Nano Reef Idea

[wannabereef]

Hello all! I want a few opinions for my reef plan. I will be using a 20G long tank. Lighting will consist of 4*20watt bulbs, 2 daylight, 1 50/50, 1 actinic. Filtration/Skimmer will be provided by a Skilter 250, added circulation will be provided by a 150gph powerhead. I plan to use 30lb aragonite reef sand(sugar sized) about 25lb of live rock. And get a few corals; bubble-brain-feather duster etc. My fish will be 1 flame angel, 1 royal gramma or 1 firefish, and 1 cardinal fish. How does this sound?

 

[shadow678]

Sounds pretty decent, although you might want just a bit more light, 4watts/gal is a bit low, IMO. Other than that, it should be an interesting tank, although a little large to really be considered a nano. I would still go for it, though. What kind of cardinal are you thinking about?

 

[jim27]

Sounds like a good nano to me too. I'd go for more lighting though. Look into some PCs, they're pretty cheap and will give you more a lot more light than NOs. You could try 4x36watt PCs or something. You'll have more of a selection of corals to choose from.

 

[wannabereef]

Thanks I was hoping that lighting would be sufficient since the tank is so shallow 12" and the corals would be only 4or5" at the most under the bulbs. But Im sure more light would be appretiated either way Bangii is the kind of cardinal that my LPS has so I would probably get one of those, and of course some turbo snails and pepermint shrimps for an algae fighting team. Glad to see my stocking plans arnt terribly overwhelming for a small system like that Now, besides lighting...what else do corals require. I know they are filter feeders and I need to buy some sore of liquid food source like Marine Snow...is that all they require?

 

[jonthefb]

ive got two 65 watt pc's on my 20 and im keepic sps's! I have one 10,000K daylight and one super actinic, all running from one ballast in a retro fit hood with reflector. The only prob i am having is overheating!
Good luck
jon

 

[wannabereef]

Thanks all My last attempt at a salty failed due to poweroutages I may look into some of the DIY lighting options, and definatly order offline Ok...a really dumb question, but how do you attach corals to the live rock? Anything else a reef idiot needs to know?

 

[jonthefb]

if you can you can set them into cracks and holes and crevices in the lr, but if you want it to be more perm, you can use an underwater epoxy putty to glue teh corals to the lr. LFS's sometimes sell this stuff but i get mine at home depot. Just go to th epaint dept and ask for an underwater epoxy stick. Its green on the outside and white in the center. its kinda hard to work with, but does a pretty good job. good luck
jon

 

[tjkohler]

My sig has my nano specs. Here's a link to some real cheap PC lighting: http://www.petsupplyliquidator.com/ Goto their aquarium specials.

 

[jumpfrog]

Sounds good, but; you may want to rethink that Skilter. Maybe it's just me but they seem so loud and require so much in the way of adjustments. You may want to pay the few dollars more and get a Prizm.
Good Luck and keep us posted!

 

[bang guy]

Everything sounds great and well thought out. I've never heard of a Flame being successful long term in anything smaller than a 40 breeder though. They also do best in very mature reef tanks.
If you like the NO bulbs and want to boost up the power use an IceCap 660 ballast. You'll get about twice the light.
Just my $0.02
Guy

 

[j21kickster]

The prizm isnt that good either btw, you dont nee a skimmer on a 20 gal, just keep on regular waterchanges. im in the process of making a 20 nano and i will be using a fan cooled 128w PC fixture for 6.4 watts/gal. I also will use the tetra-tec powerfilter w/ built in heater so there wont be one in the tank. 30 lbs LR and 3.5" DSB. it will be awsome when im finished

 

[wannabereef]

Some things have changes in my plan after researching more Just want a runby from you pros
25lb Fiji Live Rock
20lbs of Live Sand
15lbs of Crushed Coral Sand
AquaClear 300 powerfilter
2*55watt CP lighting
1*150GPH powerhead
*CORALS
1 Bubble Coral, 1 Open Brain Coral, 1 Button Polyp, 1 Star Polyp, 1 Bullseye/Trumpet, 1 Yellow Polyp.
*Inverts
3 Feather dusters, 1 Red Tree Sponge, 2 Spiny Urchins, 1 Britle Green Starfish, 5 Mexican Turbo Snails, 2 Coral banded Shrimps
*Plants
5 Shaving Brush
*Fish
1 Coral Beauty Angel, 1 Royal Gramma, 1 Blue Yellow Tailed Damselfish. I will add the Damsel first(kind of as the pioneer) then the Gramma and later on when the tank is much more established the Angel.
This tank is kind of my experiment with limited space, pecos and time of a college student, and my dorm really needs some color.LOL! I plan to fertilize with Micro Vert, use Reef Crystals Salt, and add the occasional Iron Supplement, and some Calcium. Do a 10-15% weekly waterchange and only run floss in my filter since I think my bioneeds will be met with the sand and rock. Is this oK