Hi all!
I have been into SW tanks for about 4 years now but this is my first reef tank. I had a 10 gallon set up for about 3 months and happened to come across the gallon per dollar sale :BEER bought a 20L and set it up. Currently i am looking at upgrading to an LED light fixture but that’s still up in the air. Please be kind since I haven’t had much experience in reefs but I spend many hours reading and learning as much as i can about the hobby. Let me know what you think…
very pretty. clean too. and :Welcome)
:Welcome) to the DRC !
that tank has a nice look to it, and the coral seem happy. Its good you’ve done a lot of reading, just be sure of the source, there’s a ton of crap info out there :FLUSH)
do you have any plans to add a sump? i know its a small tank, and may be easy to maintain with just water changes… but if you start adding protein skimmer, reactors etc… its a place to hide that stuff and add to your water volume to give more stability…
btw… great pics
Thanks for the feedback. I do have plans of adding a sump actually because I have the 10 gallon still laying around and a spare 20" aquaticlife linkable 2x18w t5 light for the macro algea but i need to get a stand before i go any further. I may want to go sps heavy in the future which is why i am considering LED and a sump would definitely help with the stability. I do avoid the “crap” out there when i read but i definitely know what you mean. abcd
Tank looks nice and clean :
:. By the way :Welcome)
:Welcome)
Very nice pics and your tank and corals look great!! ::Seems you are doing the right thing by reading up on this crazy hobby, it will save you some money in the long run.
Good Luck in the future. z<>z
Happy reefing!
Great looking tank! I really like the open aquasacaping and larger colonies!
Just a JMHO, but you may want to upgrade to a larger tank if you decide to go heavy sps. I had a really difficult time maintaining water chemistry in a 20L. I would reccomend either a 55 display or getting a really large sump.
Thanks for the feedback Bob! I know its harder to manage the vital parameters that are necessary for SPS which is why I said that the idea for the LED was still up in the air. It makes me very nervous just thinking about how fast things can change in a small tank. I may just stick to LPS and soft coral for the time being though. I do love the coloring of some of those acans!
Anything is possible, but we just don’t want to see somebody set themselves up for failure ( not that its what you’re doing)… just take it slow, and research any additions. there are some softies and lps that can be more demanding then some sps imho… Acans are great, i agree there are stunning colored ones…
how much testing of parameters have you done in your salt experience? what are you testing for in your reef tank? calcium, dkh, and magnesium are pretty important to coral…
you should be used to nitrates, another biggie from your fish keeping experience… very important!
Its all about babysitting water, doesnt matter if its 2g or 200g… its just easier to be consistent with more volume IME.
what are your parameters? and what lighting (bulbs and spectrum) do you have?
and a 2nd look at your pics it seems like the substrate is pretty coarse? sometimes they can become nitrate factories :
:
again, everything looks great, so don’t be discouraged or worried right away about any of our input… lots of us do things diff, with diff outcomes…
Well I test nitrate, alk, calcium, and magnesium about every 3 days because I’m paranoid… ;D I test Ph as well about once a week maybe but I know that it can fluctuate so I just make sure its not at a crazy level. I have a 4x24 watt T5 odyssea fixture with 2 ati blue+, an ati purple + and an ati coral +. Its a shallow tank so lighis OK for what I have in there. I have 2 oc. Clowns and a purple firefish. I feed light everyday. I do have a mix of crushed coral and aragonite sand for the substrate. I don’t ever feel discouraged about the hobby because that’s exactly what it is and its supposed to be relaxing not a bad experience. z<>z
oh…my parameters from last night were:
Nitrate 0
Ph 8.1
Alk 9.5
Calcium 460ppm
Mag 1350
Salinity 1.025
Temp 79
That’s usually where they are.
::
looks like you’ve got it under control GolfC
and i burnt up some test kits in the beginning also. nuthin at all wrong with that!
