New Member

[nick19]

Hey guys, this looks like a club worth joining!

First, I need to setup a tank.



I am thinking of going with a moderate sized 20 gallon acrylic tank. I live in an apartment and the gallon size is limited.

This is my shipping list as of now. I am probably forgetting something, so feel free to add.

1. 20 gallon acrylic tank

2. Aqua Medic 250w HQI pendant

3. LR (either locally or from Reefer Madness)

4. LS

5. RO/DI water

6. Powerhead or two. I'd like some hard and soft corals. Which brand and GPH would you suggest?


I was also thinking of going with a small CPR AquaFuge.

Do I need a 'fuge light, since I will be hanging a HQI, I think it would be suffice for the 'fuge and the tank.


What are the better LFS around Orlando?




Thank you for your help,




-Nick

 

[hexedagain]

You asked- What are the better LFS around Orlando?

I will be the first to say welcome to the boards, and check out Sea in the City (lfs).

 

[engine]

Sea in the city is a good store. since your in apopka the fish bowl is good too and there in longwood, so it might be closer for you.

 

[nick19]

Thank you guys.

 

[lifesworksataol]

pet safari is right around the corner from them - also so is fishy business - jacks is going to be opening soon right there also - down the road on 434 there is seven seas and in apopka there is sea life - did you have a protein skimmer on your list? fuge light is a good idea to have cause it keeps your ph constant at night when the big light is off - a good test kit would also be a good buy- good salt also (like tropic marin or ocenic or something like that if your going to have sps) just look for reef salt - what kind of filter are you going to use and how many fish do you want and what kind of fish? for a 20 gal i would just suggest a bio wheel instead of the aqua fuge or a refugium - but if you want it you have to think about how much space each is going to take up on the back of your tank. is your tank going to be drilled?

 

[waterfaller1]

Welcome to Reef Central & the ORCA forum! I would recommend that you get a glass tank. The acrylic is going to get scratched, bad. Have you considered a 24 gallon aquapod? They come equipped with an internal overflow & you can now get them with metal halide lighting. That way you could keep any type of corals, clams, etc. No skimmer is needed, if you stock lightly and do regular weekly water changes.

 

[cschweitzer]

Protein skimmer...don't forget about this.

A CPR aquafuge is good choice...I love refugiums. It should get plent of light from your normal light, but you can also add a little normal output strip over it to make it flourish.

 

[InLimbo87]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9246869#post9246869 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by waterfaller1
No skimmer is needed, if you stock lightly and do regular weekly water changes.

I agree. A protein skimmer is by no means a necessary item in a reef tank.

 

[cschweitzer]

But it is a very useful tool in preventing nuisance algae outbreaks, high concentrations of bad proteins. Yes, you can do it without a protein skimmer, but you need a great biological filtration(ie fuge, lots of LR, etc.) and you need to keep higher flow so that dead spots don't become dead tanks, and it is extremely important that you do consistent and regular water changes. In a 20G, yes it is less important because they are more manageable to clean and keep dead spots to a minimum.

With a skimmer, you have much more slack to work with. IMO, I wouldn't keep a tank larger than 10G without one. Then again, I always stock heavily and an Aquapod has the internal overflow that helps with flow and movemnet.