my 20L project(pics).

[mike fail]

hey guys
well i started a 20l with a mixed reef in mind.
my equipment:
150w hqi aqualife pendant 10,000k bulb.
taam rio nano skimmer.
diy ac110 refugium.
10w halogen refugium light.
30 lbs. sugar sized aragmax sand.
35 lbs. figi and totoka live rock (from paul).
2 koralia nano powerheads.

all i have in it right now is a blue green mushroom.
parameters:
hardness is 11 DH
calcium is 440
ammonia-0
nitrite-0
nitrate-0
phosphate-0.

well here are the pics still have not figured out how exactly im going to scape it.

 

[Fishboy9227]

Looks like a nice start! The early stage of a tank is always fun!

 

[peaceinusa]

The U-Shape rock is nice and should leave many nice spots for small corals.

Don't over-do-it with corals.

Great start indeed.

 

[Krbekk]

Mike it was nice meeting you guys at the meeting last night. Tank is looking good. Need anything, let us know.

 

[BigScott]

i had a 20L an it was a verry fun tank..

 

[mike fail]

thanks guys, im going to take it pretty slow on adding stuff, i think the next thing on my list is a clean up crew then a six-line wrasse

 

[mike fail]

oh speaking of which. what should i get and where should i get a cleaning crew from?

 

[pwhitby]

Hey Mike,

Lokks Great, really really bright!

I would suggest, when you buy a new bulb, see if you can get a 20K. It will be bluer, less bright, but make the colors really stand out.

I like the rock arrangement. I think you have made a great start.

P.

 

[mike fail]

thanks for the info, i was looking at either an xm 20k, or a phoenix 14k with led actinic supplements.

 

[dugg]

Looks like a nice start. That is some really nice rock you got too, but don't be buying any more of the featherdusters for a while. That one most likely won't make it long. They are filter feeders and require a well established tank to survive. He will most likely pop his feater head off soon and then either go down in his tube and die, or just jump out on the sand. Very common mistake in a new tank though. They are pretty and cheap, but you should wait on buying more until the tank is around a year old. You might get him by if you target feed him some type of microvert food for filter feeders, or some DT's phyto, but don't count on it. When you see the smaller white ones start popping up in your sump then you will be ok to start adding the bigger ones like that to your display.

 

[pwhitby]

The feather duster you see on his rocks is from my tank. I have lots of them growing all over. While it may die, I think he will be OK with it.

I have both the small ones and the larger varieties such as the one you see in the pic.

P.

 

[dugg]

Wasn't trying to critisize him on it at all, but just more letting him know that if it does die, it's not something he's doing wrong, but more a matter of not having a mature enough system to support it. I went through several of them back when i first started in the hobby and thought something was wrong in the tank when they died. After doing some research on them i realized it was just that my system wasn't mature enough to support thier feeding needs at the time.

 

[mike fail]

yeah, i read up on them after i found all the ones i got from paul's rock, I'm gonna try to get some food for them today.
back to the cleaning crew question. where to get one? and what should it consist of?

that 10000k really washes out the colors of the Coraline in there, there all kinds of neat stuff on that rock. thanks Paul!.

 

[pwhitby]

you wont need many of anything for your tank.

I would buy some hermits locally, maybe a few snails.

Its not really worth doing an online order for such since the shipping would really sting you.

I think Aquarium concepts sells hermits and they are a COMAS sponsor. Make sure to flash your member ID to them.

P.

 

[dugg]

I would pick up a few things here and there for a cleaning crew from LFS's and other COMAS members. I personally like to have 1 zebra turbo in all my tanks, ( not the normal Torbo snails). Several Margarita snails, maybe a few astrea snails, and several Nassaurrius snails (the large tonga ones), and maybe a few emerald crabs. I stay away from hermit crabs because they seem to do more harm then good over all. They kill snails and each other for shells just to kill another one the next day because that shell doesn't feel just right,and they also knock stuff over a lot. A golden headed sleeper goby makes a nice sand sifter. Sand sifting starfish won't survive in a tank your size, so stay away from those.

I didn't realize you had gotten your rock from Paul, so your tank should establish fairly quick since i'm sure your rock is matured already, so the feather duster may be ok. I still would target feed him for a while if it were me though until your cycle is over. The pictures make the rock look like newly cured rock. If he does die though, don't get excited and think there is something wrong with the tank, they just require a good supply of mico type foods that only come with a matured system, lighting means nothing to them.

 

[mike fail]

oh about dosing, i realize at some point i will start dosing, where can i read up how to do calcium,alk dosing with dowflake and baking soda(how much to raise this much etc. etc.)

 

[dugg]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[mike fail]

thanks

 

[dugg]

You can get the calcium part at just about any swimming pool supply place. I use tetra flakes myself rather than the dow flake. Just look at that thread as to the % of calcium in the dow flake and go from there. A friend of mine owns a pool supply here and told me the tetra flake was the same exact stuff as the dow flake. A 50 lb bag goes a looooong way and doesn't cost much at all. I think i paid around $20 for a 50lb bag, and it only takes 1 1/2 cups to mix a gallon of the part 1 i think.

 

[mike fail]

lol my lfs charges $6 apiece for hermits and turbo snails. so i think ill be setting up a groupbuy for reef cleanup.