New to reef keeping. Need some advice.

[villjr]

Hello All, Ernest here. I have decided to start a reef tank. I have had salt and freshwater tanks before but never a reef tank so I need some advice.

I am planning to go with a 20 gal. high. I live in a small apt. so I can't have anything too large. I wanted to see if anyone had a tank of the same relative size and how they have it set up. What type of lights, powerheads, mechanical filtration, amounts of live rock, live sand, etc.

I would like to keep it rather simple as I have never used skimmers, sumps, things like that and really don't have the room for such devices. I would like to gradually ease into these other items as I become more experienced in the field.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone has any equipment they no longer use and would sell for cheap or give away to a newcomer would be great. I will keep you in mind and when the time comes return the favor.

Thank you in advance,
Ernest

[NaCl_H2O]

Ernest, welcome to MAAST!!!!

You are right to start slow, you will learn a ton over the next 6 months and can slowly extend your knowledge & equipment. Oh, BTW, you bank account will go in the opposite direction ;)

With a 20h light penetration will be an issue if you wanted to move into hard corals (SPS), but you are probably better off with softies and LPS plus a couple of fish starting out. Live Rock is generally 1-1.5lbs per gallon, so 20-30lbs would be a good start. Various rock has various density, so start there and add if you need more for aquascaping. In a 20, I don't think a shallow vs. deep sandbed will make much difference, so maybe go for about 3-4". (I think I hear a barebottom advocate typing for the next post to this thread :P)

Think about a Hang-On-Back (HOB) skimmer, like a CPR BAK-PAK, if not now in the near future. A hang on or canister filter might be OK, but others with small tanks need to give you some better advice.

When you are ready to setup, get a few cups of seasoned live sand from other members, that will really help get your nitrogen cycle started. Also, for this size tank I would go with cured live rock, or cure it yourself in a trash can before starting the tank. If you don't know about curing, we can get into that later in this thread.

So much advice to offer ... time for others to chime in!

Good luck, and welcome to MAAST!!!

- Steve

[pilot_bell777]

WELCOME TO MAAST!!!!!!!

[GaryP]

Earnest,

Welcome to MAAST. The key, in my opinion, to a successful tank that size is weekly water changes. You're never going to be able to use a lot of equipment or chemical additives on a tank that size to manage water quality. To make up for that, you will need to do at least weekly 10-20% water changes. Water changes may start off larger and decrease in size as the tank matures. On a tank that size, its not that big of a deal. It will take you 5 min. Just remember that everything is magnified in a small tank. You don't have a really large water volume to help you minimize any water issues.

[gjuarez]

Ernest, we like maastards like you, who introduce themselves and ask questions to better themselves. Welcome to Maast. You definately want to go with a sand bed and you dont need a skimmer, although it would be beneficial. Like Gary mentioned, the best thing you can do is weekly water changes, but make sure you dont miss them. Make sure you do have enough live rock. Get the best light you can afford because you will be spending a lot more when you upgrade. Take it easy and keep doing what you are doing.

[hammondegge]

Hey there Ernest, Welcome. Another issue with small tanks is heat. I have had good results by hanging a Metal Halide pendant fixture high above the tank on a 20g. a 175w mh about 24" above this tank and the temp stays at 78 without fans. You will need hang it lower for the 20h to aid penetration. With a fan included it should work nicely. Stay away from PC lighting as this must sit so close to the water it will add a lot of heat to the tank. Frequent water changes, top off daily, and provide good circulation. g'luck

[matt]

If I remember, a 20 high is like two 10 gal tanks stacked vertically, right? If you have a choice, you'd probably do better with a 20 long, or something along the lines of 24" X 12" X 12". You'll find that shape tank easier to manage with regards to light and water movement, you'll get better gas exchange, and you'll have more substrate area for the same water volume. The tall and thin tanks are more problematic, especially small ones.

As Steve suggested, a hang on skimmer would be a great investment and they're not expensive. You can probably find a used prizm for a low price, and it will work well on that size tank. The bakpak and remora would also work fine, but they're more expensive. If you have no sump, the skimmer's pretty important for gas exchange, and keeping such a small tank O2 saturated is important. Other than the skimmer, all you need is a couple of powerheads and some good live rock for filtration. The live sand idea is also a good one; even though your tank is too small for a true deep sand bed, a couple of inches of sand loaded with worms and other beneficial critters will really help your tank get and stay stable.

