My new 20L Reef in the making

nauticac4 · #1 05/17/2007, 11:19 AM

This is the new tank as it sits right now. I have some frogspawn that was fragged onto a piece of great live rock. There is also a pipe organ and some zoathis (sp?)

Parameters
Nitrate 0
Calcium 340
ph 8.3
Temp ~79.5-81
Salinity 1.024

Equipment

Marineland hang on filter
20L Glass aquarium
PS 75 Protein Skimmer
Small heater
Digital thermometer
2 - 65 watt PC 10k and atinic lights with 4 lunar leds
20lbs live Carib Sea sand
1 no name powerhead (putting another in this weekend)

Live Stock

Frogspawn
Zoathins Polyps?
Pipe Organ

2 tank raised clowns (pairing as we speak)
6 scarlet leg hermits
6 cerinth snails
10 Nassarius Snails
1 Lawnmower Blenny
1 Croeca Clam

And comments, questions suggestions would be appreciated. Also what exactly are the polyps? Is there a formal name for them. Ill be slowly adding corals as I find ones that fits the looks I'm trying to acheive.

dailydriven911 · #2 05/17/2007, 12:47 PM

I'd get the clam out asap! Low calcium and insufficent lighting equals trouble. How long has the tank been setup for?

nauticac4 · #3 05/17/2007, 01:07 PM

A little over a month...its been in there a week and seems to be doing fine. I'm sure the LFS was trying to sell me crap, but he said it would do fine and everything I have read says that they will be fine under the PCs. I did the research and made an educated decision. Im in the process of raising the calcium those were numbers from a week ago.

RobSW1 · #4 05/17/2007, 01:37 PM

not trying to be harsh, but where did you research? Most info around here says they need at least t-5's or MH.......This has also been my experiance.....my clams love their 250MH.
i would recomend taking the clam out, or placing it in a friends tank until you read up on them more and get some different lights.

hth
rob

Jay Fortay · #5 05/17/2007, 01:44 PM

That seems to be borderline on the lights light in a 20 gallon tank. It is a long, and that means its only 12 inches deeep. I just ordered the same light. I was also toying with the ideas of buying a fuge/skimmer combo from aqua traders. Maybe if you moved the clam closer to the top it would be better off.

Jay Fortay · #6 05/17/2007, 01:45 PM

Do you have any input on your experience with the PS skimmer?

mangus7175 · #7 05/17/2007, 02:29 PM

How long did you cycle the tank for? I myself cycled my tank for at least a few months before adding any life into it.

Also I would research on the corals before buying anymore since they have specific needs. Achieving "the look" may not be the safest way to base your decision on when purchasing corals.

Good luck...it is a great hobby to be in.

D-Captain · #8 05/17/2007, 02:35 PM

I had a derasa clam in a 29 gal under PC lighting. It doubled its size in under a year. Make sure to feed regularly and put up high in the tank. Also, raise your CA and you should be fine. I do believe the crocea clams need more light than a derasa though.

Craig

nauticac4 · #9 05/17/2007, 03:57 PM

So far the PS 75 has been great. I had to toy with it some in the first few days "break in" I guess. I get good dark crap in the collection cup and thats a sign it is working. The tank cycled for a couple weeks, I tested the water for a few days and had consistent readings. As for corals. I am trying to give them plenty of space...I have the flow covered and it can be adjusted as needed. I did some reading here...various websites...live aquaria and the LFS. So far things are good.

dailydriven911 · #10 05/17/2007, 05:06 PM

Yes crocea's do require more light than dersa's. Just get your calcium up and keep a good eye on the clam. Has your tank gone through all of it's algae blooms already?

nauticac4 · #11 05/17/2007, 06:39 PM

yes the algae has stopped. I did move the clam up higher in the tank. I am raising the calcium right now.

oldreefer76 · #12 05/17/2007, 07:36 PM

That clam will not survive under your lighting don't let any one try and convince you it will!!!! they are the most light demanding of all clams and the hardest to keep, also feeding will do little good they get 99% of there energy from photosynthesis.....Calcium is not the only # in this equation either Alk has to be considered also along with magnesium to get a stable ionic balance...you are on the verge of a total disaster

Kaos · #13 05/17/2007, 09:08 PM

I've always read that when clams are small they get most of their energy from food. That being said, I would suggest to keep an eye on the clam and let it tell you if the lighting is enough or if it needs to be moved higher in the tank. With this hobby there are very few universal truths. Just look at all the people keeping sps under VHO's, the people that havn't done w/c's in years, skimmerless tanks, dsb tanks that haven't crashed, minimalist lr tanks, overstocked tanks that have nearly perfect param's, etc, etc, etc... There are just too many variables.

