for center front and hob filter on back right. Just trying to come up with some ideas here! Thanks everyone

[t8raff]

anyone have any input? would be nice

[Felicia]

With the 2 T5 fixture, I'd stick to softies and LPS. I doubt it's enough light for SPS. If you plan to upgrade the light down the road, you could save the highest spots for SPS corals. You asked for what coral to get next? I'd say get some ricordeas or mushrooms for the bottom portion of the tank. They're easy and a ricordeas garden with multiple colors would look really good. Also get some zoas and palys for low to middle or even high (your light won't hurt them) spots in the tank.

[t8raff]

yeah softies and lps are what im looking at right now. dont have the funds for a $400 light right now lol. i am planning on a small ricordea garden/rock on the bottom left side where the single ricordea currently is. i want to move the frogspawn up out of the sand and put him somewhere up on the rocks to open up the bottom. i just dont really know what will be a good spot. im thinking right int he middle somewhere and have it be the centerpiece. now are there any lps that like high flow? like possibly under the hob flow. another question is can i glue frags down while they are still in the water? i dont want to take rocks out every time i need to glue something down. sorry for all the questions/rambling. just a noob trying to make a game plan

[Arkayology]

Your tank will go through a maturing process and you will see some algae come and go. Just keep up with your water changes and it will go away with time. You might consider getting some cerith snails/more of them as they are good for the sand. Reefcleaners.org, one of the site sponsors,has some really good regular size and micro ceriths that are good for our tanks and are cheap.

 

I wouldn't bother with emerald crabs unless you have very small bubble algae. Once emerald crabs reach full size they get clumsy and end up inevitably tearing into coral and they end up liking it. I would keep running carbon even if you are doing a refugium.

I've never had a true emerald crab eat coral ever. Might be worth getting one.

[Felicia]

Yep, you can glue things down under water. Just pull the frag out of the water, but leave the rocks where they are. Add some gel super glue to the bottom of the frag and then put it back in the water and hold it to the rock where you want it for 30s to a min. The water actually helps speed up the setting of the glue. Just make sure you use GEL superglue.

 

As for LPS that like flow, I think there are quite a few. Does the HOB really put out that much flow? Do you know what its GPH is? My frogspawn is right under my HOB AC70 and does just fine there. They don't like to be blasted with a ton of flow, but moderate flow is good.

[t8raff]

Thanks for the info. My hob gph is 200 but i have some filter matting on the outlet to slow it down some as it was making a giant crater in the sand.

[t8raff]

well had a pretty productive day. did a water change and glued down the corals. moved my frogspawn up in the middle of the tank in the rocks. ill have a picture once the tank clears up. now one question. my green star polyps were out and looking great before i put the peppermint shrimps in. ever since they have been there they have been closed. why is that? i feel like they ate them or something.