Lighting a small tank without heating it up is a challenge, as suggested, an open top tank with a metal halide pendant would be the best and it would look really nice. You can get 70 watt mini pendants that are perfect for this sort of tank, but they're not cheap. PC lighting will work fine if you can get a couple of fans on the hood. On my old 10 gal, I used a hood with 2 32W PC tubes, two cooling fans, and I made little legs for the hood in each corner to get it a few inches off the tank. But, and this is important if you ask me, the MH light will really look more natural.

Really think about the tank shape as it will make a big difference. I like the "double cube" shape tanks, like 24" X 12" X 12", or the 45 breeder (36"X 18") or even the 120 (48" X 24") they're easy to aquascape and keep water moving without dead spots.

[gcantu]

Hey Ernest,
If you need live rock, I've got some in my garage curing that I can sell to you for about 3.50 a pound and I also have a bak pak I can sell for $65.00. The bak paks normally sell brand new for about $125.00. I also have a brand new bag of live sand I can sell for $15.00 and some extra live sand in the bin with the curing live rock to help seed your tank. This will probably help you get started.
Let me know,
George


Also, Welcome aboard!! You are going to learn alot from these people, I usually hang around and read most of the posts to find out what works and what doesn't. Don't be afraid to chyme in with any questions or comments.

[Flobex]

i am by no means an expert, but i am in the process of setting up a 20 high SW. firstly, i had the tank drilled, and i am using a 20 long sump, so that gives me alot more water, so i can keep my levels more stable. for lioghting, i bought a orbit compact 130 watt fixture with 65 wqatt fluorescent, and 65 watt actinic lights, and 2 moonlights built in. for my return pump form the sump i am goijng to use a mag 3 pump. im using a 150 watt heater that i had lying around, and some play sand for substrate in the fuge, and in the tank. my costs are as foillows.
tank 50$ (have had it for awhile)
stand- had it from a difi tank with the sump.
lights, coralife light timer, airline tubing, light mounting l;egs, and salt, SW test kit, and filter media 300$
all i need is a pump, and LKR, then fish. i got all my equipment from CB pets. hope this helps some...

[runamukus]

And another tip that will help...use water that is RO/DI because if you use tap water to mix your salt water, your gonna get an algae explosion that you'll never forget. I mixed my own salt with tap water when I started and I just couldn't figure out why I had so much hair algae. Then I started using ro/di water to mix my salt and saw a dramatic difference. Oh and a good skimmer...skimmers are a must have in salt water...but that is just my 2 cents worth. Good luck with everything!

[villjr]

What is RO/DI?

[NaCl_H2O]

Reverse Osmosis/Deionized water - Highly filtered water, only contains H2 & O and very little of anything else ;)

[villjr]

How do you get this? Is there a piece of equipment needed to filter the tap water?

[villjr]

How do you get this? Is there a piece of equipment needed to filter the tap water?

[villjr]

Would a tap water purifier work?

[NaCl_H2O]

One of these (http://www.purelyh2o.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=88&category_id= 1)

[villjr]

How does this work? Is it tied into your system or is it seperate from your tank and just used to purify water? I don't plan to run any kind of sumps or things of that nature until I am more experienced. Maybe I need to view a few systems to fully understand the entire reef process.

I met Louis at Aquatic Warehouse last week(it is only a few minutes from my place), and he let me pick his brain a bit. But I did not ask about things such as these.

[NaCl_H2O]

An RO/DI is seperate, it simply purifies the water before you mix in the salt. If starting with a 20g, it may be more economical to buy RO/DI from a LFS. I think Louis sells it by the gallon?

You use RO/DI to setup your tank originally, use it to mix up saltwater for a water change, and for top-off to keep up with evaporation.

[villjr]

With all the lights, skimmers, sumps, powerheads, etc are the elctrical bills high? And are you running all this equipment off one outlet?

[GaryP]

Some are, some aren't. It depends on how amy amps you are set up for on that particular circuit. I have my big tank on two seperate circuits. My small tank is on one.

[Thunderkat]

Just do what I did, move into an all bills paid apartment then you can run 3 lights on your refugium, run 6 pumps on your tank, get an AC unit just for your tank, and then upgrade to a 75 gallon tank with metal halide hood. :lol