20g High setup - first saltwater tank

[604reefer]

So...I started my first SW tank last weekend! Aside from bettas as a kid I've never had a tank, but I've always wanted one. I know it's not the best to skip fresh and go straight to SW, but I tested pool water as a summer job for 5 years in a row and know a fair bit about the need for proper water chemistry. Right now I am running:

- 20g tall, 24" x 12.5" x 17" (approx)
- 15lbs live rock
- 20lb Caribsea Arag-Alive Fiji Pink Substrate
- Hydor koralia 425gph powerhead
- Aqueon pro 100W heater
- Hydor nano slim skim nano (23-35g)

I'm going to buy a light in the near future, 3-6 months, to add some softies and LPS.

Today I got a reading on the nitrates, but have yet to get any reading on ammonia or nitrites. I am going to add a shrimp tomorrow to see if I can get an ammonia reading.

I notice there is a dusty looking film on the surface of the water, and neither my protein skimmer or powerhead pointed at it will seem to dissipate it. I'm not sure what that is, but won't be adding livestock for a few weeks and not too worried about it right now.

I'll add some pictures as it progresses! It's been great reading all the posts as a lurker!

[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.

[gregzz4]

Hey Jason
Have fun with your new setup!

One thing I'd suggest is to raise your heater as high as possible. Bring it up to the water line on the housing. Nothing like having a heater fail because it filled up with water.

No matter how 'waterproof' they claim they are, they will eventually leak, and saltwater will destroy it in short order

[604reefer]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Hey Jason
Have fun with your new setup!

One thing I'd suggest is to raise your heater as high as possible. Bring it up to the water line on the housing. Nothing like having a heater fail because it filled up with water.

No matter how 'waterproof' they claim they are, they will eventually leak, and saltwater will destroy it in short order

Thanks for the tip! I moved it up a bit, thinking of moving it over to closer to the protein skimmer so most of my equipment is in that corner for looks.

I added a Blue/Green Chromis, RALPH, on the weekend. He was really SCARED of me for the first 2 days, but now he finally let me take his picture as he's swimming everywhere.


I also added 5 more blue hermits for a total of 8 and 3 margarita snails. The astrea's are boring! They seem to only want to do their thing when I'm sleeping. One of the margarita's flipped and couldn't get back up and when I went to flip it I dunked the tank light into the tank. Luckily i caught it before the bulb hit the water (it's plugged into a GFCI, but still).

The surface seems to be all dusty again, my koralia powerhead sounds like a jet engine taking off so I have it out of the tank and only have the Voyager in there right now. Gotta return to the store and see if I have to go through Hydor for warranty or what.