20 gallon SW

[ooshortyoo]

Hey everyone, my boyfriend and I have a 20 gallon high saltwater aquarium. We would like some suggestions...we were thinking about keeping coral, what kind of lighting would we need for this? How much live rock do we need? We currently have 20 lbs of CaribSea ARAGOLIVE sand , 8lbs live rock with alot of feather dusters on it, Aquatech powerhead, and a single tube light strip...I dont know how many watts the light is, it doesnt seem to say anywhere... also are there any 'beginner corals'? Thanks

 

[overanalyzer]

first -WELCOME!!
Second - there are a lot of folks who have or had 20 gallon highs or similar tanks. Check out 007's thread or do a search for my name and my 20 gallon tank (Overanalyzer's 20 Gallon Nano).
Third - Where are you in the cycle??
Fourth - I would not worry too much about amount of LR but about the quality of it. As many corals you buy will come attached to LR you will build your amount slowly that way.
Fifth - Lighting - I'd suggest either VHO or PC as a MH will cause a lot of heat and evaporation issues. My 20 gallon thread lists my lighting
Sixth - beginner corals: depends upon light and cycle time
* mushrooms
* zooanthids
* Polyps of all sorts (green star)
* Some leathers
* Xenia
Good luck!

 

[ooshortyoo]

Thank you so much for replying! I looked at your post about your aquarium and it's beautiful! I hope ours will look as good as yours!
Okay I feel like a complete fool and everything around here when it comes to lighting, corals, and all that stuff. I have a successful 10 gallon SW setup that has been running for a year now and I have had no problems. It's just a FO system so this is the first time I've been dealing with live rock and corals. Is there something I should be adding to the water? (other than salt/declorinator..etc) How long should I leave my light on? The LFS told me the longer I live the light on, the more my coral (on the live rock) will grow...he told me about 15hrs a day...but it seems like my live rock is starting to get, what looks to be, brown algae. Is this good or bad? Well I'm off to do some more research!
Thanks again

 

[verde_ad]

First of all welcome to the board. You will get tons of good info on this board, so you are in the right place. To help with some of your questions, you do not need your lights on that long. Twelve hours or less is fine. That algea growth will continue with that much light cycle. Second, as far as the additives to the water go, you will not need that stuff for a while. You may never need it. Most of the elements you need in the water will come through water changes. The salt mix has everything you need. Their are some exceptions to this rule, such as, when you get into SPS corals and clams that need cal. and alk. Don't even worry about that now, these are advanced topics that come with time. Some comments...
Are you using tap water? If so, you will want to switch over to RO/DI. You can get it from grocerie stores for like $.25 a gallon. This will save you trouble later and you won't need to condition the water. In my opinion the less artificial stuff you put in your tank the better.
You need to look into stronger lighting if you want coral. Their are lots of types of lightings and it can get real confusing, but for a twenty gallon you will most likely want PC or VHO lighting. I have the corallife 130w 24" PC and I really like it. It is inexpensive too ($110+). If you shop around though you can find tons of lighting and you will just need to decide what you need for your setup.
I hope this helps. I know it is kind of long, but I am a talker
AJ

 

[ooshortyoo]

Thanks so much AJ for the info...I will look for the RO/DI tomorrow...
Here is another question....I do not have a heater in my aquarium but the temp says 78 degree's...is this okay or what does it need to be? I read that the temp should not fluctuate...what should I do about this?

 

[verde_ad]

78 is ok, but you don't want it do dip below that. You want your temp to stay pretty stable. If you think about it the ocean isn't flucating much. One of the key ideas in this hobby is maintaning stability. Fish and corals can live in a somewhat wide range of conditions (to a certain extent), but what kills them is big swings in peramaters. For example, amonia spikes from die off of live rock, or salinity jumps from not topping off your tank. These are the day to day things that we have to keep our eyes open for. I would suggest getting a small heater. In a twenty gallon a 50-100 watt would be fine, in Florida. I am in Vegas, were it is currently over 100 degrees everyday and my heater never comes on, but I still have it for safe keeping and winter.

 

[verde_ad]

Ps. My tank is around 82 right now. But my house is about 78, so that is as low as it is going to get.

 

[ooshortyoo]

okay thanks...i told my lfs that the temp was around 80 and he said "thats too high, it has to be at 76"...so I started worrying about that. I'm going to get a small 50-100 watt heater Friday...should I set it on low to make my temperature steady?
What do you use to measure your salinity? I have the floating glass hydrometer. Is that one good or should I buy one of those plastic ones...they look much easier to read...lol. What should my salinity be at? Once again the LFS told me it needs to be 1.019 or 1.021-.022...and I can drop it as low at 1.014 ?? I dont think that is right...
Okay, this is got me alittle confused...when I do a water chage...how many gallons should I take out? However many gallons I take out, should I have the exact same amount in another container with my salt dissolved and everything to the sg of my 20 gal?
Also, my pH is around 7.8?? My hubby bought some SeaBuffer...is this stuff good to use? (LFS recommended it)
Thanks

 

[overanalyzer]

#1 - Verde is correct - stability is key!!
#2 - thank you for taking a slow and measured approach. If you've kept a fish alive and the tank is not covered in algea you are doing fine
#3 - do NOT trust the LFS - they are out to make money. I am not saying ignore everything he says but get a second and third opinion.
#4 - proper way to do a water change. In a 10 gallon I'd suggest 2 gallons and here is what I'd do:
1. Get a bucket that can easily hold 2 gallons
2. Fill it with 2 gallons of RO/DI water
3. Add small powerhead and let it sit (covered but allow som air flow) at least 24 hours
4. Add roughly 1/2 cup of salt per gallon (so in your case here 1 full cup or 2 1/2 cups)
5. Let mix in bucket with powerhead 24 hours
6. Insert thermometer and ensure temp in tank equals temp in bucket
7. Once temps are equal (or within 1 degree of equal) test salinity (floating are good - plastic ones are OK - the key is use the same one and get the same result)
8. Adjust accordingly - if it is a bit high add a small bit of fw and retest in an hour or so .... once again get it as close as possible.
9. once they are equal test PH - make sure it is equal (or in your case a slight bit higher than) the tank's PH.
10. Siphon out 2 gallons into another bucket. Use hte siphon to suck up detrius and algea when possible.
11. Slowly siphon 2 gallons of new SW back into tank.
Your PH may be low because your top off water is not RO/DI water that has been mixed. I keep a bucket of RO/DI water with a small powerhead in it mixing constantly (actualy a 35 gallon trash can and a mag 12) - if you do not mix the RO/DI water prior to adding it as top off then it will cause your PH to lower.
You should not need PH buffer @ this point - just work on uping it via the water changes .... also mixing your top off water will help ....
Lastly - your lighting cycle (and much of what else you do) should closely mimic nature - SO - no more than 10-12 hours of full lighting ....
HTH

 

[ooshortyoo]

thanks! ya'll have helped me so much! I'm printing out this page right now as a reference sheet....thanks again and I will post some pictures later on tonight!

 

[overanalyzer]

bump for blueyellowtang or tangblueyellow ... its late .....