Newbie in Centreville, VA... critique my equipment!

[tclipse]

Hey everybody, I was referred by a woman in Centreville last summer when I picked up a 10 gallon from her (if you're reading this, PM me!), and am just now getting into the reef hobby. I've been doing freshwater (planted, cichlids, dwarf shrimp, crays, predatory, pretty much everything) and brackish (mudskippers/fiddlers) for years, as well as currently keeping a few species of poison dart frogs, day geckos, and chameleons. I've dealt with some pretty touchy species, so I thought I'd give SW a try finally. Here's what I have going right now-

 

Tank: 20G

Filtration: (Fluval 205, sponges and biomax)

Lighting: Coralife 2X65, one bulb 420/460 actinic, one 10,000K

Powerhead: Hydor Koralia 2

20lbs. live sand

 

Looking for- live rock, and a good protein skimmer for a tank this small. any suggestions/advice on either the current equipment or what I can do for a skimmer would be appreciated.

I also have an AC70 that I can add, if that would be a good idea. Thanks.

 

-Teddy

[jason the filter freak]

convert the AC 70 to a fuge and run that bad boy

[tclipse]

convert the AC 70 to a fuge and run that bad boy

 

I've heard about some issues w/ canisters creating nitrate and whatnot, how do you deal with that?

[jward51]

bra, nice setup bra.. any red leg herms in your tank yet?

[jason the filter freak]

I've heard about some issues w/ canisters creating nitrate and whatnot, how do you deal with that?

 

Well the most obvious is to ditch the canister, but I ran a very successful tank for around 1.5 years with a RENA XP4 as a primary part of filtration. I did happen to run a CPR hang on back fuge as well though which is why I suggested turning the AC 70 into a refugium and running it.