20 gallon lacking "wow factor"

[Nano]

Hey guys, anyone have some suggestions for fish for my 20g? I have one Ocellaris, and I would rather not have a pair. None of edmontons lfs have any tailspot blennies (which I love) I thought of doing a mandarin, (green spot not dragonet) but I dont think thats a bright Idea, it would be way to much work to keep.. I need Some Wow in my tank!

[Raf]

post a pic! maybe we can suggest some changes

[BlueTang<3]

Not a great pic but this was my 25 gallon, we had 2 clowns, flame angel, bangaii cardinal. A lot of light and a ton of corals/ anemone it was actually a pretty cool tank.

http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy171/bluetang3/DSCF0913.jpg

[doch]

Get a Yassa Hase or High fin red banded goby with a nice pistol shrimp... super cool!

[Nano]

I just have the Ocellaris, my tanks only 3 months old, so He was my "tester" fish, he's still alive after 7 weeks so I'm doing something right.. I'm thinking maybe a dotty back for some color
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/thehobdenmarina/DSCN1534.jpg

[BlueTang<3]

What kind of lighting are you running?

[Nano]

theyre t5s with leds I know they look dim but its my camera, I cant figure out how to take decent pictures lol
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/thehobdenmarina/DSCN1540.jpg I'll try to get some better ones tonight, but here is our lone wolf

[Nano]

My camera picks up sooooo much blue i dont know how to fix it.

[Lampshade]

Some camera's can change white balance, that will do it. If not, try taking it in night mode, or a few different modes until one works.

Tank looks great so far, will be good to see it as it grows

[Nano]

thanks, I did some reading and possibly the "ISO" settings could be at play with actinic lighting

[Lampshade]

ISO will do it too, there's a good write up on here somewhere about what setting to use if you have a DSLR, can't find the link right now though. ISO setttings change your Fstop though, so you will have a faster/slower shutter because of it.

here's my bookmark for re-remembering what each does:
http://beej.us/guide/bgp/sfi.html

[fishytime]

dottybacks are cool little fish.....although somewhat aggressive at times....Ive had a neon and have a sunrise now..... grammas are cool too......and if you dont mind spending a little more you could think about assessors.....my 25g has a blue assessor, a small fairy wrasse (that will go in the big tank soon) and three nano gobies.......two trimmas and a green striped goby.... the 25 also houses a plethora of small inverts..... sexy shrimp, pom pom crabs, two different kinds of porcelain crabs, emerald crabs and a few feather dusters.....it makes for a cool (at least in my mind) tank

[Nano]

sorry noob question whats "DSLR" lol.

[Nano]

I have a nikon p500 and I dont speak english when it comes to this stuff haha, I'm pretty uneducated in this area

[Lampshade]

Nice camera! yeah, you should be able to do lots with it in time, i used to stick to auto mode but have started playing. Try going in aperture mode, set it to a low number, i think you should get 4, then change the ISO to 200, and white balance to a florescent, or shaded setting. then you can take a couple to see how it goes.

Your camera might have an auto-set white balance feature, that you can put something white under your lights, and it will auto set it to that.

If that's too much, just try the different scene modes to see what works, i've noticed my night and landscape ones take good pictures sometimes.

[Brandon5555]

Try some non photosynthetic sps. I have a sun coral and a chili coral that do fine under T5 ho's, also zoanthids add some nice colour, with high calcium your coraline algae starts growing and the wow factor will go up. maybe get a couple anemones too. Maybe a nice rock flower. Get some colour in it, like yellows, reds, and purples.

[Nano]

no I cant do nems I only have 20g I could but I dont want the hassel, I have 4 types of small zoo frags and a ricordea, mushrooms gsp and a kenya tree. I dont think my tank is old enough for sps

[Nano]

Nice camera! yeah, you should be able to do lots with it in time, i used to stick to auto mode but have started playing. Try going in aperture mode, set it to a low number, i think you should get 4, then change the ISO to 200, and white balance to a florescent, or shaded setting. then you can take a couple to see how it goes.

Your camera might have an auto-set white balance feature, that you can put something white under your lights, and it will auto set it to that.

If that's too much, just try the different scene modes to see what works, i've noticed my night and landscape ones take good pictures sometimes.

Thanks yeah its good for lots but when it comes to this, tanking pictures or video of the tanks has been my biggest challenge, but its a goal! lol To take some Epic or decent pictures! I got a few good ones of my cichlids, and they have t5s as well, so I'm not too sure why it doesnt work with my nano, could be the LEDs maybe throwing it off

[Brandon5555]

What do you feed your tank?

