New to the hobby and upgrading tank, looking for advice!

[Aszpara]

Hi! First off, I'd like to apologize for all the questions I'm about to ask! I decided to bold all of the questions to make it easier for them to stand out. I'm fairly new to the saltwater tank hobby and I currently have the 6 gallon Fluval Edge tank and would like something slightly bigger for my clowns so I'm upgrading to a 20L. I have a lot of questions since I'm still a newbie :debi: I have had this tank up and running since January of this year (about 9 months).

My current tank has the following:
Standard LED lights that came with the unit
Aquaclear 20 power filter
Aqueon pro submersible 50 watt heater (set to heat at <78)
Digital and probe thermometers
Coolworks ice probe chiller (in filter, set to cool at >80)
10# Live sand substrate with some crushed coral (I think it was CaribSea when I bought it)
About 7# of live rock from my LFS with some corraline algae growth
2 blue leg hermits
1 nassarius snail
1 turbo snail (and possibly 2 baby turbo snails and counting)
1 tiger conch
2 small juvenile ocellaris clowns (one mocha and one orange)

I test for salinity, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and pH once a week unless someone is acting odd in the tank (then I do it more often). My current levels have been the same for a few months now, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10-20 nitrates, 8.1 pH, 1.023-1.024 salinity. I dose a water conditioner with healthy bacteria once a week for water clarity. My filter has carbon, a biofilter and a floss like sponge. I don't use any other chemicals regularly unless someone is sick. I do a 20% water chance once a month as directed by my LFS (or more often if dosing medicine).

I have an extra aquaclear 20 power filter and I was hoping to just use the two of them on my new 20L and use one as a HOB refugium. I'm already spending a lot of money upgrading so I'd prefer not to buy a bigger filter if I don't need one. Would this be sufficient filter wise?

I also have a Hydor Koralia Nano Aquarium Circulation Pump, 425 GPH to use on the new tank for circulation. I'm hoping the combination of this and the two aquaclear filters will be enough.

As far as the refugium, I've read that I should put chaeto in it. Should I add live rock rubble or anything else? I was planning to buy a clip on desk LED lamp to use over it for light.

I've been looking into buying some life rock from tampabaysaltwater.com. Has anyone had any experience with this? Would it be a good buy for a newbie or difficult to manage? I'm a little worried about unwanted hitchhikers if I go this route. I just love all of the life on his rock though! I'd probably get "the package" for 10 gallons and just add what I already have to what I buy once I transfer. If I go this route, I'll be getting another 20# of live rock and 10# of sand with the package as well as some more CUC.

As far as lighting for the new tank, I purchased the Current USA Orbit Marine Aquarium LED Light from amazon. I got the 24"-36" model. My current tank runs on a timer with the daylights from 10AM-8PM and moonlights the remainder of the night. I've recently read that the tank should have time with no lights as well. What would be a good lighting schedule for my new tank?

Also, would that lighting be sufficient for some corals? I don't currently have any but I'd really like to buy some once my tank is up and ready. Any suggestions for which corals to get for my new tank? I did some research and have been thinking about mushrooms and/or zoas. I'd like to add something that my clowns will enjoy. Once I get corals, will I need to test/dose anything else other than nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, pH, calcium, phosphate, alkalinity?

When it comes time to transfer my old tank into my new tank, I have no clue where to start! I'd love for someone to share their experience or direct me as to where I could learn about that. I know I'll need both tanks running until the new one is cycled. But once that happens, what steps should I move things and in what order?

Once everything is up and running, I'd also like to get another fish. What kind of fish is easy to care, will fit (space wise) and gets along well with hermits, snails and a pair of ocellaris?

Thanks in advance for all of your help! I probably have more questions but that's all I can think of right now! I'm constantly reading posts on reef central and learning new stuff. It's definitely one of the best sources of information for saltwater tanks that I've come across. This website is such a help to newbies! Thanks again! :wavehand:

 

[gone fishin]

I have an extra aquaclear 20 power filter and I was hoping to just use the two of them on my new 20L and use one as a HOB refugium. I'm already spending a lot of money upgrading so I'd prefer not to buy a bigger filter if I don't need one. Would this be sufficient filter wise? That filter should be fine. Once your all settled with your rock and sand you could get rid of the filter if you wanted or just keep it for carbon. I would probably skip the refugium in the filter IMO you will not gain much by it.

