Back in the Hobby! 20 long

[toastiireefs]

Hi Everyone. 

This is kind of weird since I am not technically in the area anymore, but my area does not have an active aquarist society. 

 

I have graduated college with my Marine Biology degree and now I am a Masters Student doing Coastal and Ocean Policy (All thanks to my high school hobby of saltwater aquariums). 

For the last 5 years my aquarium has been the ocean since I live only 4 miles from the beach. However, I acquired a 20 gallon long, I believe, which originally had a crack in the bottom of it and the silicon was super worn down. So I scraped out all of the old silicon and resealed it, and sealed the crack in the glass as well. It survived the bathtub test and I am satisfied that it is water tight-- if anyone else has any suggestions about using this tank please feel free!.

 

I have convinced my husband that we need to upgrade our fish keeping skills (I have a beta which I have kept for a year and a half now in a beautiful vase). SO This leads me to transporting my aquarium from my parents house in DC back to North Carolina, where I am currently living in hopefully about 3 weeks. 

 

My Biggest concern as of right now is when I had my 45 reef tank, the salt splash pulled off all the paint from my parents wall-- (They were very pleased by that). As I am renting an apartment, I would really like to not do a few hundred dollars worth of damage to their walls. Does anyone have any suggestions to how to set up a sheet, acrylic, optimal distance away from the wall to avoid the paint coming off the wall?

 

Thanks

Sara

[toastiireefs]

 I have definitely considered getting a new aquarium. So that is on my radar of something to do.

It has been 5  years since i have had an aquarium so trying to remember everything. 

 

Here are my thoughts for the tank:

Currently planning on not having a sump-- may have a HOB "filter" refugium though. 

Live rock, sand normal stuff (powerheads, heaters, testing equip etc)). 

Thinking of a pair of clowns and an anemone, and then a variety of soft corals/ polyps etc. May try my hand at a couple hard corals if everything is going well. a pair of shrimp. If it isn't too much to handle a goby. 

 

What lights would be sufficient to grow hard corals on this size of a tank. I was recommended a coral life LED fixture  (i think). Are LEDs sufficient to grow corals or would I need HOT5s-- which is what I had on my 45.

 

Final question Skimmer, yes or no? What are some HOB skimmer options? (Any favorites?)

[Tracy G]

Honestly I don't think I would fix or patch the 20 long. If you check for Petco $1 per gallon sale you can get a brand new one for $20. LEDs grow corals perfectly if you get the right ones and you don't even need a HOB filter if you get a HOB skimmer.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[toastiireefs]

Thanks for the advice- I have already patched the tank up (did that a while ago!) and it definitely holds water. But I am considering getting one off craigslist or petco! There is a 30gal with the same footprint for $30. Seems worth it to me to not have water all over the floor. The HOB filter- i was going to take out all the filter stuff and fill it with refugium mud and macro algae and pods. (havent decided on that yet either). Having a 30 gal will also give a little bit more flexibility with what I can put in the tank. 

[Keraxis]

You wont need a refugium for a 20 long.  You will probably only have 1 or 2 fish and corals.  I have to agree with not fixing a 20 long.  How long will that seal hold and do you want 20 gallons of water in your house on the floor with mud, hundreds in coral and fish flopping around.  Water changes will be all you need with a good skimmer and a powerhead.  Welcome back and congraduations on your new career.

[toastiireefs]

Sounds good to me! Yup, i have come to my senses and am going to try and get rid of that tank to a terrarium user  

 

Any reasonably priced skimmers that will do the job? 

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=24108

 

I am looking at a 30 gallon tank now which is bordering the range of nano i believe. but I do not think that skimmer will be powerful enough for a 30 because it says up to 24 gallons. Bummer. 

 

hmmm. I have spent days looking at aquarium equipment to purchase and not writing the paper i need to be writing. 

[Keraxis]

If your looking at a 30 you need to size your skimmer to a fully loaded 30 gallon tank.  My skimmer will handle over 70 gallons on a lightly loaded system but only handles 45 to 50 gallons on a heavy load.  A skimmer is also one of your most important buys as it will remove bad things from your water while not stripping what you want to keep in the column.  I went with an aqua c and its... ok.  It skims alittle wet but ive finally got it where i want and now after 2 months its skimming dark green to black.  Reef octopus makes an affordable HOB. The BH100 will handle up to 50 gallons decently well for its $140 price. 

[toastiireefs]

Yea, since I have always been a student with my Saltwater aquariums I walk the line of trying to make the right decision and trying not to go into further debt!. 

There are some aqua c skimmers and CPR bak paks that I am looking at on ebay  

Sara

[toastiireefs]

So I am considering the difference between buying an RO system, Stealing DI water from my university (or just High Quality saltwater for that matter), and using a refillable bottle service like primo. 

 

I have a 30 gallon tank now- no longer a 20. and to fill it will cost 15$, then water changes- over time this cost will not be very high. like 5$/ water change. (if i use a refillable service which is about 40-50 cents/gallon). 

