20g High setup - first saltwater tank

[604reefer]

Well I added a Voyager Nano powerhead rated at 530 GPH to stimulate the surface and combined with some dialing in of the power head the surface is clear and the tank is looking great!

Here are two photos:





Ammonia and Nitrites are 0, haven't seen a spike. Nitrates are starting to build and around 2.5.

[604reefer]

I raised the protein skimmer so that the grates were just below the water line and it cleared up the surface overnight!

Today I added 3 cerith's, 3 nassarius and 3 hermits as I'm seeing some brown algae. I know it will go away eventually, but water params are great so I figured I would add them now. One of the snails doesn't seem to wanna move now that he's found a spot, so we'll see what happens. I am ghost feeding a little bit for the hermits too.

Will do a big WC before adding a blue/green chromis soon!

[zhasan]

Great start. Looking forward to see your setup come alive.

It wont be long before you want to upgrade!!

[tang daddy]

Ahh the joys of having the first reef, I remember way back when I saw my first sponge, pods and stuff sending feelers out the live rock....amazed with all the life, almost gives you that feeling of getting your drivers license and buying your first car to go for a spin. I couldn't wait I think it was about 3 days when I added some Zoas and it was a down hill snowball effect after that.

I was going to say if you added a hang on filter with surface skimmer attachment it would get rid of the nutrients on the surface but you already solved that problem.

There are many options for a led reef light on eBay, do some research but safe to say for around $100 you can get a decent one. Try to find an led with more blue than white, or if you are handy you can build your own light!

Small reef fish like bangai, chromis, clown, fire fish and even gobies would be really cool for this size tank.... once established 5g water changes per week would be ideal for this size tank.

What skimmer are you running again?

[Dendromad]

Enjoy the hobby. As a noobie myself a year or two ago, I have to warn you it gets addictive!!

I have one of these lights over my tank http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Dimmable-165W...YAAOSwPCVX-Hik
I had it over a 10 gallon at first and it was way more than enough light to grow anything. Currently have it over my new set up and everything is growing well, sps, lps zoas etc...

[604reefer]

I bought an RO/DI filter on the weekend - no more trips to wal-mart for RO water! What a joy I've had trying to figure out how to plumb it... finally got it figured out last night. Only flooded the space below my sink once LOL.

Turn's out I actually got 3 Astrea's and either 3 cerith's or nassarius' can't tell still a newb... the Astrea's keep trying to escape the tankhaha.

@zhasan: Ahhh, I already want to upgrade! But the 20 gallon is a great way to get my feet wet and I'm trying to buy with this in mind so that the same equipment can be for an upgrade.

@tang daddy: It was a trip to J&L aquatics in December that sealed my saltwater fate!! My fiancee was on board instantly when we saw the display tank and all the amazing fish and coral you can get. Obviously 20g limits this a lot, but even with a 20 there are awesome possibilities.

I'm planning on adding one orange and one black/white ocellaris clowns and a blue/green chromis, if the tank is running well a yellow watchman goby too. I'm running a hydor nano slim skim, seems to work pretty well.

I was thinking of doing 2.5G, but I just bought a RO/DI so 5g should work.

@dendromad: I was thinking of going with an AI prime because I like the idea that it hangs on the back and it's really compact. I will have to get on the google machine to see if there's a DIY for the one you've linked as I've seen lots of those on ebay, but all hanging from the ceiling or wall which isn't an option. Do you know of anything?

[Dendromad]

Above my 10 gallon I had it hung from the ceiling but with this one I went with 3/4" bent electrical conduit to hang it from. I have mine attached to the wall but you could easily attach it to the stand.