I also have a Hydor Koralia Nano Aquarium Circulation Pump, 425 GPH to use on the new tank for circulation. I'm hoping the combination of this and the two aquaclear filters will be enough. I would suspect another may be needed and maybe a size larger depending on what you end up stocking

As far as the refugium, I've read that I should put chaeto in it. Should I add live rock rubble or anything else? I was planning to buy a clip on desk LED lamp to use over it for light.

I've been looking into buying some life rock from tampabaysaltwater.com. Has anyone had any experience with this? Would it be a good buy for a newbie or difficult to manage? I'm a little worried about unwanted hitchhikers if I go this route. I just love all of the life on his rock though! I'd probably get "the package" for 10 gallons and just add what I already have to what I buy once I transfer. If I go this route, I'll be getting another 20# of live rock and 10# of sand with the package as well as some more CUC. There are many folks that have purchased from here and the consensus is very favorable. Search for threads

As far as lighting for the new tank, I purchased the Current USA Orbit Marine Aquarium LED Light from amazon. I got the 24"-36" model. My current tank runs on a timer with the daylights from 10AM-8PM and moonlights the remainder of the night. I've recently read that the tank should have time with no lights as well. What would be a good lighting schedule for my new tank? I am not familiar with that light but it will depend on what your coral stocking is. FWIW I have about 6 hours of no lights at night I believe it is midnight to 6

Also, would that lighting be sufficient for some corals? I don't currently have any but I'd really like to buy some once my tank is up and ready. Any suggestions for which corals to get for my new tank? I did some research and have been thinking about mushrooms and/or zoas. I'd like to add something that my clowns will enjoy. Once I get corals, will I need to test/dose anything else other than nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, pH, calcium, phosphate, alkalinity? do not add phosphate I believe you meant to say magnesium. I would test for awhile depending on what you get you may not need to dose anything, WC's may take of it.

When it comes time to transfer my old tank into my new tank, I have no clue where to start! I'd love for someone to share their experience or direct me as to where I could learn about that. I know I'll need both tanks running until the new one is cycled. But once that happens, what steps should I move things and in what order? You may want to make this a separate thread there are a few options you can do. it depends on what you end up getting for the new tank

Once everything is up and running, I'd also like to get another fish. What kind of fish is easy to care, will fit (space wise) and gets along well with hermits, snails and a pair of ocellaris? Look on Live aquaria under nano tank fish this should give you some ideas. once you have list post it up for review.

There are some questions that could go into more detail if needed feel free to make separate threads on a specific topic. Good luck

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Everything you need to know is here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1031074

 

[stingeragent]

On that size tank you really don't need a HOB filter unless you wanna run some carbon or something. If you do decide to use one and run filter floss, make sure it gets regular cleaning (at least bi monthly). That light will prolly work for softies only. A refugium at that size is more or less worthless IMHO. The single 425 will not be enough flow on a 20L. I was running 3 with LPS and it was still lacking. There is a 500gph powerhead on amazon that is about the same size and is less than 10 bucks. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXDOQWA?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01 Great bang for your buck. With softies only you shouldn't need to dose anything provided you keep up with water changes, but even if you let that slack you should still be fine with just softies. As for the upgrade, is the new tank going where the current one is? If so, setup a temp tank ( can use a rubbermaid container) move over your fish, rock, and put in a powerhead, heater, then place the new tank in place. I'd use a new sand bed, and reuse a cup from the old bed. Fill the tank and let it cycle. If your using RO/Di water which you should be, throw in a couple pieces of rock you have now in the tank, and the cycle will be very short if at all, then move everything to the new tank. If the tank is going in a new spot, it's basically the same except you don't have to put your fish/rock in a temp container. If you decide to buy live rock online, I'd let it sit in a container by itself for at least a month. I've bought "live rock" online, put it in an empty tank and the ammonia shot up over 10ppm in 24 hrs. If possible, i'd buy rock from a LFS that's in an established setup, and you won't have that problem. My second tank I setup, I got all the live rock from my LFS. They have a large setup for just live rock, that is plumbed to all their tanks, so it is all full of bacteria. Stuck it in my tank, and had like a 2 day cycle.

