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Potatowned's 20L - First Tank (Updated. Got some fish finally!)


potatowned

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Latest update with pics: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/340416-potatowneds-20l-first-tank-updated-got-some-fish-finally/?p=4814274

 

8/24/14

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2/25/14

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2/22/14

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2/10/14

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So I've had fish tanks for as long as I remember. Goldfish, bettas, guppies, etc. (My dad was one of those guys that came back home with a bag of fish all the time.) A few years ago, I started getting into planted tanks and that kept me busy for awhile. I've always wanted to do a reef tank, but I was always too lazy. I accumulated equipment over the past 1-2 years, always intending to start the tank, but never got around to it. Over the new year, I was in Hawaii visiting family and spent a ton of time in the ocean and the bug bit me hard! As soon as I got back, I started reading up and putting together what I needed for my first ever reef tank.

 

I soon found that quite a bit of the equipment I intended to use was not really ideal, so I basically started from scratch. Here is a breakdown of my equipment:

  • 20L from Petco
  • Aquaclear 70 HOB w/ Badfish surface skimmer box and media basket
  • OceanRevive S-026 120w LED
  • Koralia Nano 425 powerhead
  • 75w Jager heater
Currently in the tank:
  • 20-25 pounds of dry rock from Reefcleaners
  • 5 pounds live rock, donated from a friend
  • 20 pounds Caribsea Fiji Pink
  • 5 pounds of live sand, donated from a friend
In the refugium:
  • sponge filter
  • bag of carbon
  • chaeto
OK, now that's out of the way, on to the pictures!

 

Testing the tank; it checked out.

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Tank placement. It's on top a dresser in my bedroom. Lights are mounted directly to the ceiling.

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Lights!

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All the crap I had to buy.

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Live rock, courtesy of reefcleaners.org

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Rinsed the live rock, and fooled around with some aquascapes.

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Sand is in!

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I thought this live sand didn't need to be rinsed???

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OK, it's settled now.

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Some better pics of the rock placement. It's my understanding that the more rock in the tank, the better the natural, biological filtration. Should I try to put more rock in? I still have at least 10 pounds.

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Refugium. Should I put the cover on? Will my light penetrate and allow the chaeto to still grow?

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So that's where I am now! I am currently in day 5 of my cycle, so it will probably be a while before I have more pictures.

 

Feedback welcome! I'm a newb, so please be as informative/critical as you like.

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And as a bonus, some pics from the Waikiki Aquarium, which partially inspired me to hurry up and start my tank.

 

A cute little jellyfish.

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Tako, as the Hawaiians call it.

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Lionfish?

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Apparently, this one is pretty rare.

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Looks like it'll be a pretty sweet setup.

 

Some better pics of the rock placement. It's my understanding that the more rock in the tank, the better the natural, biological filtration. Should I try to put more rock in? I still have at least 10 pounds.

 

The more live rock you have the more biological filtration you have, but you also want to consider the amount of room you'll allow for fish to swim and hide, corals to grow and aesthetics of your rock scape. I personally wouldn't add much more, maybe keep it for a sump down the road?

 

 

Refugium. Should I put the cover on? Will my light penetrate and allow the chaeto to still grow?

 

I don't think you'll gain much from covering your fuge, I'd say get as much light to the chaeto as you can.

 

Good luck, keep us updated.

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Check your clearances between the rock and glass. Leave plenty of room to get your mag cleaner and hand in there to scrape away algae. With rock placement, you also need to consider water flow. With your current scape I think you might need another circulation pump, one for behind the rocks and one for in front. I have what has turned out to be a pile of rocks in my biocube and even with a MP10 I have a hard time with good flow.

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Welcome to NR. The members here are great and very informative so ask any questions you might have. I am setting my 20L back up so I will be following your thread. It is great and very helpful to have a friend in the hobby. Good luck with your tank.

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Good luck with the addiction. Very nice pictures. That skill will serve you well in this hobby.

 

I personally prefer less rock to allow good circulation in display tank. For me, substrate provides more surface area to allow nitrifying bacteria to colonize. Your sponge will do that also. Instead of using live rock for denitrification bacteria, I use macro algae to remove nitrate. The added benefit of macro nutrient control is that macro also removes phosphate.