 

OR I can buy a small RO system. 50 gpd. which is roughly 60$ (on sale currently). I would need to fill, and then do 9 ten gallon water changes to reconcile the cost- which is very conceivable. The only thing I worry about is the installation-- because I live in a rented apartment. Is installation something I can do myself or have to hire someone to do?

 

OR. I can just take jugs to my university marine science center and hope no one asks any questions about why I am taking seawater home. 

[YHSublime]

Easy to install an rodi in an apartment.

[Keraxis]

You also might want to figure in the cost of an add on DI unit.  RO is a good step but the DI will make it great.  0 TDI water will save you headaches and money in the long run

[nova423]

You also might want to figure in the cost of an add on DI unit.  RO is a good step but the DI will make it great.  0 TDI water will save you headaches and money in the long run

 

+1, plus even though you are going small, lugging that water around every week will get old very fast.

[sen5241b]

I put CPR aquafuge on my 20G long and it worked at very well. Its chock full of cheato and pods.

 

 

[toastiireefs]

Sorry I have been MIA 

 

Since posting I have everything set up and cycled. I have been trying to get into the local aquarium group (since I have moved to NC) but there are not as many people ther.e 

 

 

 

 

 

My university gives away high quality filtered seawater.-- which they use in their own saltwater aquariums. Many of the local people also use it for their SW tanks.

I am using a CPR bakpak as my skimmer-- rated for a 65 gallon. Still trying to get used to adjusting it so it skims the way I want it to. 

I have a Koralia 425 in there as well. 

 

That zoa was a hitchhiker on my piece of live rock. -- and it lived through the whole cycling process!! 

Candy Canes I got off a local person- they were looking a bit rough when I got them. Most seemed to have perked up a bit post fragging. 

 

I have a small amount of hair algae but it is not quite out of control. I am going to build my refugium soon. 

My nitrates are slightly higher than I would like - though they around 5ppm. - hoping the refugium will help with the nitrates. 

 

I am currently looking for a nice coral for my clowns to  host in since they are currently tucking themselves in a corner against the glass.  

I have the current orbit marine lights which I like a lot! I hope they work out in the long run. Not planning on any high intensity light corals. 

 

Long term: planning to build a mini magnetic frag rack for the back of my tanks. (do not know if this is necessary yet.) But in my head its a good idea. 

 

Livestock in there:

2 clowns

1 pajama cardinal 

snails. 

 

a few astrea hitchhikers. 

a couple night anemones (someone told me they were ball anemones). They look pretty cool and only come out at night. 

 

That is it for now!

[toastiireefs]

Can a moderator move this to general discussion? since this is no longer less than 20 gallons

[Keraxis]

You will get algae.... I call it the uglies and happens after a cycle.  As for a host coral your not ready for an anemone.  They will sometimes host hammer or frogspawn but they can sting your other corals so be careful with placement and they grow quickly.  You might consider painting the back wall of your aquarium.  It focuses the eye forward and not through.  Black or blue is normal.  I like black because most equipment is black and it hides it.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Keraxis

[toastiireefs]

Thanks! I picked up a little emerald crab today and a hammer coral... which i swear is a frogspawn... curse of common names? (what my LFS recommened). I will definitely be careful of where I place it. It is definitely adding some nice color to my tank

 

Most of my rock was dead so its all white with one piece of purple live rock. I want my coralline to spread !!

Edited September 22, 2014 by toastiireefs

[toastiireefs]

[toastiireefs]

Help? 
My coralline algae is dying. I think it is being eaten by the astrea stars. I have 2-3 of them in the tank-- but I can not always find them- they pretty much exclusively live on the only rock with coralline

My other corals are doing great. I also just scraped some coralline off a couple snails and off that rock to seed the rest of the tank... (how much do I need to scrape off??) 
hopefully it will start to grow elsewhere. 

My first step is to remove those stars i think.. :/ 

 

The other issue is that my s.g. was a bit high 1.026 so I am fixing that currently as well. Hadn't topped off :/

[toastiireefs]

I am seeing coralline pop up around my tank on the other rocks now that I have given it a closer look!

[YHSublime]

Don't stress it. With time you will see coraline spread. It's not an overnight deal. Nothing in this hobby is, unless it's dying!

[toastiireefs]

I think my placement of my powerhead is too high in the tank-- is there an optimal location or just what ever works best for each individual aqurium?

[lnevo]

1.026 is perfect.

[toastiireefs]

1.026 is perfect.

Yea I just realized that today :/ oops! I was aiming for the 33ppt range but I am gonna move it back up (aka not top off) to 35ppt. AND I finally get my refractometer back today. It has been home in DC for a while and my friend just brought it back for me WOOOO no more flicking the plastic hydrometer to get the bubbles off the meter. 

[toastiireefs]

Some pictures of the tank

 

New additions: 

3 montis 

green with purple rim, 

green

and undata

 

"tiger" blenny-- do not know which type it really it is. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AND FUN NEWS!!!! Zoa finally budded! there is an itty bitty zoa next to the bigger one!

 

 

 

Also my tank has been purpling up very well!