20L ideas needed!

[Don_Gnomio]

howdy!

ok so today i visited petco and bought a 20L tank because of their $1/ gallon sale

i have a 150W 14k MH pendant being shipped as we speak, it should be here by tomorrow or tuesday

ok so now for the questions!

1) i would like to cunstruct a closed loop system, what kind of pump/ gph should i use ( i want to have sps)

2) as far as filtration is concerned, i do have a small hob filter which i might use for lr rubble or maybe a small fuge. should i be concerned with anything else? as far as mechanical filtration?

3) show me your 20L i need aquascaping ideas. i would like to use black sand, but cant relly decde!

thanks !!

Victor

[Moonstream]

hi! I too am setting up a 20L (w/ a 29g fuge). what are you planning for the livestock. for the aquascape in mine Im planning on 2 islands on either side, one extending to 1" away from the front of the tank and the other leaving about 5" in the front for sand dwelling corals, dusters, ect... their will also be a bridge going over the top of the tank. my overflow will be covered by zoas, shrooms, rics, some gsp, and yumas, and their will be 1/2-1" of fine grain white sand and 30 lbs LR.

I think black sand would be cool w/ really bright corals, inverts, and fish. I would look at melvs closed loop he has on his 29g. heres a link
http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html

as far as filtration, the HOB fuge sounds great, I would also get a skimmer because then you can handle heavier stocking, and keep the water quality better for the SPS.

[Don_Gnomio]

thanks,

as afar as livestock goes, i dont like to heavily stock my tanks with fish, my main focuses when keeping a reef tank is to focus on the corals, on my 55 i only have 4 fish.

i like the island idea, and i would like to also keep some clams so that would give me some options as far as a clam in th sand bed

thanks for the link to the closed loop..i was thinking of something similar, the tank is in my room so my main concern is any noise from vibrations etc

thanks for your input!

[cherubfish pair]

I'm thinking of upgrading to a 20L. Regardless of the upgrade, I'll use an Oceans Motions Squirt with an Iwaki 20 RLT for the closed loop. I've already got the pump and the OM is coming soon.

This CL system gives an incredible amount of turbulent flow which is needed just as much as linear flow. The linear flow is good for the open areas and the turbulence is good for the nooks and crannies and tight spots.

[FroggyFeet]

I am doing a 150 viper 14k on my 20l with only a millenium wet dry and its runnin smooth

[FroggyFeet]

only lps with some soft though.

[dendro982]

1) i would like to cunstruct a closed loop system, what kind of pump/ gph should i use ( i want to have sps)
the tank is in my room so my main concern is any noise from vibrations etc

I had 20g long tank too (20L is it, not 20 liters?), the flow should be distributed more or less equally, so there should be 4-6 outlets (4 on the back, and 2 more, possibly, in the front corners).
I didn't had this flow, side sump only with flow along, because tanks was see through near window.

gph: 25x turnover plus, so around 500 gph pump (theory again, mine was 300 gph for LPS and softies, but few sps and baby clams did well too there).
I used only in-tank pumps - Mini-Jet 606 as the only quiet to sleep in the same room, have the bigger pump in the basement, Eheim 1250, 317 gph, supposed to be silent, but it is quite audible - strong vibration, and it has no rubber feet , metal base only and I had to place it on a sponge.

2) as far as filtration is concerned, i do have a small hob filter which i might use for lr rubble or maybe a small fuge. should i be concerned with anything else? as far as mechanical filtration?

I had seen pico tanks with sps with no skimmer, but bigger sps tanks usually have powerful skimmer, space for auto-top off, phosphate removing media, active carbon, may be for micron sock.
My tank had only micron sock, changed daily, and skimmer, that didn't performed too well.
Probably, the small HOB powerfilter could be not enough to fit all media and plus perform filtration.
But again, there are tanks, relying on natural filtration an very low bioload, may be it is way to go. Then- a lot of LR.

show me your 20L i need aquascaping ideas. i would like to use black sand, but cant relly decde!

I had see through tank, different from your, with less LR, but here t is:

The peak was for keeping baby clams close to the light, right at the top of the tank.
Good luck to your tank!

[armagedon48]

here is the link to my 20G thread.

my tank








all my live rock and corals are in a 10 gal still. i will be using a 175 watt metal halide over the tank.

[kiknchikn]

Here's what my 20L + 5g refugium in my cubicle at work looks like :


www.MikesReef.com

[Don_Gnomio]

thanks to everyone!!

my light came in today so im super excited!!

beautiful tanks guys...keep em comming

[kroniclove]

can someone tell me what a closed loop is and the purpose of it???

thanks

sry to derail

[Moonstream]

kroniclove, check out the link I provided at the begining. it should help you a little.

[Don_Gnomio]

ok...so small update....

i just placed an order from foster smith for the oumpa scwd and other misc. items, and i also placed an order form modularhose.com for some fittings and what not.... so slowly but shurely its getting together

so far i have:
tank
lights
hob fuge mod
pump/ closed loop items

am i missing anything (other than lr and ls of course)

thanks
victor

[Moonstream]

fish and corals and oh yeah pics, lol. well, a heater. I would assume you have test kits and a hydrometer already.

[Don_Gnomio]

yes i have test kits and a hydrometer..heater is not necessary as i live in miami...lol i might need a chiller though...lol i have to see once i get it up and running

once my next shipment of stuff comes in ill start a new thread with pics, proably this time next week

[cherubfish pair]

Originally posted by Don_Gnomio
once my next shipment of stuff comes in ill start a new thread with pics, proably this time next week

You don't need to start a new thread, you've already have a good start on a build thread right here. Just add to what you have.

[Don_Gnomio]

ok...so another question

how far from the water surface should i hang the lamp? ill be hanging it in the next few days and wanna see what itll look like and was just wondering. Ive heard mixed reviews, i was thinking like 8inches

thanks

[cherubfish pair]

armagedon48,

What's that behind your sump in the picture? It looks like a coral snake with the red/black/yellow stripes. LOL!!

[Don_Gnomio]

hey

so everything came in yesterday

so the current equipment list is:

mag 5 pump for closed loop
SCWD
150w mh pendant
hob filter
light for hob filter fuge mod


about the filter...i was thinking about ditching the one i have now and putting in a ac 70 or someting cause i have the feeling that its gonna be too small for the fuge mod

oh, and my dad keeps saying i should put in a sump..lol (my mom dosent like the idea) but i think that itll just be a hassle to do..maybe later in the future

and finally how high from the tank should i hang the fixture??

well have a good weekend everyone, there wont be any progress on the tank till next week because my parents are away for the weekend, and w/e i get done next week will be minimal as i was just cast in a play and am waiting for the results of another audition

[Don_Gnomio]

hey..

so i got some new goodies yeaterday, a lovely fragging kit for my prospective corals..lol, actualy i have alot of fragging to do in my current tank..lol

so small update, i will be going to home depot eigther late today or tomorrow to finish getting plumbing supplies and such... then once the plumbing is assembled and painted (should be sunday) ill go and get the ls and lr, more updates this weekend, and hopefuly some pics of equipment and such

have a good weekend everyone!