Jump to content
Cultivated Reef

Lizzie's Post Grad 20L


Lizzie1324

Recommended Posts

FINALLY! My return to nano-reef is in full swing! omgomgomg

 

Many moons ago when I was a 16 year old nerding out over nano tanks I started my journey with the (at the time pretty new) Red Sea Max! It was fun, fabulous, and I learned so much. The tank however never reached it's full potential because I went off to college which meant breaking down the tank :unsure:. I kept the set-up (because once a nano-nerd always a nano-nerd amirite?!) but gave away all the livestock.

 

But I have returned! Post grad (currently a grad student at Auburn University...WDE) with a more steady income and permanent residence, I am finally setting up another tank. And when my local Petco *cough cough* had their tank sale, I couldn't pass up the gorgeous 20 gallon long. Actually, my boyfriend, who I am currently wrangling into this insane hobby, was the one who encouraged me to go for it. He's never been exposed to our particular breed of crazy (until now B)) and is pretty excited too!

 

So yes! I have been nerding out all over again...catching up on the last 5 years of advances and information. I didn't realize just how much I missed this :wub:. I will post pictures of the bare bones shortly!

 

As always, thanks nano-reefers for your ever welcoming response. It's GREAT to be back!

Link to comment
  • Replies 92
  • Created
  • Last Reply

So like I said...this is a 20 gallon long build. I'm excited to be part of the club ;)

 

 

IMG_3678_zpsvepo0lzp.jpg

IMG_3679_zps0eosiemw.jpg

Putting the boyfriend to work rinsing sand!

IMG_3682_zpst6fvrqbh.jpg

IMG_3684%201_zpsyyfqewib.jpg

IMG_3683_zpsuqkjjqjd.jpg

Hardware:

20G Long Tank

AC 70

Current USA Orbit Marine LED Lights

Koralia Nano 425 and 240

 

 

Livestock:

(1) Snowflake clown seeking partner (of murdering them, not quite sure)

(1) Cleaner Shrimp

 

Purple Hammer

 

Zoas-

Eagle Eye

Blue Eyed Girls

Whammin Watermelon

Horizons

 

Purple and Green Acan

Red and Blue Acan

 

Pulsing Xenia

 

 

That's all for now folks!

Link to comment
gulfsurfer101

Welcome back to club kiddo! You should let me make you a false wall for that 20l. Check out my latest one in my sig. Good to see again. Looks like a lot of old faces are coming out the woodwork!

Link to comment

Thank you :)

 

That wall looks slick! What all would I have to do for filtration? I'm not looking forward to the salt creep on the hanging filter...but I'm also trying to keep it simple!

Link to comment
gulfsurfer101

I run a bag of phosguard in the first chamber and some purigen in the next, that's it. I was thinking of replacing the purigen with chemipure elite blue though. Along with my 120g rated skimmer my tank stays pretty solid and I only do a wc every other week or so at this point.

Link to comment

Keeping seahorses is EXTREMELY labor-intensive.

I love them too, they're actually what I started out with as well many, many, many years ago.

Things are better now that there are captive raised Seahorses but to be perfectly honest, I still personally won't keep them because I know I'm not up to all the work.

You have to consider things like who will care for them while you go on vacations, etc.

I'm not saying don't do it, they're amazing, just be very sure.

Also, :welcome: back!!!

Link to comment

Keeping seahorses is EXTREMELY labor-intensive.

I love them too, they're actually what I started out with as well many, many, many years ago.

Things are better now that there are captive raised Seahorses but to be perfectly honest, I still personally won't keep them because I know I'm not up to all the work.

You have to consider things like who will care for them while you go on vacations, etc.

I'm not saying don't do it, they're amazing, just be very sure.

Also, :welcome: back!!!

Awesome! Thank you. That was my concern as well! In a college town, knowledgable help can be hard to find, but I would LOVE having them. I'm definitely going to mull it over and as we build our livestock, just make sure it fits the requirements in case we decide that we really want them! It's easier with two people being committed to it, but I'm sure holiday times next winter would be rough!

 

I will be checking out all of the links y'all posted! Thanks y'all

Link to comment

Awesome! Thank you. That was my concern as well! In a college town, knowledgable help can be hard to find, but I would LOVE having them. I'm definitely going to mull it over and as we build our livestock, just make sure it fits the requirements in case we decide that we really want them! It's easier with two people being committed to it, but I'm sure holiday times next winter would be rough!

 

I will be checking out all of the links y'all posted! Thanks y'all

 

I felt a little bad after posting that, like I was being a terrible downer or something.

Just so you know, I didn't mean it that way.

I can tell you're excited about getting back into this (which you should be, it's awesome), and I just didn't want you to end up getting discouraged right out of the gate because of the difficulties involved.

I've done that and didn't want it to happen to you.

Wishing you much success....

 

:)

L

Link to comment

Of course not! I didn't take it that way at all. I'm just so stoked to be back that nothing could pull me off cloud 9 ;) And a lot of people (my man included) are mainly excited about the fish, inverts, etc. when they start. I'm such a coral need I've been ogling over LED lights!!! Lol. I would really love to have a couple seahorses, I just wanted some affirmation that it wasn't an insane endeavor! I really appreciate the input!

Link to comment

Of course not! I didn't take it that way at all. I'm just so stoked to be back that nothing could pull me off cloud 9 ;) And a lot of people (my man included) are mainly excited about the fish, inverts, etc. when they start. I'm such a coral need I've been ogling over LED lights!!! Lol. I would really love to have a couple seahorses, I just wanted some affirmation that it wasn't an insane endeavor! I really appreciate the input!

