My 20H Build

[rachbobach]

My boyfriend and I are starting a 20G high tank. He has previous experience, and I have none. We are thoroughly researching to avoid newbie/dumb mistakes. We understand the necessity of a new tank to cycle and would appreciate any input you have!

Here is a list of equipment we currently have:
20G high tank
CPR Bak-Pak skimmer
96W CF 50/50 light
100W heater
Aqueon 20 filter
Koralia Nano 425 gph

Here's what we are planning to add:
5lb cured LR
20lb dry rock
20lb sand

Proposed Livestock: 2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Pistol Shrimp
Various CUC

I have a few questions about our setup and planned livestock.

-Is it necessary/beneficial to have a skimmer AND filter?

-Would the livestock above work?

-We are hoping for the goby and shrimp to form a symbiotic relationship. How deep of a sand bed do we need, and at what point do we add each critter?

-We are hoping to save cost on live rock. Do you think our proposed setup of seeding the dry rock with a small amount of live rock will work?

-We are planning to add the sand, water, and rock first and let it cycle. Then, add the CUC after the cycle's complete. Next, we would introduce the fish; what order to you recommend to introduce our livestock?

-What CUC do you recommend with our intended livestock/setup? We are planning on turbos and hermits. Would peppermint shrimp be okay to add? What others would be beneficial/harmful?


Thank you in advance for your advice. I am hoping to keep this thread updated as progress is made. We are very open to ideas, criticisms, etc. We are very excited to start our aquarium, but we want to make sure we do it properly and not go too fast!

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

My boyfriend and I are starting a 20G high tank. He has previous experience, and I have none. We are thoroughly researching to avoid newbie/dumb mistakes. We understand the necessity of a new tank to cycle and would appreciate any input you have!

Here is a list of equipment we currently have:
20G high tank
CPR Bak-Pak skimmer
96W CF 50/50 light
100W heater
Aqueon 20 filter
Koralia Nano 425 gph

Here's what we are planning to add:
5lb cured LR
20lb dry rock
20lb sand

Proposed Livestock: 2 Ocellaris Clowns
1 Yellow Watchman Goby
1 Pistol Shrimp
Various CUC

I have a few questions about our setup and planned livestock.

-Is it necessary/beneficial to have a skimmer AND filter?
i dont think the filter is going to help any

-Would the livestock above work?
your live stock looks fine and quite reasonable for a 20H

-We are hoping for the goby and shrimp to form a symbiotic relationship. How deep of a sand bed do we need, and at what point do we add each critter?
they will relate without issue, wait until the tank cycles completely before adding fish

-We are hoping to save cost on live rock. Do you think our proposed setup of seeding the dry rock with a small amount of live rock will work?
yes you will be fine doing that. i would suggest buying uncured LR though, and taking the long hard cycle...rather then buying cultured rock, but either will be fine...uncultered rock forces the issue of waiting until the tank is ready...mine took two months before i even added cleaners

-We are planning to add the sand, water, and rock first and let it cycle. Then, add the CUC after the cycle's complete. Next, we would introduce the fish; what order to you recommend to introduce our livestock?
your on the right track. clowns and the goby occupy different parts of the tank/ water column, they can be all added at the same time or at different times it wont matter

-What CUC do you recommend with our intended livestock/setup? We are planning on turbos and hermits. Would peppermint shrimp be okay to add? What others would be beneficial/harmful?
turbos are messy and big (but do their job well) i would suggest a wide variety of snails and crabs...myself would do about 5 nassarius snails, a couple astrea snails, a couple cerith snails, a couple margarite snails, a strawberry conch, 3 or 4 blue leg hermits and a scarlet hermit. hopefully you will be lucky enough to get stomellas, nerites, limpets and bristle worms as hitch hikers...

Thank you in advance for your advice. I am hoping to keep this thread updated as progress is made. We are very open to ideas, criticisms, etc. We are very excited to start our aquarium, but we want to make sure we do it properly and not go too fast!

 

[SilverGTS]

Well it looks like you're on the right path. A few things I recommend since i have a similar setup. The HOB filter isn't really needed, you don't really want mechanical filtration IMO. Now you could put a bag of carbon/ GFO in the filter perhaps. Also if you're doing the goby/ shrimp combo I suggest the same thing I did, go to Home Depot and get some plastic eggcrate( found in the lighting section) cut to approx the footprint of rock you're using. Place your rock directly on it then add sand around it. Doing so will keep you goby from getting crushed if he burrows and prevent rock slides. Seeding the rock will work fine, I have 11lbs of LR to 15lbs of DR with packaged "live sand". I added my clownfish first since they're hardier. Sand depth not sure on, I have mine at a little over an inch. I don't care for peppermint shrimp, I like coralbanded shrimp, but that is just preference. hope that helps a little, 3 keys for a 20g is water changes w/ RO water, flow and a good protein skimmer IMHO.

-Chris

 

[saltjohnswharf]

OK one thing at a time.

The pistol shrimp and goby may never pair up in such a small tank. A DSB with fairly fine substrate will be needed for the goby. Add them both at the same time if possible.

As for a cleaning crew check this out: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/build_your_own_kit.cfm?id=1 Order $60 worth and it ships free.

Yes it is beneficial to have a skimmer AND a filter. A hang on back filter will be fine with your small bio load.

Yes the live rock will seed the dry rock. This is exactly what I am doing right now in fact.

Got that rock from www.bulkreefsupply.com Orders over $175 ship free and use the coupon thriftyfifty to get $5 off an order of $50.

