Preparation

[Kungpaoshizzi]

So, I used to have a 55g puffer tank with some clowns, a blenny, and some corals... But alas I had to move and couldn't take that with me. Luckily I found someone who was able to provide them all a nice cozy home in a university.

So now I'm preparing a 20L for I think, 2 or 4 zosterae, and probably 2 dragon pipefish. (maybe a mandarin blenny down the road)
As of now I have 10lbs of sugar sand all stuffed in the right side (so it's quite elevated and creating a deeper side), 20lbs of the black aragomax LS across the rest of the bottom, 18-20 lbs LR, and of course a Aqueon 55 that I hotglued screen over the impellar input (since the extensions make the input too long for the 20L) and then my 300w Fluval E heater.. (kinda big, but hey it's left over from my 55 and they're quite nice)

I was concerned about bubbles in the system, so I've taken out the blue strip of the Aqueon55 that lays across the output that aerates the water more, and filled the tank so that the output is basically just causing ripples, no splashing.
This is another reason I've considered not using a skimmer, instead perhaps purigen and a TON of ferns, few mangroves, and thinking of this turtle grass. Not a big fan of chaeto, but maybe... Anyone have any luck with a surface skimmer? I'm trying to consider the possibilities of having to deal with breeding (in that case I'll prolly give away most of the brood) so I don't want to allow for any possible "death traps".. I've seen arguments as well as to 'keep the flow low' or 'don't be afraid of a lot of flow' but the Aqueon has slowed down a lot because I'm using the filters, and the purigen would go in there, also it slows down flow quite a bit when you let the filters become colonized so they "clog" up a bit.

http://www.aquacon.com/vip.html
http://www.reefs2go.com/product/MAC-TURTLE-1/Live-Saltwater-Turtle-Grass-Shoot.html

Otherwise I'll be investing in copepods, amphipods, and probably whatever other pods I can get my hands on. I'm thinking I may go overboard and introduce at least 2-4,000 so I can COMPLETELY populate the tank so the horses/pipes can feed whenever they like. (is this possible?)

I do plan on having another small tank dedicated to culturing all of the above pods, so emergency supply will be available.

The 20L atm, has a 18w(?) flourescent bulb, which I believe I'll probably upgrade to a fuller spectrum....

Other than that, I'll be investing in a couple peppermint shrimp in case any aptasia somehow enter the system...

Thoughts? I've got the tank cycling right now with the LR, probably will start with the pods, shrimp, and macro's once the water numbers stabilize. I wanted to get more LR, but I seemed to have gotten some really light rocks that are not very dense, so there really isn't much room left for more.

Thanks very much for any comments/suggestions! I'm quite excited, even though they're not puffers! ha..

 

[rayjay]

I can't help with a lot of what you are doing as I merely do a simple dwarf tank with no tankmates and no substrate and only artificial plants for hitches.
I use no filtration and only use open ended airline for water movement.
I have a very small filter I turn on just to remove uneaten food so that the dwarfs feed only on newly introduced enriched brine at the next feeding.
IMO, a 20L tank is not sufficient by far for any mandarin.
With all you are putting in the tank you will probably hardley ever see the dwarfs because they are so small. I initially put 20 in a 5g and most times I had a hard time seeing ten of them and I didn't have much in it.
For the amount of live food the dwarfs eat, it's unlikely you can grow enough pods to keep them without also feeding the standard live brine shrimp, preferably enriched. There are posts on the org about attempts but I'm not seen much in the way of success stories.
It will be especially hard with the tankmates you intend for the tank, IMO.