Getting back into reefkeeping...slowly

[Roachant]

Hi guys!

As the title suggests, I'm getting back into reefkeeping after dismantling my 40 gallon breeder two years ago. I had to tear it down due to time issues, I didn't have the proper time for it and didn't want the animals to suffer so I sold my corals and fish and stored everything.

So now I am in the process of setting up a 20 gallon tank for corals, mostly zoas and a few lps and softies, easier things. I acid washed and bleached my old live rock and it is pristine white and odourless. It's been tough finding the right way to place the rock for both aesthetics and function, but I am in no rush and I am taking my time because once it's set, it's really hard to rescape stuff.

Sorry, getting long winded here...

I found the last time I was reefkeeping my frog spawns weren't growing at all until I actually held back on water changes. In a smaller tank though, I'll have to be religious with them so I'll see how things turn out.

Should I keep a fish in the tank or would a coral only tank be ok? I plan on using a hob filter to hold media chemipure blue and floss. I have a two little fishies reactor that I may use for even more media, phosphate reduced or the like. Would this be overkill to have both? Looking forward to update my process!

Don

[malachai]

Welcome back to the hobby - I'm surprised you lasted 2 years l never could have gone that long lol.

 

I personally have a 20 and after having had everything up to a 150 over the years l must say the 20 is by far my favorite. I cant wait to see what you put together.

[gmanreefer]

In my experience coral only tanks are really fun. Water changes schedule pretty lax if you just are going to have some zoas and softies. No need to worry about feeding much unless you really want to get some amazing growth and coloration. Good way to get back into the hobby and keep your maintenece demands low . I would say for even lower maintenance schedule - go bare bottom . Good luck

[Roachant]

I thought about bare bottom but I really like the look of a sand bed. Coral sand, not silica sand ?. I will post a pic of my final rock work once I'm satisfied with it. I am hoping I'll get the water in this weekend but we shall see.

I have heard that a lot of people loved going nano for their reefs so I thought I'd try and see.

I plan to do some feeding because I had pretty good results using reef roids last time.

[Clown79]

Welcome back.

 

I love my nano's more than my 55g i had in the past. I find them more fun, easier to correct problems that may arise.

 

Everything i have read, say its easier to have a tank with a fish than coral only. Often coral only, lacks nutrients which can effect their health, you can feed various coral foods but then possibly run into high nutrient levels.

 

Ever see a real reef with no fish? That's usually a sign of a problem.

 

Its your choice. If you don't like fish, then do coral only.

 

 

I do weekly waterchanges and have 3 frogspawn, no issues. try keeping nitrate around 5 and no higher than 10.

They certainly don't like very high flow or very high light from my experience. Dead smack in the middle.

 

 

Your hob plans sound good. i'd wait to use the reactor for when you need it.

[Roachant]

I will likely get one fish for the tank. Looking at perhaps a dwarf angel but, not really sure yet. After reading around, it looks like a fish is a good idea. Plus the wife wants at least one so, I'll keep her happy .

I do like fish, correction love fish, I just like keeping them in large tanks. I like keeping small fish in large tanks, it makes the tanks seems more natural or lake like, well fresh water ones anyway.

Oh, I'm not going to run a skimmer on the tank. I figured it would be ok if I keep up with water changes.

Thanks for the input!

[Clown79]

In a 40g you could do more than 1 fish.

 

Just ensure they are compatible with eachother, don't require much larger tanks, and reef safe.