Newbie starting a 20g Reef

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rena_bean

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Oct 2, 2006
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I've kept a freshwater tank for over a year and have really become interested in starting a mini reef tank. Just wanted to post where I am in the set up process and get some advice for moving on from here. So far...

Cleaned out my 20g Tall (fish went to new homes)

Have a SeaClone 100 HOB Protien Skimmer (Which I read 5 min's ago might be junk, but I'm going to give it a try)(100gph)

Have a Powersweep rotating powerhead/wavemeker (270 gph)

Have a Whisper 20-40 HOB Filter and a Heater left from my FW tank.

Hydrometer and Salt

Here is my plan (carried out over weeks so as not to crash my tank):

Fill with saltwater and run equipment a few days to get my levels right. We have really hard water, so I'm hoping I won't need a lot of additives to keep things steady.

Order live rock and let it cure in the bare bottom tank until cycled.

Add lights (gulp) live sand and clean up crew.

Add a couple of gobies

Add an anemone and a clownfish ( I know, so typical)

Add corals and a starfish

My questions are...
How am I for equipment and do I need to add more flow?
Is my 20-40 HOB filter going to be necessary or will adequate amounts of rock and sand do the job for my proposed stocking?

Never fear, more questions to come!
Thanks in advance
 
providing you have 1 - 1.5lbs of live rock per gallon of tank water, that will be enough filtration for you...so, leave the filter off.....You will need to double the ammount of flow in there if you intend to keep corals...

When you add the rock, add the sand at the same time and then cycle the tank with both of these in there...rock first, then sand afterwards to fill in the base around the rock...

Lights can stay off till after the cycle has completed...cool..

Anemone in a 20 gal, i would not..i believe its too small...no isses with the gobys or clowns...again, starfish in a 20 gal will more than likely starve in a tank that small...

I hope this helps you a little bit here...any questions on the above, please just shout up..

Niko
 
I would use the whisper but just fill it with LR rubble, as far as the seaclone goes since you all ready have it I would try to keep the pump as close to the water surface as possible and you would be better off with 2 of the Koralia Nano's. Oh I forgot, yes add your Sand and LR at the same time.
 
About Flow Rate...

Thanks for all the tips. So what is my target flow rate for a 20g Reef? With the equipment I have now I would turn about 400gph ( I know that's under ideal conditions). Do I need to add another powerhead? I just don't want to be blasting the algae off my rocks! Not to mention that I want room for rocks...this equipment is huge. Could I also stick to corals/polyps that like medium flow and wait till I get my 75g to try the hard stuff?

Also, regarding sand/rock cycling... I read on another site :grinno: that you could put the rocks in a bare bottom tank to cycle first so you could suck out the die off. But I certainly trust your experience and advice, so sand and rock together it is!
 
rena_bean said:
Thanks for all the tips. So what is my target flow rate for a 20g Reef? With the equipment I have now I would turn about 400gph ( I know that's under ideal conditions). Do I need to add another powerhead? I just don't want to be blasting the algae off my rocks! Not to mention that I want room for rocks...this equipment is huge. Could I also stick to corals/polyps that like medium flow and wait till I get my 75g to try the hard stuff?

Also, regarding sand/rock cycling... I read on another site :grinno: that you could put the rocks in a bare bottom tank to cycle first so you could suck out the die off. But I certainly trust your experience and advice, so sand and rock together it is!
Click to expand...

Flow, of course, does depend on what your putting in there..A flow rate about 500gph is what i normaly recomend ( 25 x water turn over ). However, yes, with 400gph, you are fine as normal medium flow corals go...no real issues.

On the point of cycling, i dont see the point in wating to get the sand in....Whenever you buy live rock, i think its always best to scrub in saltwater, and wash it off before it goes into the tank, this then minimises the ammount of gunk that falls onto the substrate...What does fall onto the substrate wil be be hurting anything once the cycle is complete...However, if your chosen route is to cycle without sand, then, that is your route to go and we shall help you along the way...

Niko
 
I had recommended the Koralia's because of the wide dispersed flow rather than the narrow stream type flow that you get with most regular PH's and you tend to get fewer dead spots but yes the power sweep will work for you. I dont usually count my actual filtration in with my flow I just count the PH's or the CL as my flow because I run a very low turn over for my filters, my 65 with a 45 sump/fuge has about 300/hr turn over and my Koralia's are at about 1700/hr.
 
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