1979camaro Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 maybe it should be in begginers section? Anyhow, I am setting up a 20gallon nano reef. The tank is essentially ready to go from an equipment standpoint but I wanted to run a couple things by you guys (and gals) First, what I have: I have 110 watts over the 20g, 3/4 of which is 10000k and 1/4 is actinic blue the temp is a constant 79f specific gravity is 1.022 (catalina ocean water) Berlin Airlift 60 Skimmer adjustable powerhead for circulation 2.5in coral sandbed the plan: add 1in of live sand which will give me ~30 pounds add 15 to 20 pounds of live rock allow the tank to cycle the big question: here is a list of what I want to stock (excluding corals, which I have not delved deeply into yet) 1 blood shrimp (would a cleaner shrimp be better, i understand they do essentially the same thing)...or could/should i keep both? 10 Astraea Snails (I read turbos get too big sometimes) 2 Nassarius Snails 2 Cerith Snails 1 Emerald Crab 1 Red Legged Hermit 1 Left Handed Hermit 1 Black & White Percula Clown 1 Bangaii Cardinal 1 Royal Gramma and maybe, many months down the road, if things are going well I was thinking of eventually adding a Blue Tuxedo Pincushion Urchin...or else maybe a starfish of some sort, but I have no real idea what would be good there either...and i figure thats so far away it doesnt matter much now does this seem appropriate/manageable...i know most people here seem to support all natural filtration, and once things are all functioning properly I may decide to turn off the skimmer, but for now I would rather be on the safe side... any help/comment is appreciated Kevin Link to comment
Toooloud Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 "1 Black & White Percula Clown 1 Bangaii Cardinal 1 Royal Gramma" Might be a bit much.. ., Go with the 20 pounds of live rock, and i would go with a 3 inch sand bed ( DSB Deep Sand Bed) best for filtration.. Blood shrimp i find dont do much.. I prefer cleaner shrimp.. more active.. Link to comment
1979camaro Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 k...thanks...ill probably drop the cardinal from that list then Link to comment
Toooloud Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 I mean just 3 fish is alot.. and to have that you would have to increase your filtration, So more live rock, witch then you are running out of swimming space. Link to comment
1979camaro Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 yah...that makes since...i wasn't sure if three would be pushing it or not so its good to have someone say "yah, thats pushing it" Link to comment
Deimos Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Hmm....agree on some points..disagree on others.. First...three fish..especially the three you have chosen..will be fine in a 20g IF you boost the protein skimming a bit (something like a BakPak, Prizm, etc...)..not a big fan of little "bubble tubes" as it were anyway. Heck..they may even be fine without increased skimming..they aren't exactly massive fish. Second...on the subject of DSB's..hmmm..have we not all heard the controversy yet? Many are rethinking the idea of DSB's..especially in the main tank..as they have been found to have a "shelf life" of about 4-5 years..after which they stop functioning. There was a huge thread (14 pages) on it on RC by the likes of Charles Delbeek and Ron Shimek discussing some of the very recent "sandbed cloggings" that are taking place with some of the DSB pioneer's tanks. I'd go with a shallower sandbed (1-2") or barebottomed tank and remotely locate a DSB if you absolutely HAVE to have one. Again..bump up your skimming and DOM should be fine. Third...more rock...say..another 10lbs or so. 30lbs in 20g isn't all that much...and you'll still have plenty of "swimming room"..along with plenty of caves and hiding spaces. HTH... Link to comment
offsprg01 Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 agree with deimos. but i think urchins eat coraline? ??? maybe ??? or maybe it was just a ceartin species..... ??? so i'd check in to that first. Link to comment
AbSoluTc Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Raise your temp to about 80-82. Link to comment
dickwayne Posted July 17, 2003 Share Posted July 17, 2003 Three fish, especially the ones you chose, are absolutely fine. I have four in my 20, and I don't use a skimmer (gasp!) You should probably add more live rock, to around 30lbs give or take depending on density and size. This will up your biological filtration, and give you more room for coral placement. What do you plan to use for water circulation? When I get a new tank, I plan to do something like this http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/tank/...closedloop.html That way you don't have ugly powerheads taking up room and adding heat. Plus it's a cheap wavemaker. And a temperature of 79 will work, if you can keep it there over the summer! You may also want to bump the SG up a bit to around 1.024 or so. Is the Berlin Airlift the one that needs to be in the tank? If so I wouldn't use it. It would take up valuable space, and I don't think it would skim all that well anyways. You could upgrade to an AquaC Remora, which would be great. Or you could get a refugium under your tank, which would give you a place to put your Airlift and add some macro algae for additional nutrient export. Lifereef makes a good overflow you could use withour drilling. Unfourtunatly, this does add significant cost to the system. I also agree about not adding a deep sand bed. Here's the link to a good thread that will let you decide for yourself. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...&highlight=bare Good luck with it all! and use a cleaner instead of a blood shrimp! Link to comment
1979camaro Posted July 17, 2003 Author Share Posted July 17, 2003 Ok guys...thanks for all the great input...the airlift is the one that goes in the tank (or in a sump...I had looked into a sump but I really didn't want to drill the tank so I figured that was out...for the water circulation I will be using a powerhead...keeping it as simple as I can for now...I think I can keep the temp around 79 im in so cal, but it might be easier to raise it up b/c as of now I'm not running my lights (Which are power compacts) so maybe I will shoot for 81 or 82 instead...as for the fish, I was trying to find the smallest ones I could get, didn't want anything huge floating around in that little 20g...I think what Ill do is get the 20# of LR and see how it looks as far as filling up the swimming room, and if I decide to get more I'll do that (should be ok to wait a couple days in between right?) thanks for everyones thoughts Link to comment
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