First time reefer help me out :)

[Iwishihadgills]

I'm going to be setting up a 20 gallon long mainly sps tank with a 20 gallon sump/refugium. My lighting will be 6 x 24 retrofit kit with different spectrum bulbs. Some type of small skimmer. (suggestions) A small uv sterilizer. and that will be the main setup so far.


Invert list:
skunk cleaner shrimp
brittle sea star
(3) turbo snails
pistol shrimp
(suggestions)

Fish:
*
mystery wrasse
pair of yashi gobies
mandarin goby
red stripe hogfish
*

corals: Hopefully l.e. corals if my wallet can afford it

So far that's all i got in mind. Suggestions will be greatly appreciated since this is my first reef tank.

 

[Patriot54]

I wouldn't put a mandarin in your tank because it will starve and you are new as you said. You will need more snails, I would do 10 nassirus and 5 astrea, and that list of fish you made would overstock your tank, try 3 or 4 fish. You also don't need an uv sterilizer if you haven't bought it yet.

 

[Iwishihadgills]

true on the snail and the uv sterilizer. Ive kept mandarin gobies before thats why i will have a refugium which i will supplement with pods. new fish list

 

[Iwishihadgills]

scratch the mandarin goby. I will be getting a blotched anthias instead.

 

[iFisch]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15081031#post15081031 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Iwishihadgills
scratch the mandarin goby. I will be getting a blotched anthias instead.

Mystery Wrasse are best kept in larger tanks, larger than 50 gallons.

Might as well scratch that one too.



Blotched Anthias - one expensive fish. Not sure if it will fit, but I sure hope it's no bigger than 2".

The Hogfish is also best kept in a larger tank, around 50 gallons.



I would not attempt to keep these fish in a 20g. PERIOD. Time to rethink your fish list. Because your current one won't work.

 

[andywe]

Are you going to put a sandbed and some live rock in too? Didn't see that on your list. Also, a suggestion for a skimmer is the Coralife 65 (if your sump has room). Good bang for the buck and you can find the used for a reasonable price.

Also, what are you using for an overflow?

 

[Iwishihadgills]

ifisch-Maybe ill go a little bigger on my tank size to accommodate them but they wont be in that tank for long , i will be up grading my fowlr to a coral tank. Yeah the blotched anthias are expensive but i think they are hella sick.

andywe- yeah im gonna put a deep sand bed and aquascape it with the great stuff foam and rock rubble. And im making my own overflow. with it pumping in the back side and front so i have good water flow. I see on your current tank you have the zeo system how do you like that?

 

[andywe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15082784#post15082784 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Iwishihadgills
ifisch-Maybe ill go a little bigger on my tank size to accommodate them but they wont be in that tank for long , i will be up grading my fowlr to a coral tank. Yeah the blotched anthias are expensive but i think they are hella sick.

andywe- yeah im gonna put a deep sand bed and aquascape it with the great stuff foam and rock rubble. And im making my own overflow. with it pumping in the back side and front so i have good water flow. I see on your current tank you have the zeo system how do you like that?

How deep of a sandbed are you planning?

So Far so good with the Zeo as I am 3 weeks in on it. I am using Brightwell Aquatics Zeo media as I already use there products. Great Stuff!! Keep in mind though that I am runing that on my large tank (180). I really don't know if running ULNS on a nano would be very beneficial.

 

[Iwishihadgills]

umm on the 20 gallon probably 3 inches. Is that good enough?

lol no im not planning to do it on my nano. I plan on upgrading my fowlr in a year or so to a reef tank and i have heard a little on the zeo method. i am currently making a sulfer denitrator which only takes out nitrate. I heard that the zeo method takes out everything including phosphates.

 

[andywe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15084483#post15084483 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Iwishihadgills
umm on the 20 gallon probably 3 inches. Is that good enough?

lol no im not planning to do it on my nano. I plan on upgrading my fowlr in a year or so to a reef tank and i have heard a little on the zeo method. i am currently making a sulfer denitrator which only takes out nitrate. I heard that the zeo method takes out everything including phosphates.

No sir. You do 2" or less, or 4" and over. The 2-4" depth is asking for some trouble due to it being perfect for nasty stuff to grow(bad bacteria ect). It is just a rule of thumb.

