Josh's 20G Adventure

[Fishboy9227]

I have been out of the hobby for a little while and have decided to take the plunge back in. I have had some good experience messing around with several tanks (33 cube, aquapod, 10g). Biggest thing I learned was to keep it simple, stupid :headwally:

This project will involve a 20 gallon long and a 24", 4 bulb T5 fixture suspended over the tank. I love the look of shallow tanks. I figured the best way to achieve this look without spending the money for a custom tank was to do the 20L. Not going to do a sump with this tank....just too many things to mess with at this point. I will install an ATO in the tank to keep the water level and salinity constant.

Stocking for the tank is still somewhat undecided. My original plan was to do a nem and clown. However, knowing that nems can be wether challenging for smaller tanks, I might not take that path. Not going to go buy a bunch of expensive coral either. This tank is meant to meet my craving for a glass box and salty water, not breaking the bank :hmm5:

I will put pictures up tomorrow after I get the fixture hung.

 

[Fishboy9227]

Hung the fixture. Need to get some zipties to secure the chords to the rods. Next step will be to get the powerhead and ATO. I will hopefully have sand, rock and water in it by this weekend!

 

[Titan1790]

I an fixing to start a 20 long reef myself. tagging along to see your progress.

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[Fishboy9227]

I an fixing to start a 20 long reef myself. tagging along to see your progress.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Good to have you along! Be sure to make a build thread.

 

[Titan1790]

I will definitely be starting a build thread soon. Do you plan on running a skimmer?

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[Fishboy9227]

I will definitely be starting a build thread soon. Do you plan on running a skimmer?

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No skimmer plans. I decided not to drill the tank. I figured with weekly water changes and minimal stocking, I will be able to keep control of waste.

 

[Fishboy9227]

UPDATE: IT IS WET

Check out the aquascaping and addition of water :bounce1:

I am wanting to do a minimalist feel. We'll see how this will do. Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions.

 

[Titan1790]

Looking good. Love the minimal rockwork.

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[Veganbrian]

Are you running a HOB filter? or just biological filtration?

 

[Fishboy9227]

I am going to hook up a canister filter with some chemipure and filter floss.

 

[Fishboy9227]

So for an update.

Added an ATO, black background and HOB filter with Chemipure.

ALSO......new ONYX CLOWNFISH!!! :dance:

Here is a picture of the new aquascape. Will get a couple pics after the clown settles in.

 

[Fishboy9227]

Lighting update:

Acquired a PAR meter to test how this fixture was doing. I was very disappointed at the results. With the fixture 13" above the water and the PAR meter 6" deep, I was getting a reading of between 50-60. :mad2:

So, I lowered the fixture to 4" above the water. This helped significantly, giving me a reading of 160 at 6" below the water. I switched out the stock JBJ bulbs for ATI (2) Aquablue Special and (2) Blue Plus. At the same depth, I am getting a PAR reading of 250. I received a reading of 130 on the sand bed. Much better in my opinion.

I was still hoping for a little bit better reading however I have to realize that these are 24w bulbs so I won't get the PAR that longer fixtures produce. I believe this will be enough though for most SPS to thrive on the rock and to have zoas and chalices on the sand bed.

I added 3 new corals yesterday. Ill try to get pictures up later tonight. The beautiful little onyx is eating well but insists on hovering behind the powerhead making if difficult for me to get a good picture.

 

[Fishboy9227]

New Coral Pics!

New Coral Pics!

Red Chalice

Green Millipora

Blue Staghorn- Not so blue right now but will hopefully color up.

 

[Fishboy9227]

New Corals

New Corals

Reverse Pokerstar

Green and Purple Acro

Zoas

 

[Fishboy9227]

great looking tank

Thanks!