Ganjero's 20g long

[ganjero]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the area, only been here for 6 weeks. I moved from a big house to a tiny apartment so I am starting a small tank for now. I will be doing this tank a little different than previous ones.

Equipment:
-20g long
- Fluval 404 canister
- Mp10 or WP10, not sure yet (I have both already)
- Reef Angel Plus controller
- Spectrapure UPLC II
- Kessil A360WE (to be purchased)

I will be going bare bottom and even though the tank is drilled I will not have a sump. As I mentioned earlier the apartment is small so I need as much space as I can get. I have plumbed the filter to the drain and returned holes and will be using it mainly for chemical nutrient control (GFO and GAC). The stand will house the filter, ATO reservoir, controller and chemicals.

I worked on the rock work today and I think it turned out ok. I was thinking in collecting water at the shore and using that as the initial water to cycle the tank. Is any one in the area using ocean water?

Front view

View from the right

Top down view

 

[Webmanny]

Looks like a nice setup. Very similar to my first reef. I had a 12gl eclipse with the canister. I loved it, but please pay close attention to the filter. Clean it at least every two weeks. Also, ignore the bioballs. Go with just filter media, carbon and maybe GFO.

Good luck.

 

[Richocet83]

Be careful using water directly from the coast, you may get a lot of good and bad hitchhikers... bacteria, viruses, other pathogens, etc. Plus, I would be leery of pollutants in the coastal water. My $.02 but I've also never collected water, have always made it. Maybe someone with more experience can chime in on this one.

 

[Reefpilot11]

I like the idea of using water from the gulf, interested to see how it all turns out.

 

[MGP]

Red tide is making is presence known a little to the North so be cautious about that.

http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/local/2014/08/07/fwc-red-tide-gulf-of-mexico/13751515/

 

[ganjero]

Thanks guys. I was just diagnosed with tennis elbow (probably from the move) so I won't be doing water from the gulf just yet. I will definitely try it at some point for water changes, I have seen tanks from people that colect water from the ocean in NYC and the corals looks incredible.

 

[snake1]

did you drill the tank yourself

 

[ganjero]

did you drill the tank yourself

Yes I did.

 

[Egkid]

It'd be cheaper an safer to buy salwater, by the time you drive down to a beach. Keep in mind the closest saltwater access points for us is in the bay (Cortney Campbell, Picnic island, Cypress Point Park) usually have higher than what's considered safe for swimming fecal levels usually once a year. For example http://www.wfla.com/story/20441027/water-quality-warning-for-beach-along-courtney-campbell-causeway

Then any other public beach has a cocktail of lotions hair products and who knows what else. If you only plan on keeping fish you'd probably be ok, with corals I wouldn't chance it.

Here's a link to the water quality of nearby beaches now this is just for what's considered safe for humans to swim in.
http://www.tampabay.wateratlas.usf.edu/bay/waterquality.asp?wbodyatlas=bay&wbodyid=20005#healthy

 

[ganjero]

It's not about being cheaper, it's trying something different and seeing different results. As I mentioned people in NYC do this and have great results. The idea of gulf water is still not set on stone but I would like to try it.