20g High...please critique/advise

[JonK]

Hey everyone,

I just set up a 20 gallon nano. I am tearing down my 90. We are moving in a couple months and I didn't want the hassle of moving a 90 gallon tank. So I want some opinions on my aquascape, etc. I kept one side fairly open and stacked the other side high. I acclimated the corals and they are starting to open up. Although my green leather will probably be peed off for a few days. I want to put some SPS on the top piece. I'm putting some zoas on the vertical area and the leathers towards the bottom. Let me know what you think. My favorites from my 90 are my clams so they are in there too.

I am running 2 x 36 watt Pc's with 1 10k/actinic combo and 1 10k bulb. It's being skimmed by a modified Seaclone and for flow I have a Seio 1500. I painted the back of the tank black.

Full tank.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/Jon2dk/100_0477.jpg

A couple pics of corals:

Orange ric:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/Jon2dk/100_0479.jpg

Red Stars:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/Jon2dk/100_0252.jpg

[trottman]

is that red star polyps?

[cj_basser]

Tank looks great. Incredibly clean looking, too.

How is that clam doing under Pc's?

[JonK]

Yes, they are red star polyps. I asked Eric B. about them and he said they are most likely in the Genus Clavularia (gsp are in the genus Pachyclavularia). Unfortunately they are practically impossibly to frag. Unless you break the rock into pieces they are growing on.

[JonK]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6405548#post6405548 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cj_basser
Tank looks great. Incredibly clean looking, too.

How is that clam doing under Pc's?

Hopefully it will stay clean too. I only set it up about a week ago. Hopefully the clams will do well...they were under VHO in my 90. I bought the large squamosa when it was less than an inch a few years ago. The other clam is more recent addition.

[baj]

What kind of sand are you using for the substrate? Looks neat. tank looks great!

[DesertBandits]

Don't go for the 20 high. I had a 25 (much like the 20 high in proportion) and I absolutely hated it. the fish were all on top of each other and i had no open sandbed. My corals were also in terrible spots. Besides that, for every 6 inches of water your lights have to penetrate, their intensity is halved or something like that.

I just got a 29 and im so much happier with this tank. The waterflow you can create is so much better in a longer shaped tank; and everything looks better and has more room to grow spread out instead of stacked.

Within 6 months you are gonna be sick and tired of your tank.

[JonK]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6405924#post6405924 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by baj
What kind of sand are you using for the substrate? Looks neat. tank looks great!

I thought it was Southdown in a different package but it seems a little too white compared to the other bags of Southdown I bought in the past.

Thanks,
Jon

[JonK]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6406506#post6406506 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DesertBandits
Don't go for the 20 high. I had a 25 (much like the 20 high in proportion) and I absolutely hated it. the fish were all on top of each other and i had no open sandbed. My corals were also in terrible spots. Besides that, for every 6 inches of water your lights have to penetrate, their intensity is halved or something like that.

I just got a 29 and im so much happier with this tank. The waterflow you can create is so much better in a longer shaped tank; and everything looks better and has more room to grow spread out instead of stacked.

Within 6 months you are gonna be sick and tired of your tank.

I was worried about the height but it's the only tank I had. I didn't want to go out and buy another tank and lights. Hopefully after I move and I get settled in I'll have my 90 gallon back up and running. But in the meantime this will have to do. I'm not too worried about fish in this tank. I was looking at a jawfish but I've read they can be jumpers. Thanks for your feedback.

[DesertBandits]

Cool, I didn't realize the 90 was going back up in the future. I though this was a permanent thing. Good luck with a quick and pain free move. Bad moves are the worst;) .