Your skimmer is fine. You may not a small hole inside it that is between the micro bubble area and the exit area. Stick some air line tube in there and add a wooden airstone. A small air pump and the venturi of the pump will make a cheesy skimmer into an awesome skimmer.

The Koralia Nano 425 is not enough water movement. Almost enough but not enough. Add another one.

As far as a stocking order start with the cleaners as you said. Then add the clown which is the hardiest.

Don't bother with hermits. They are awesome algae eaters but they kill snails to gain their shells. They are also bastards when it comes to stealing food from coral. Turbo snails are fine but get huge. Astreas, nerites and ceriths are better for small tanks. Also throw 2 or 3 nassirius snails in the sand bed. Peppermint shrimp are great to have too. Known to eat aiptasia anemones. Could add a serpent star. Emerald crabs are nice to have in small groups. Very fun to watch.

You are correct in going slow. I always say if you are setup and adding fish in less than 2 months you are rushing it. Cleaners are different. Almost right after the cycle you can add them.

Have fun.

 

[rachbobach]

Thank you very much to all! These suggestions are most welcome and appreciated! We may go tomorrow to get the sand and water. There's a place locally that sells liverock, Tampa Bay Saltwater, that we've heard really good things about. We are waiting to hear back. I will try to keep updating, but I currently have a full-time job and am taking Anatomy & Physiology I (need to maintain 4.0 for program entrance)!

 

[rachbobach]

Might as well document everything

Might as well document everything

We did leak test the tank today just as a precaution. No leaks! Forward progress is a go.

 

[ange062]

As stated, skimping on the cultured LR is going to make your cycle longer, so be patient or order full on LR. The TBS stuff I have seen is decently priced and you get an amazing assortment of stuff.

Add the goby and shrimp at the same time to pair them IMO. My LFS says clowns last since they are pretty aggressive and you should add the most aggressive fish last.

IMO hermits and nassarius are most effective in the CUC, though some will swear against crabs of any sort. Turbo's as some have mentioned are clumsy and will plow around knocking things over, maybe not smart in a 20g unless you are gluing the rock.

 

[saltjohnswharf]

Ocellaris Clowns are not aggressive at all. In fact it is so timid that it is one of the few fish that can be paired with seahorses.

 

[ange062]

Ocellaris Clowns are not aggressive at all. In fact it is so timid that it is one of the few fish that can be paired with seahorses.

Valid point, tank bred ocellaris are supposed to be very mild, but other breeds of clowns can be super aggressive.

 

[saltjohnswharf]

Don't buy wild Ocellaris

There are millions of tank bred out there. Wild specimens often suffer from so-called "clownfish disease." Leave them on the reef and buy one that is already acclimated to life in a closed system.

 

[duncantse]

I can't wait to see some pics! I myself have a 20 gallon half cylinder and I would love to see your future aquascaping

 

[rachbobach]

Update

Update

We have sand, water, and rock!!! We started with sand and water yesterday. Peter (my boyfriend) cut some egg crate to go underneath/mixed in with the sand to prevent rock slides. After the egg crate was in place, we added some live sand. (please forgive my messy place)

Next, we placed a ceramic bowl on the sand and poured our prepared saltwater into the tank (specific gravity approx. 1.025). Yummy, right?

with light

After a few hours, the water cleared.

Today, I picked up our dry and live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. We got some amazing stuff on it! I'm still working on aquascaping. I mainly wanted to get the live rock into the aquarium today. I will work on better arrangement soon. So far I have noticed multiple sponges (red, orange, yellow, black, purple, blue), numerous barnacles, a feather duster or two, a tiny patch of gray tunicate (maybe?), some type of anemone, and some others that I can't put my finger on the names. I found a tiny gorilla crab hiding out in the bag of live rock, but I managed to capture it before it made its way into the aquarium. What's the best way to dispose of it? I've also been hearing an ominous "clicking" sound from the direction of the tank. I'm hoping it's not a mantis shrimp!!!

I can't find my gosh darn usb cable for my camera, so I am unable to share some pictures with you guys at the moment. I will put up some pictures as soon as possible.

Some base measurements: pH-8.0, ammonia-0ppm, nitrite-0ppm, nitrate-0ppm. I figured the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels would be zero, but I just wanted to keep track and make sure we are on track.

 

[duncantse]

Can't see pics.

 

[rachbobach]

Sorry about the pictures. I am working on it.

I found two crabs this evening; both are very small, 8-10mm? One is almost all white with little hairs. Could it be a baby gorilla crab? The other one has a brownish body and its legs have horizontal red and white stripes. Does anybody know what these could be?

 

[bassman57]

I'm the boyfriend. I'll try posting some pictures.

Here's the tank with sand in it:


Here's the tank with water in it:


Here's the tank as of yesterday with our live rock. Lots of life.

 

[saltjohnswharf]

What kind of sand is that?

 

[bassman57]

Nature's Ocean Bio-Active Reef Sand
EDIT: It's just the 20lb bag of sand not the substrate.
http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+9805+16765&pcatid=16765

Not sure how "live" it actually is, but it wasn't anymore than any other sand at the LFS. It looks reddish-brown in the first picture because of the lighting in the room.

 

[saltjohnswharf]

OK that's good. It looked like silicate sand.

 

[duncantse]

Are you going to do more to your aquascaping?

 

[bassman57]

Are you going to do more to your aquascaping?

Yes, definitely. We just wanted to get the rock out of the boxes and into the tank. We've both be really busy this week. The tank is doing well though. It looks like we have a few hitchhiker crabs, so we'll try to fish those out while the tank is cycling.