New to reef tanks

[amphipod]

Best place to find aquatic organisms to use in an aquarium is a rocky shore, boat piers sediments, or similar area at low tide, trust me

[Martin in China]

Hey dude, I'm from HK. If you wanna try save some cash you could use TaoBao, i'd advise to use it to mainly buy brand name stuff like RedSea, Maxspect etc.

 

 

 

lol bro, ur kinda getting creepy

Taobao is well used in my home, thx for the input mate.

[Han Solo]

Hey there!

 

I also have a 20g and have one of those Aquafuge hang-on-back refugiums (http://www.marinedepot.com/miscellaneous_cpr_aquafuge_refugiums-ap.html) it works really well and I'd recommend it for a smaller tank if you don't already have space in your overflow for a refugium.

 

Also, Shenzhen seems awesome, I'd love to go there just to check out their massive electronics industry.

[Martin in China]

Also, during the summer it's gonna get pretty hot in your tank. My tank at the peak of summer got to 30C, which was quite bad for my corals. You don't have to buy a cooler with that size of a tank (mine's a 20 gallon), just before summer buy a large/high powered computer fan and attach it to the first compartment of your sump thing. The fan increase the rate of evaporation, thus cooling the tank. The fan's drawback is that you'll have to do a top off everyday.

 

If the Shen Zhen stores are anything like Hong Kong stores then I reckon they won't have CUC or only have a few types. Just pickup CUC at the beach, there should be turbo, zebra hermits and pistol shrimps there (i'd advise against the pistols, they were a pain to deal with). I usually get my CUC at Sai Kung, which is kinda close to Shen Zhen. Quite a lot of different corals there too, I've seen tons of zoas, a monti, sponges, BTA, fox face, sea urchins (mainly non reef safe ones though), sea cucumbers, porcelain crabs etc etc. You could try frag/ harvest some of them (although i'm not sure if that's legal), if you do make sure you coral dip, cause there's probs some pests (no need for CUC though). Zoas seem the most plentiful, given that in some areas the water can get a bit dirty.

Uhm...pretty much a newby here....CUC, BTA, fox face, monti??

[amphipod]

Uhm...pretty much a newby here....CUC, BTA, fox face, monti??

cuc is the clean up crew, a collection of organisms used to eat aquarium detritus. Bta is the bubble tip anemone. Monti is montipora coral. And fox face is a rabbitfish. I hope I help some, if you need definitions expanded or more you wonder about I can help, usually.

[Martin in China]

Also, Shenzhen seems awesome, I'd love to go there just to check out their massive electronics industry.

There is one street with many high buildings here that's famous for all the electronics you can dream of and more...gizmos, gadgets, LED, components....you name it.....

To be honest, it dazzles me every time I go there.

[Martin in China]

I'm sure that rabbitfish will be to big for my 20G tank...I would like to have a small group (2-8) of tiny, bright colored fish, but that's something for over 6 months or more.

[Rememberme]

I'm sure that rabbitfish will be to big for my 20G tank...I would like to have a small group (2-8) of tiny, bright colored fish, but that's something for over 6 months or more.

I'd say 3 fish is roughly the max for a 20 gallon 4 might be pushing it. If you're looking for schooling fish chormis is a good choice

[amphipod]

I'm sure that rabbitfish will be to big for my 20G tank...I would like to have a small group (2-8) of tiny, bright colored fish, but that's something for over 6 months or more.

I know in rock pools you can see on some shores there are a few tiny gobies which usually will fare well on an aquarium, mostly due to the tide pools changing and harsh environment. As for more colorful gobies neon gobies are good to what I hear, the smaller the fish, the more can be kept in your tank.

[Rememberme]

I know in rock pools you can see on some shores there are a few tiny gobies which usually will fare well on an aquarium, mostly due to the tide pools changing and harsh environment. As for more colorful gobies neon gobies are good to what I hear, the smaller the fish, the more can be kept in your tank.

I wouldn't recommend more than two neon gobies though, since they are territorial and will fight. I'd advise to only get 2 if they are a mated pair, otherwise one is the max.

[Martin in China]

2 or 3 Chormis sounds great...good colors...Gobies sound good too, but only 1 ( maybe as an addition to the Chormis).

[amphipod]

I wouldn't recommend more than two neon gobies though, since they are territorial and will fight. I'd advise to only get 2 if they are a mated pair, otherwise one is the max.

neon gobies territorial?

I know quite a few others are territorial to the point of killing neighbors, but I've not heard that happens with neons.

Martin, you should project check the ocean, you might find something cool. I got my favorite fish now from a crumpled soda can in the bottom of an estuary, you never know.

[Rememberme]

neon gobies territorial?

I know quite a few others are territorial to the point of killing neighbors, but I've not heard that happens with neons.

Martin, you should project check the ocean, you might find something cool. I got my favorite fish now from a crumpled soda can in the bottom of an estuary, you never know.

I thiiink soo. From what I read on Liveaquaria they are aggressive, but only to their own kind

[amphipod]

I guess so, I always hear how good they are, monsters in disguise lol. But what if you had 4 with 2 males and 2 females?

After they both are mated pairs

[Rememberme]

I guess so, I always hear how good they are, monsters in disguise lol. But what if you had 4 with 2 males and 2 females?

After they both are mated pairs

2v2 team deathmatch

[Martin in China]

My RO/DI came in yesterday, now I can start ordering the rest of the stuff except for the tank itself, need to see how big the return pump and skimmer really are to be sure they fit into the filter compartment.

[amphipod]

2v2 team deathmatch

lol, battle of the ages!

[Rememberme]

My RO/DI came in yesterday, now I can start ordering the rest of the stuff except for the tank itself, need to see how big the return pump and skimmer really are to be sure they fit into the filter compartment.

Given that most of Hong Kong gets their water from China imo RODI is not super necessary, but can help. TDS of tap water in HK is about 70, although water treatment could be different in Shen Zhen

[amphipod]

That's pretty good, I don't know the tds of my tap water but it gradually deposits calcium salts with ease, it can be quite annoying

[Martin in China]

Given that most of Hong Kong gets their water from China imo RODI is not super necessary, but can help. TDS of tap water in HK is about 70, although water treatment could be different in Shen Zhen

Here the TDS is between 50 and 80, but that's still to high if you want it to be as stable as possible...I also want to build in a switch to cut out the DI filter in order to make it drinkable.