 

I will caution you on the intensity of the lights that you have. You have 6W of LED per gallon of water. Depending on the design of the optics angle, it is very easy to burn/bleach corals. Dial down the rheostat until you get a feel to what your tank inhabitants require. Good surface air exchange is always important to help CO2 and oxygen gas exchange. This is critical when the lights are off and the pH starts to drop.

 

I have maintained reefs for 45 years. It does not get boring.

Laissez la bonne temps roulee,

Patrick

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I would love to see that peppermint dwarf angel in person.

 

Tank looks like its off to a good start, I am sure you will do fine as long as you keep up on basic tank maintenance. Same as fw, if you completely neglect it, theres a good chance it will go to crap.

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Love your set up! I started with a 20L then transferred to a biocube for more space, but just recently started another 20L - truly are great tanks, best of luck!

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Looks like it'll be a pretty sweet setup.

 

 

The more live rock you have the more biological filtration you have, but you also want to consider the amount of room you'll allow for fish to swim and hide, corals to grow and aesthetics of your rock scape. I personally wouldn't add much more, maybe keep it for a sump down the road?

 

 

 

I don't think you'll gain much from covering your fuge, I'd say get as much light to the chaeto as you can.

 

Good luck, keep us updated.

Thanks! I think I'm going to leave the rock alone for now. To your point, I need room for the fish to swim and I have to consider the coral that I plan on adding down the road. If I decide that I don't have enough rock later on, I'll go ahead and add some rock and rescape.

 

Check your clearances between the rock and glass. Leave plenty of room to get your mag cleaner and hand in there to scrape away algae. With rock placement, you also need to consider water flow. With your current scape I think you might need another circulation pump, one for behind the rocks and one for in front. I have what has turned out to be a pile of rocks in my biocube and even with a MP10 I have a hard time with good flow.

I tried to be careful of that as I was aquascaping. I should have included a top down perspective. All the rock is centered in the tank so I managed to keep a majority of the glass clear. There is one spot on the left where the rock is a little too close to the glass for me to get my mag float in, but that is down near the sand. As far as flow goes, There is a ton of surface agitation, due to the AC70 return and the Koralia, but I do think I may need to add another powerhead down the line. I bought Koralia Evolution 600, thinking that I could replace the Nano, but the Evo is ENORMOUS and it doesn't even put out much flow! (TBH, I think the Nano puts out more.) I am pretty disappointed with it, to say the least. I will probably add another Koralia Nano, or a Jebao WP10? I hear those are good... and they make waves!

 

Good luck with the addiction. Very nice pictures. That skill will serve you well in this hobby.

 

I personally prefer less rock to allow good circulation in display tank. For me, substrate provides more surface area to allow nitrifying bacteria to colonize. Your sponge will do that also. Instead of using live rock for denitrification bacteria, I use macro algae to remove nitrate. The added benefit of macro nutrient control is that macro also removes phosphate.

 

I will caution you on the intensity of the lights that you have. You have 6W of LED per gallon of water. Depending on the design of the optics angle, it is very easy to burn/bleach corals. Dial down the rheostat until you get a feel to what your tank inhabitants require. Good surface air exchange is always important to help CO2 and oxygen gas exchange. This is critical when the lights are off and the pH starts to drop.

 

I have maintained reefs for 45 years. It does not get boring.

Laissez la bonne temps roulee,

Patrick

Thanks for the tips! I read about the benefits of macro algae; hence the chaeto in the refugium! Hopefully it grows. At the moment, it's kind of a pale green, and doesn't really seem all that dense. Perhaps because I don't have much of a bioload to create nitrate yet.

 

Does good surface air exchange come with surface agitation? I get quite a bit of movement from the AC70 return alone. If I turn it all the way up, the return can't keep up with the suction and the water actually spills out from the intake area. (Maybe I have too much mechanical filtration?)

 

The lights I currently have turned down to about 30% power on the whites and 40% on the blues. The optics are 90 degrees, which is great because I get really awesome shimmer at the bottom of the tank, but I do worry about them being too strong. I have them mounted a little higher, which I hope will help. (~15" off the top of my tank.)

