20 Gallon Reef Tank

[Nanomaniac]

Let me first start out by explaining how this tank came into play. Well I have had a 55 gallon FOWLR tank running for about 6-7 months which is great but I really wanted to try my hand at coral but didn't want to spend alot of money on upgrading my lighting so I decided to downgrade to a 20 gallon long. I originally had 4 fish in my 55 which consisted of 1 Firefish, 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, and 1 Sandsifting Goby but obviously I couldn't keep all those fish in a 20g tank so I only kept the Firefish. Don't worry the other fish found good homes with local reefers.

I transferred most of the sand from the 55 which gave me a nice substrate depth of 1.5" to 2" in some areas. I plan to mount 2x65watt PC's into the canopy, which came from the Current USA fixture. I also am using the two Maxijet 1200's that gives me great flow(Approximately 29x turnover) throughout the tank which should work out good since I plan to add coral. I would maybe like to add another small fish sometime in the future, as well as a Cleaner shrimp. I will list specifications but everything is from my 55 gallon tank including the water.

Equipment:

20 gallon long tank (30"Lx12"Wx12"H)
DIY canopy with 2x65watt PC lighting installed
AquaC Remora protein Skimmer
2 Maxjet 1200's
Coralife digital thermometer
11lbs of Fiji live rock
Roughly 30lbs of fine white sand

Inhabitants:

1 Firefish
1 Strawberry Crab
1 Whelk
1 Strombus Snail
2 Cerith Snails
4 Nassarius Snails
4 Astraea Snails

Future Coral Plans:

I will keep softies and LPS in this tank. My rough list of coral that I would like to keep:

Zoos
Mushrooms
Candy Cane
Frogspawn or Torch
Brain
Favia
Xenia

That is it for my introductory post on chronicling the process of my 20 gallon reef tank. I will post pictures of the DIY canopy I'm in the process of building as soon as I can. Comments are always welcomed.

 

[stewie24]

Sounds like you are on the right track.
I'd either add at least 9 more lbs of rock or else i'd junk the fiji (if it looks crappy) and order 20-25 lbs of marshall islands live rock from Premium Aquatics. Its by far the best rock i've seen. They are a really great place to order from. The rock has awesome shapes and colors.
Stewie

 

[mr pink floyd]

i think 2 MJ1200 will be too much flow, they will kick corals arses

i would go with one with q hydfor, or two 400, or a 900 in the middle or something

for SPS that might be good, but IMO that will creat spots of flow too strong for anything

the regularPH creat a jet of super high flow, tyhat will tear skin off sps and anything else, a hydor will make less flow, and move it around


JMO though, dont take only my word for this

 

[Nanomaniac]

Stewie: I didn't want to add anymore live rock since I hope to house alot of coral in this tank and need the room. I also created many cave and overhangs for the fish and inverts. Btw the Fiji looks great and I've always liked Fiji.

Mr. Pink Floyd: After having both the powerheads running I see that there is way too much flow that is why I will be placing them on timers so only one is running at a time.

Canopy is pretty much finished but I still need to purchase a couple hinges and will probably install a fan. Here are a couple pics of the inside of the canopy.

 

[Nanomaniac]

Update: I finished the canopy and placed a piece of acrylic over the tank to prevent splashing water. I took some full tank shots with the canopy I built, and yes I know the right top board lifts up but hey this is my first DIY canopy.

I still need to pick up a black background to hide the wires.

 

[hgbarwick]

sweet aquascaping

 

[Nanomaniac]

Update: The tank is doing good and I'm getting some good coralline algae growth. I have added a small Green Clown Goby which is doing well and is eating most of the foods I offer. I will be adding a few more snails to my tank and I should be adding my first coral to this tank soon. Here is a full tank shot and a few pictures of my Firefish

Full Tank Shot

Closeup Pics Of My Firefish

 

[hgbarwick]

nice! Can't wait to see it when you add corals.

 

[fast94m]

whats your temperature hanging at? from what i see your not using any heater right? im def following this along as i have a 20L just laying around begging for attention ha

 

[Nanomaniac]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7628243#post7628243 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fast94m
whats your temperature hanging at? from what i see your not using any heater right?

Since Summer is here I have not been using my heater but my temp has been staying quite stable. My temperature stays between 77-82F throughout the day.

 

[Nanomaniac]

A few pics I took of my snail.

 

[Steven0000]

i agree great aquascaping
nice tank looking awesome
and the pictures are amazing also

 

[Nanomaniac]

Update: Here are a few pictures of my Zoa colony and new Cleaner shrimp I add to the tank.

Small Zoa Colony

Cleaner Shrimp

 

[gfk]

that cleaner shrimp will be a huge monster in no time, it seemed like only yesterday mine was that big

 

[Brooks_McClary]

Anyone know how big those skunk cleaners get or how long they live. I've had mine for 14 mos and it is almost 3x as big as when I purchased it. He's getting huge (for a shrimp). I know. Oxymoron.

Honestly he's over 3" long and his antenae are over 6" across...

When are they eating size btw?!?

 

[noschmo]

Unbelieveable, thats all I can say!!! I really like the snail.

 

[hgbarwick]

yes nice tank.

 

[Nanomaniac]

Thanks for the comments. I should have a update with pics soon.

 

[aumfc]

What you have there looks very much like what I would like to do for my first tank. I have been looking at the all-in-one's but I'm wondering if this solution isn't cheaper. What do you think it would cost me to do a set up like this?

Looking at your list:

20 gallon long tank (30"Lx12"Wx12"H)
DIY canopy with 2x65watt PC lighting installed
AquaC Remora protein Skimmer
2 Maxjet 1200's
Coralife digital thermometer

I'm wondering were the filter is? Is that what the AquaC Remora is? Meaning, I'm guessing, it filters and skims? (Sorry, I don't know much)

Also, I guess I would only need the one 1200 or maybe a 900?

Are the 2x65 PCs plenty for the 20 long?

Thanks for any advice and help you can provide.

Jason

 

[Secondgen]

How much money did it take to put that canopy together? I have two brand new power compact bulbs sitting around. What kind of ballast setup did you buy, and where did you get it?