Hi Lizzie and welcome back! My name is Dawn and I actually have a seahorse tank. I am glad that I checked out your thread so I can try to be helpful. Weetabix was spot on when she said that they are high maintenance. They are so exquisitely charming but definitely high maintenance. And regretfully I hate to be a downer as well but a 20L is really way too shallow for the regular seahorses, (erectus should have a minimum of 19" of height) and probably too big for a novice dwarf seahorse keeper. I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news...but a 20L is awesome for so many other creatures! I actually just turned my 20 year old 20L into a sump upgrade for my seahorse tank so who knows...

Anyway it is so exciting that you are getting back into the hobby and I wish you the best of luck!

Link to comment

Awesome start so far! I started my reef obsession right after I started graduate school as well.

 

I had a seahorse tank for a while and unfortunately everyone is right that they are a TON of work. First off, I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than 30 gallons for seahorses because they eat a ton so they are a big bio load in a small system. A 20 gallon could maybe house one seahorse, but as Dawn said, a 20L is too shallow. Seahorses need taller tanks, so cubes are usually better. Also, since they're such a huge bio load, you really need very good filtration. Much more than a hang on filter. Best case would be a sump with a skimmer and other filtration. I had my seahorses in an all in one system that had a skimmer, refugium, and media reactors. I ended up taking my seahorse tank down because it became way too much work with school. As I said, seahorses are a big bio load so you have to do tons of big water changes in smaller tanks. Also, you need to feel them 2-3 times per day. This can get really hard if you have to go out of town for even a weekend. Unlike most other fish, you can't just skip feeding them for a couple days. Not to be a downer, but then there's also the issue with seahorses being very susceptible to disease. You have to keep the water super clean but inevitably you'll probably have an issue and you'll need to be prepared by having a hospital tank and medication on hand.

 

I think seahorses are doable if you're very committed and build a system around their needs. However, they really aren't a good start for beginners. I'd recommend starting with easy fish and working your way up to something like that down the line. Definitely read Dawn's (vlangel) thread and ask her questions. She's hands down the best seahorse keeper on NR!

Link to comment

Thanks for the input y'all!!! Sounds like I'll have to wait on the seahorses :/ I'm not a beginner, but I am still a student and 2-3 feedings a a day is pushing it!

 

No worries though, I still have a lot I want to do with this tank :) And I'm pretty sure I'm gonna ditch the hanging filter once my cycling gets done and such.

Link to comment

Looking forward to seeing what you do. 20L's are great tanks. I prefer the long shallow tanks like this. Definitely don't give up on the seahorses if you really really want them. They're just a ton of commitment! I know I got in over my head with mine and it got to the point where it was so much work that the tank wasn't fun for me anymore. Just something you really have to think on.

Link to comment

Welcome back! It's gonna be a pain to put a false wall in after it's all wet. How about an ac70 at the end, low tech but efficient, hide all the equipment there, and it'll be a nice peninsula tank!

 

Thank you :) If so then I'll probably just hang on to the one I have now for a while. It's the AC Fluval 20. Which I know could easily be stepped up to the 70, but this was what I had on hand! lol. If things need an extra boost then I might try switching and adding the small fuge with the extra space, but I'm hoping that just staying on top of things like levels and water changes will work okay!

Link to comment

Another thing you could investigate is using a canister filter with lily pipes. It is usually discouraged for beginners due to it being something that you really need to keep up with cleaning, otherwise it creates more harm than good. But, if you feel that you can be diligent with it, it can be done and I feel like it would be better filtration than the hang on types. I'm very much considering doing it as a downgrade right now with either a ADA 60F or a 12L, so a slightly bigger canister on a 20L could work well. None-the-less, you have a great start to something nice. Keep up the good work!

 

On a side note, maybe after you have the 20L running a while and are comfortable with its maintenance, you could look into doing a separate dwarf seahorse tank. I believe they can be kept in something as small as 5-10 gallons, which is great as a second tank.(I'm sure Dawn can verify) It does sound like it would be a lot of work, though.

Link to comment

Yay..so happy to see another 20 Long :happydance:. I'm really enjoying mine. I think it's the perfect size..until the corals outgrow the tank LOL. But that will happen in any tank :).

 

Another fantastic 20L is Mom2many's tank. Hers is a true mixed reef which I think you would be interested in reading about.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/361042-my-20-long-journey/

 

Looking forward to following along with your build!

Link to comment

 

On a side note, maybe after you have the 20L running a while and are comfortable with its maintenance, you could look into doing a separate dwarf seahorse tank. I believe they can be kept in something as small as 5-10 gallons, which is great as a second tank.(I'm sure Dawn can verify) It does sound like it would be a lot of work, though.

Yes, DZ is correct. A dwarf tank can be set up using a 5.5g tank. Because of that they are very economical, too by comparison to regular seahorses. The tank and brine shrimp hatcheries are fairly reasonable. The down side to DSH is they are even more labor intensive than regular seahorses since they need a lot of live food 3Xs or more a day. I decided that they just weren't doable for me since we travel some. My sister can come and feed once a day but not 3Xs.

Link to comment

Yes, DZ is correct. A dwarf tank can be set up using a 5.5g tank. Because of that they are very economical, too by comparison to regular seahorses. The tank and brine shrimp hatcheries are fairly reasonable. The down side to DSH is they are even more labor intensive than regular seahorses since they need a lot of live food 3Xs or more a day. I decided that they just weren't doable for me since we travel some. My sister can come and feed once a day but not 3Xs.

Any easy method of auto feeding? Maybe set up a temp tank next to the DSH tank when you go away. Fill the temp tank with brine. Have an aqualifter on a time set to "feed" 3 times a day. In full disclosure I have not really thought this out fully, just an idea. Let the brainstorming commence....

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions


×
×
  • Create New...