As for teh Zeo, it works by reducing/removing Ammonium thus reducing/removing all the lovely things before they turn into Nitrates, and it converts the phosphates as far as I can tell. Still learning, but since my skimmer id an I-tech and is just awesome, I was already heading to a nutrient deficient system, and started the Zeo regime to just keep ULNS so that there was still good things left for the corals to eat.

 

[iFisch]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15082784#post15082784 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Iwishihadgills
ifisch-Maybe ill go a little bigger on my tank size to accommodate them but they wont be in that tank for long , i will be up grading my fowlr to a coral tank. Yeah the blotched anthias are expensive but i think they are hella sick.

I wouldn't put them in there period. Unless it was for QT reasons, for your "larger" tank. It seems everyone says that, when they get the answer they didn't want to hear.

(ie Tangs) Everyone says I'll move it to my 100g, down the road, or sell it off, etc. Sometimes that "larger" tank doesn't get setup on schedule, and then your stuck with some fish that can get territorial. I would much rather not keep them in the 20 that long. Maybe two weeks, for QT'ing, that's it.

 

[Iwishihadgills]

dam haha ok. i have never had a coral tank so im gonna tank your word for it. What cool fish do you like that you think would be good in a 20 gallon long?

thanks

 

[IslandCrow]

When you start getting into corals, especially SPS, I really think you need to decide what's more important. . .corals or fish. You simply can't put as many fish in the tank as you would a FOWLR. In a 20g SPS tank, I'd suggest no more than 2 relatively small fish. If you have a good skimmer, you could probably get away with 3, but that would be pushing it. Yashia gobies are pretty cool, though I've never had one. I certainly agree with everyone on the others. Ultimately, I don't think mandarins are sustainable in a nano tank (though this is just my theory), and the other two are just too big. If you're planning on converting your FOWLR, that's cool, but there's really no reason not to just wait until you've done that before getting those fish.

As far as suggestions, a pair of clownfish are always kind of nice. I've always really liked watching the interaction between a mated pair. You're tank's going to be too small for any of the clown hosting anemones, but they're really not required. I'd go for the smaller clowns like percs, ocellaris or skunks. You can do something like black ocellaris, snowflakes or picassos if you want something original. The latter are fairly expensive, but it sounds like you're not afraid to invest some money in a nice fish or two. One or two purple or Helfrichi firefish would also be cool and add a nice splash of color to your tank (they are renowned jumpers, though).

 

[tgruby]

I never see my pistol shrimp..Waste of $$

 

[andywe]

If you get tank bred clowns (most common these days) the anemone would be a waste anyway. They have no clue what one is for and mine have never hosted one. They usually host something stupid like the overflow or hair algae if it breaks out LOL.

 

[Iwishihadgills]

Thanks guys. I never knew about that sand bed harboring bad things if it's a certain depth. I will be changing that on my big tank really soon. So now the plan is to get some really nice misbar clowns from ora or those yashi gobies and pistol shrimp. I also am gonna go with a cube 25-30 gallon now since they look kinds art deco. Thanks guys I've learned so much just from this one thread!

 

[iFisch]

Yay for misbar's! :rollface:

Try and get the extreme misbars. That's what I have. (not pictured, only used to represent my specimen. I can't take good stills of fish)

 

[Iwishihadgills]

Haha there is a pair at my lfs that are like 80 percent white I might get them

 

[andywe]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15096048#post15096048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Iwishihadgills
Thanks guys. I never knew about that sand bed harboring bad things if it's a certain depth. I will be changing that on my big tank really soon. So now the plan is to get some really nice misbar clowns from ora or those yashi gobies and pistol shrimp. I also am gonna go with a cube 25-30 gallon now since they look kinds art deco. Thanks guys I've learned so much just from this one thread!

It's jsut one of those things that really make conditions perfect for the nasties. The sand bed is deep enough for nasties to use the sand as a breeding ground, but not deep enough to cultivate the anaerobic bacteria to compete with the nasties and keep them in check. Or maybe it's the other way around...anyway, that's why 24" is generally a bad idea.

 

[iFisch]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15096099#post15096099 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Iwishihadgills
Haha there is a pair at my lfs that are like 80 percent white I might get them

How much are they?