[Nano]

Didnt know I needed to feed it lol

[Brandon5555]

I mean the inhabitants lol haha. Test your water, if your chemistry is good, and your calcium is above say 410 at the minimum, try those corals. just feed frozen brines, cyclopeeze, daphnia, mysis etc. etc.

[Nano]

I feed new life spectrum flakes with garlic. I'm not sure off the top of my head where my calcium is, I think its 380 or 400

[Brightwhite]

Subscribed for the cam settings:razz:

Instead of a fish what about a nice long torch coral?

[Nano]

Subscribed for the cam settings:razz:

Instead of a fish what about a nice long torch coral?

As I said earlier, I have thought about nems, but being my tank is so small and so young I'm a little nervous to take that step.

[Beverly]

When I'm not satisfied with my 10g, I re-aquascape it until I see something I like. It can take a several aquascaping sessions over the course of a few weeks to get the right balance of peaks and valleys, and caves and open areas with the rock. I removed over 3 lbs of rock from my tank the last time I aquascaped it because it felt too closed in. It's looking a little better without all that rock clogging up the open spaces. Now all I have to do is let my frags grow. And get a few more frags :)

[Nano]

Subscribed for the cam settings:razz:

Instead of a fish what about a nice long torch coral?

I think I might have found some better settings I will post some picktures in my build thread shortly http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=80010

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Yup, I would try reaquascaping and get away from the "rock wall" look. Maybe a couple of island. Then add a couple of colourful hardy corals, like bright green star polyps, some frogspawn/hammer/torch, maybe red open brain for the sand bed. I also use red macroalgaes in my tanks with no tangs to add a splash of colour (red halymenia & gracilaria) but these like regular dosing of iodine (Lugol's solution) to stay healthy I find.

[Nano]

Yup, I would try reaquascaping and get away from the "rock wall" look. Maybe a couple of island. Then add a couple of colourful hardy corals, like bright green star polyps, some frogspawn/hammer/torch, maybe red open brain for the sand bed. I also use red macroalgaes in my tanks with no tangs to add a splash of colour (red halymenia & gracilaria) but these like regular dosing of iodine (Lugol's solution) to stay healthy I find.

Thanks for the tip, I do have some Gsp, but again my tank is quite young. my params seem to be fine from my tests... But my Zoos havent started to spread yet after 7 weeks, anyone know if this is normal? they open, but is there something I should feed them? lol. I split my Aquascape into 2 Islands and will post pics in the morning, strangely, I can't find my two hermit crabs, I haven't looked under the base rocks, but I cant see them lol.. :lol: at any rate I will post some pictures tomorrow and go from there. also does anyone know how come I cant get my ph over 8.0-8.1? I'd like 8.2-.3 and I am dosing aragamilk but not sure its really doing the trick

[chef]

A couple of harlequin shrimp will give you immediate WOW if you have access to live starfish. A colorful frogspawn for the clown and a red spot Blenny for personality and voila, pimped out 20 g

[blacknife]

Zoas, and many other corals need to have a happy spot then be left there to spread. Seven weeks is not much at all. Some grow like weeds and others in the same spot will melt away.

[Nano]

I reaquascaped it and I will post pictures in a bit. It's 2 islands one with a few caves in it the other is just a pile, I think I have room for a frogspawn or something of that nature now centered on the tank. Bit ill post some pictures so you guys can tell me what you think

[Nano]

Tank shot
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/thehobdenmarina/DSCN1992.jpg
Left Rock Structure
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/thehobdenmarina/DSCN1993.jpg
Right Rock structure
http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h401/thehobdenmarina/DSCN1994.jpg

[Nano]

I think this allows a bit more swimming room too, not to sure what my next coral might be, maybe a single head of frogspawn, and maybe a goby, or dottyback. I havent decided yet.
Parameters
Nitrates 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Amonnia 0ppm
kh 180 \___ Are these ok?
gh 340 /
Salinity 1.0245

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Looks much more interesting now.:smile:

[babyreef]

BLANK

[Nano]

thanks I like it too, seems like theres more swimming room now

[Beverly]

Now your tank is beginning to have the WOW! factor you were looking for :) Excellent!

[Myka]

Your rockscape looks great! :D

[Nano]

really? lol I thought it was mediocre at best! jk thanks its alot better then the wall before

[Myka]

really? lol I thought it was mediocre at best! jk thanks its alot better then the wall before

No, it's pretty good! It's tough in small spaces mostly just because you have fewer pieces to work with. If you still want to mess around with it try keeping rocks of similar texture next to eachother...that helps things look flowy

[Nano]

thanks, lol I think I stressed the ricordea out enough for one day though ;)