20 long reef build

IMO the aqueon hob's are kind of a pain if you're not using their cart's can be done but Aquaclears are much more convenient, with an AC50 or bigger you could also just run a sponge and vertically and have a little area for chaeto, 110 you could hide your heater and even fit a skimmer in it.

Koralia nano 425 isn't a bad pump I've got a couple but for $10 more you can get the Tunze which works much better.

Marineland has a recall on the Stealth heaters, I believe they're still giving replacments to those who send the stealths back.

The 20L is pretty shallow so 2 t5ho's will let you grow some corals, no SPS but shrooms, zoa's some lps, even some anemone's. However 10k + actinic probably isn't the best bulb choices maybe 10k + blue or purple plus, maybe someone else can make a suggestion here I'm use to working with 4-8 bulbs when it comes to t5's.

Skimmer would be good to have but as long as you keep up on doing weekly water changes you can get away with out one on smaller size tanks, again with reef additives if you keep on the weekly changes you'll be replenishing most of whats lost, later on depending on corals you go with you may need to start dosing if you keep corals that suck up lots of calcium or other things. Will you be using RODI, distilled or tap water?

Open top all depends on what fish you want quite a few smaller fish are jumpers. Circulation is ok more wouldn't hurt between circ and filter pumps my 29g is pushing 1200gph.

Yes, due to the size of the tank, the 2 bulb T5 using quality (ATI, KZ, Geisseman) bulbs will grow most corals. I would avoid acros and clams and hosting anemones (although bubble tips might be ok). You can always add a quality LED strip later as well. LPS and softies will be fine.

I would suggest a good HOB or internal skimmer if you are not willing to add a sump (my recommendation but not required). Water changes (weekly) are going to be your best method of filtration and element replenishment. You will probably never need to dose the tank unless you upgrade filtration and lighting and load it up with SPS. If you do get a skimmer, you can lose the smaller HOB and use the other to a little mechanical media as well as carbon and GFO. If a skimmer isn't an option, I would suggest at least going with a larger HOB like an Aquaclear 70 or 110. No need for any buffers or the like unless you get a specific animal that requires them. The less tinkering you do the better on a tank this size.

Gonna want more flow. At least another 425 but perhaps something with a little more flow.

Also may want to consider a different heater. Stealths don't have the best track record. They supposedly fixed the problem but i wouldn't have one in my reef.

ATI bulbs are great and probably the easiest to get. Geisemman, UVL and KZ are aslo good bulbs. I would use an ATI Blue+ and an ATI Aquablue Special. If you want a bluer look, go with 2 x Blue+. Really blue/deep ocean, go with a Blue+ and an Actinic or perhaps a Purple+. Aquablue Special will produce the most PAR with the Actinic producing the least. Keep in mind you tank is pretty shallow so you don;t need to pound it with light.

Dosing trace E should not need to be done on a tank this size as long as you are doing weekly water changes with a good salt. Possibly when the tank grows in you will need to consider dosing alkalinity, magnesium and possibly calcium. With a tank that size, you are going to be better off keeping it simple.

Tunze nano skimmer is a pretty good unit, aquatic life skimmer is pretty cheap but definently not as good as the Tunze.

I'd skip the turbo snails, or no more then one they need to eat a lot of algae or they starve and the temps of most reef tanks slowly kill them they are from cooler waters. Florida Ceriths, dwarf ceriths, nerites, nassirus are the types i'd go for. As far as shrimp I'd wait till the tanks more mature and stable say cycle finished and params steady for few weeks. You really only need to let the water mix overnight when making it enough time to clear up and get to temp.

Tap water can cause algae outbreaks, if you can't get a RODI unit I would try buying rodi from LFS it usually isn't to expensive. Tap water where I'm at is pretty good usually around 40tds which seems to be quite a bit lower then many areas with 100+ even still locals I know who've used tap had constant algae battles.

Tunze is internal but will not take up much space...

http://www.saltysupply.com/Tunze-DO...c_feed&utm_campaign=comparison_shopping_feeds

Biggest concern will be keeping the water level stable in the tank. Otherwsie, very good skimmer compared to most HOBs.

Assume you meant aragonite sand? 30 lbs is a lot for a 20L. Personally, I would stick with 20 lbs of rock (or even slightly less).

Can't compare algae growth in a planted FW tank to a SW tank. Highly recommend that you start with RO/DI from the beginning. Its $0.26/gallon here.

I have had no trouble with my turbos but have heard similar concerns.