Hopeful nano reef.

[Mightymcc]

I currently have a 20 gallon FOWLR tank. It is 30 inches long, 8 inches wide, and 19 inches tall. It also has a biological trickle filter and average flow. The live stock include a soon to be pair of occellaris clowns, brittle star, red leg hermit, and a cleaner shrimp. The substrate is crushed coral and I have both live rock and dead coral as decor(if it was my choice I would have live rock and sand but my dealer had a deal on a pre-setup tank). So I wish to make my tank into reef tank with zoas and possibly a colt like soft coral. I wanted to know what I need to have these corals be happy and healthy in my tank or if I even can. Also I need new lighting so please give suggestions.

 

[smy168]

I think you need to be more specific about what you plan on having in the system and what type of budget you are working with. Here's some of my thoughts going least expensive and moderate expense.

Filtration:
cheaper: large HOB with live rock and chaeto, simple small sump
moderate: small aquafuge(pre 2005) with a Lee's counter current skimmer

Lighting:
PC dual 16x2 watts
LED ....not cheap

Water Movement:
I like the Maxi-Jets, the run on low power consumption and lasts forever.

There's quite a few things you need to convert to a full reef system...

details?

 

[Mightymcc]

Well to be more specific i plan on getting a radioactive dragons eye, and a colt or xenia. My buget is... terrible. I have maximum of 200 dollars to spend and although I'm VERY frugal(the way my mom raised me) I'll be willing to spend it. Also Christmas is coming so I'm asking for the lighting, yes I am a teen. And thank you for the info.