BTW, the polyps appear to be Radioactive Dragon's Eyes (the green ones). But zoo's have so many different names/morph's it's hard to tell.

nauticac4 · #14 05/17/2007, 09:11 PM

kaos thanks for the info on the zoas. I'll keep an eye on everything. The calcium is slowly being raised any my neighbor (has a 120 reef - 200 gal system) is helping me out. Ill update tomorrow with some more pics.

sheaD · #15 05/17/2007, 11:38 PM

"you are on the verge of a total disaster". You are not on the verge of total disaster, the only thing out of place is the clam, everything else is fine. The calcium, magnesium, and dkh levels are being monitored and tweaked as well as every other parameter imagineable. I am the neighbor and have been reefing for about 5 years now. I am keeping a close eye on the system as well as the clam and if the clam starts to not look so hot we will place it under one of my three 250 W XM 10k's. So total disaster, I think not, this is a great looking first tank, keep it up man.

strayvoltage · #16 05/18/2007, 12:19 AM

nice looking first tank so far. Have any of you that are saying that this tank doesn't have enough light even figured just how much light it really has. I think not otherwise you may have thought about it a little better, before saying what you have. This tank has 6.5 wpg. and is only 12" tall. I have a 125 gal. with two of the very same clams in it. I run a 6x96 pc fixture, works out to 4.6wpg and the tan is almost twice as deep as the 20L. Both of my crocea's are growing like weeds on the sand and have never had a problem of any kind. They have at least doubled in size in two years. I do agree that the calcium as well as alk. and mag. need to be in check, but not only for the clam.

nauticac4 · #17 05/18/2007, 10:28 AM

A pic from a day or two ago I found on the computer. You can see the blenny if you look real close in the upper rocks on the right. I'm gonna work on getting some better pictures of everything. BTW 20 lbs of live rock and 8 lbs of base rock didnt mention in the intial post.

m1enbo1 · #18 05/18/2007, 01:26 PM

IMO, i dont like the "WPG" rule. it just depends what kind of lighting you have, t5 or MH. These give the most light penetration at a greater depth.

strayvoltage · #19 05/19/2007, 01:23 AM

m1enbo1 you are correct. but i was trying to show by example that there should be no reason that 20 long at 12" deep shouldn't have plenty enough light for the clam. I am keeping the very same kind of clam in a tank almost twice as tall with pc lights and dont have as many wpg as the tank that nauticac4 has set up. I wasnt trying to step on anybodies toes here . I was only saying it really should be enough light. True t5's or mh does penetrate best, but it isnt always what is needed to do the job.

nauticac4 · #20 05/21/2007, 07:23 AM

Well I couldn.t access the site all weekend...so I'll get some pics up tonight

nauticac4 · #21 05/21/2007, 08:14 PM

Okay pics as promised. I'm still playing with the light balance on the camera so the pics aren't the best. But here they are.

Bonnie and Clyde

The Clam

Frogspawn

Bender the Blenny

Pipe Organ

Tank Shot

reefman13 · #22 05/21/2007, 08:46 PM

Just a quick comment. I would get rid of the bio-wheel. I have the giant one and a 30. Both I tried on my SW system (had both on FW and do now) they produce Nitrates like crazy. On guy I know used the comment "nitrate factory" not a good idea. Try an aqua clear or one of those. In your case I would go with a 50. Don't let stores convince you all you need is the tank rated filter for you tank. Because honestly you don't NEED anything. But you always (when buying hang-on power filters) want to go with a slightly higher rated filter.

mischief_ek · #23 05/21/2007, 09:02 PM

coming along very nicely, makes me want to get a 20L

nauticac4 · #24 05/21/2007, 09:09 PM

I dont have the biowheel in the filter, There is some carbon. It is supplemental mainly for any large particles and water clarity.

Musho3210 · #25 05/21/2007, 10:14 PM

this is where i need to go away from my love of bio-wheels (freshwater of course) the catrtidges get clogged SO fast, It is a pretty fine floss, your better off with an aquaclear with a large pore foam block (rinsed weekly) at the top and live rock at the bottom. That way there is a smaller chance of getting clogged and you having to constantly buying/cleaning cartridges. You could stick a bag of chemical filtration into the aquaclear if you want.