Edit: Back to the HOB. Really the only point of them in saltwater (besides running carbon/phosban/etc), is to remove detritus since you don't have a sump with a filter sock. But if you use it as such, you have to make sure it's cleaned regularly. I'm running a canister filter on my 40, because my sump plumbing was a disaster, and it's worked great so far, but I clean it out every sunday.

 

[Aszpara]

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thanks for the responses everyone! I really appreciate you taking the time to help me out.

Gone fishin - Thanks so much for answering all my questions in detail. I didn't realize that I don't need a HOB filter on my tank so I may get rid of it once everything is up and running. I plan on purchasing a skimmer once the tank is up and running anyway. I'll also skip the refugium since it won't do much. I'll also look into adding another powerhead or two. The one that stingeragent suggested seems like a really good deal. I'll probably just start of with some soft corals and add on others later once I get the hang of those. As far as the tampa bay saltwater live rock goes, I have read many of the posts but it doesn't really say much about whether or not it's difficult to keep. I guess my main concern is getting a coral on a live rock that I'm not experienced enough to keep. When I mentioned phosphates, I meant just testing for them. I should have made that more clear. I'll check out the coral listing on live aquaria as well, thanks again for all the great advice!

Dkhulmann - thanks for the link! I actually found that a few days ago and have been making my way though the different posts. It has a ton of great information.

Stingeragent - Softies sound like a good starting coral for me so I'll probably get some of those once my tank is ready. I'm pretty good about keeping my equipment clean so if I continue the HOB filter I'll make sure to clean it regularly. I'll skip the refugium and order a couple of those powerheads you suggested. Thank you so much for that! They look like a really good deal. The new tank will be going where the old tank is, but on a different stand. I was thinking about getting live rock from tampa bay saltwater so it would be direct from the ocean and air shipped to me within hours. I believe he suggests giving that rock a week or two before adding anything else. I'm hoping to just have both tanks running for about two weeks until my levels come down, then move everything once the new tank is cycled.

 

[Aszpara]

Thanks for all of your replies! I really appreciate the help!

Gone fishin - Thank you so much for your detailed responses! I don't have a sump going so is it still okay to not use a filter? I'm planning to buy a protein skimmer soon so if it's fine without a sump, maybe I'll remove the filter once I have that up and running. I'll skip the refugium idea too. I'm going to look into purchasing two of the powerheads that stingeragent recommended to increase the flow. As far as tampa bay saltwater goes, I've read most of the posts that people have wrote but my concern is mostly with whether or not it will be easy to keep seeing as I don't have any prior coral experience. I'm worried that I might get a hitchhiking coral and not be experienced enough to care for it. When I mentioned phosphate I meant just testing for phosphate, I should have been more clear with that. I'll be sure to test and monitor all of my levels before adding anything though. I'll check out the corals on liveaquaria.com as well. I'm thinking maybe some mushrooms and zoas to start. Thanks again for all of your help!

Dkuhlmann - Thanks so much for the link! I actually found that thread a few days ago and have been working my way through all of the articles. It's just taking a little while to get through it all and I'm close to ready to move into my new tank.

Stingeragent - Thanks for all of your advice!! I'll probably start with the HOB filter and use that until I get my protein skimmer. I'm pretty good about keeping my equipment clean so I'll make sure to stay on top of cleaning the filter. I'll skip the refugium as well. I'm thinking about getting some mushrooms and zoas so hopefully those will be okay with my lighting. Thanks so much for the link to the powerheads! I'm going to look into purchasing two of those. They seem like a great deal! I'm planning to move the new tank into the same space as my current tank but it will be on a different stand. Would it be okay to have someone help me lift and move the tank/stand over a few feet? I've read that you're not supposed to move a tank while it's up and running. If that's okay to do tho, I'll probably put all the rock on the bottom so nothing falls over and just remove enough water so that it doesn't spill. If I get live rock from tampa bay saltwater it will come direct from the ocean and the guy suggests giving it a week or two to cycle, then I can start adding my livestock. It will be air shipped so I'll get it in a matter of hours and won't have to worry too much about parts of the rock dying during delivery and causing an ammonia spike. I'm planning to run both tanks for about two weeks or until my new tank is cycled then I'll transfer everything over. I just wasn't sure if there's a particular order that I should move things.