20 long first reef build

[Brett C]

Hello everyone, this will be me first venture into reef tanks and I’m excited to be starting. I’ve had tons of freshwater tanks growing up from tiny betta tanks all the way up to 180 gallon planted tanks. I’ve always wanted to get into saltwater but always seemed to either have no money for it or no space or live somewhere that I couldn’t have fish period. I’ve finally made up my mind and made the space to keep this 20 long setup. I definitely wanted to go like 75 or bigger but this will keep me plenty happy until circumstances change. So anyways I’ll throw in a pic of my setup but here’s what I’m running. 20 gallon long, aquaclear 70 hob filter, 100 watt adjustable MarineLand heater, jebao sw-4 Powerhead, Mars aqua led lights, 20lbs of caribsea live sand, and some live rock. Haven’t made a completely concrete decision on stocking yet so let me know what you guys think. Fish: must have a clown fish, that’s all I got so far haha, curious to get yalls opinions of what to stock along with the clown, keep in mind I am not going to be running a lid at any point and I know there are a few fish known for jumping. Corals: id like to see if I can get some GSP to take over the back glass and make a background, some pulsing Xenia on the right corner rocks, a zoa garden on the large flat rock on the bottom, some kind of colt coral or finger leathers on the left side rocks and then later maybe some hammer or torch or something of that sort down in the sandbed. Like I said, nothing is concrete except the clown and I got a few weeks before the cycle is up so I’d love some feedback and ideas. Thanks guys.

[Clown79]

Welcome to nano.

 

The one piece of advice I would give is the rock work.

 

The 2 large rocks leaning on the glass will give you issues with cleaning and water flow.

 

There should be at least 1 inch between rocks and glass. 

 

As for fish, unfortunately any fish can jump, some do it more so than others but even clowns can jump. My mesh lid has saved me from losing a clown a few times and my blenny.

 

 

All else sounds good

[Brett C]

30 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Welcome to nano.

 

The one piece of advice I would give is the rock work.

 

The 2 large rocks leaning on the glass will give you issues with cleaning and water flow.

 

There should be at least 1 inch between rocks and glass. 

 

As for fish, unfortunately any fish can jump, some do it more so than others but even clowns can jump. My mesh lid has saved me from losing a clown a few times and my blenny.

 

 

All else sounds good

The corner rocks both have at least an inch and a half between them and the glass. Only the tops are touching. Would that suffice or do you think I’ll still have trouble with them?

[Clown79]

Can you get around them to vacuum sand and Turkey baste

[Brett C]

11 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Can you get around them to vacuum sand and Turkey baste

Turkey blaster will fit for sure. May have to lift the right side a bit for a vacuum 

[Tamberav]

Looks like you are off too a good start.

 

No top will limit you on fish...a lot. No blennies...wrasse or gobies.

 

Pair of clowns...Springer damsel and a royal Gramma perhaps...

[Seadragon]

I have a few words of advice (I came across your other posts which led me to here):

• I would start a Journal for your tank and include all of the updates and pictures in there so that we can follow along in one thread.  (Your other post/update is called "First fish is in" 🙂 ).  It's a great way to look back from the start and see how far you've come on your journey.
• I would actually do about 1.5" gap or more around your rocks.  When the time comes and you got Coralline algae and other specs of hard algae growing on your glass, you're going to thank having a bit more space to clean your glass.  When you slide a glass scraper (example scraper image below) down your glass, you also have to account for the angle that the rim of your tank forces upon you.
• I agree that having a duo of clownfish is a great idea, especially if you do it from the start.
• Other things to stock with the clownfish would be: Cleaner Shrimp, Banded Trochus Snails, Stocky Cerith Snails, Mexican Turbo Snails.

Getting a lid would help you with evaporation issues besides fish jumping out.  I guess if or once you get a lid, then you can also look into the world of blennies and gobies, which are amazing fish that I like to keep with my clownfish.

 

[righttirefire]

Love my 20long had it running for 5 years. Started with ac50s.

 

Patience. Add clowns last

 

Xenia and gsp are cool to get your feet wet, but research and buy corals you like. Personally im an acan fan.