 

One thing I'm a bit bummed about is the timer I bought for the lights. It was advertised to have 4 separate timers so I assumed I could have the blues turn on first, then have the whites turn on later. There is no sunrise/sunset feature on the lights where I can ramp up the intensity, so I figured this was the next best thing. As it turns out, all 4 timed outlets on the power strip turn on all at the same time. You can set multiple schedules for those 4 outlets, but that doesn't help me, because I want separate switches for each outlet. I guess I'll need to just use the old school mechanical timers to have the blues turn on first, then the whites. What also sucks is that my light has 3-prong outlets, while all the timers allow only 2 prong plugs. My cables are going to be a mess...

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One thing I'm a bit bummed about is the timer I bought for the lights. It was advertised to have 4 separate timers so I assumed I could have the blues turn on first, then have the whites turn on later. There is no sunrise/sunset feature on the lights where I can ramp up the intensity, so I figured this was the next best thing. As it turns out, all 4 timed outlets on the power strip turn on all at the same time. You can set multiple schedules for those 4 outlets, but that doesn't help me, because I want separate switches for each outlet. I guess I'll need to just use the old school mechanical timers to have the blues turn on first, then the whites. What also sucks is that my light has 3-prong outlets, while all the timers allow only 2 prong plugs. My cables are going to be a mess...

 

I got fooled into buying one of those timers too before. Basically useless for us imo. Upgrading to an led controller this week.

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There are 3 prong timers out there. Yes, surface agitation promotes good air water gas exchange. Drains to sump can also promote much air water gas exchange by installing splash plates. I use bio balls in the first compartment of my mud/macro refugium.

Patrick

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I run LEDs on my 20 long also, I have the whites set at 35% and blues at 40% max for only 2 hours, with a slow ramp from dawn to max back to dusk

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I run LEDs on my 20 long also, I have the whites set at 35% and blues at 40% max for only 2 hours, with a slow ramp from dawn to max back to dusk

 

Your tank looks great! I wish my lights had dawn/dusk functionality. I'm just struggling with getting my timers worked out, as it is. I'm currently thinking that I'll just have to use mechanical timers, which I don't particularly like. I already have one running in my room for the freshwater tank... the constant buzz sounds like my computer's HD is clicking.

 

I might just spring for a controller... that would allow me to set timers for all my lights, correct? They should make powerbars with built in dimming capabilities. Like a separate potentiometer tied to a timer for each outlet. The controller could then do dawn/dusk on the lights, waves on the powerheads, even adjust temperature! Easier said than done, I'm sure.

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Update: less than a week after starting my tank, I am getting a few brown spots on my rock, which I assume is algae and parameters are all wonky. According to my API kit (I know, this kit is suspect), my water is as follows:

 

Ammonia - 2.0ppm

Nitrite - 5.0+ppm

Nitrate - 10-20ppm

 

Quick phone pic:

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Ignore Artoo, he just happened to be on my desk and snuck into the picture.

 

So, is this all normal? I read that my ammonia would suddenly dropoff, and then I would see my nitrite spike, followed by nitrate. Should I do a water change?

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Looks to be going through the initial nitrogen cycle. I would let the tank run it's course, and check it in a couple of days. You should start to see the ammonia falling soon!

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Alright. So I am 9 days into my cycle. Checked my levels right now and I am at the following:

 

Ammonia: 0ppm (yay!!)

Nitrite: 2.0ppm

Nitrate: 20-40ppm

 

Should I wait until my nitrite falls? Or should I go ahead and do a water change to bring both nitrite and nitrate down?

 

The tank is covered in what I believe to be diatoms, this weird brownish growth all over the rock and the sand:

 

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Here's something even more interesting. A few days ago, I noticed this pale little purple ball, growing on a clump of sand. I actually thought the clump of sand was a piece of decomposing cocktail shrimp. I figured the ball was some weird algae or mold. Anyways, sometime in the last 24 hours or so, the little ball sprouted some little green spikes. It kinda now looks like a tiny green koosh ball.

 

The thing is growing on the sand, under one of my rocks:

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Here's the best close-up I could get. I can't find my tripod, so this was taken by hand.

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Now is there any chance this is a little coral???

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2 weeks in and my cycle is complete!

 

Just checked params and I am free of ammonia and nitrite, nitrate is at 5-10ppm. Should I try to get my nitrate lower by doing a water change?

 

Or am I ok to add my clean-up crew?

 

Just ordered the 20L cleanup crew from Reefcleaners.com. It should be here sometime next week!

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