20H ready (SPS LPS?)

[m2434]

My 20H is ready. It finished cycling last week and I added some LR, and a few snails and hermit crabs. Now I need to start stocking it...

I'm running 4x55W PC's, and a Coralife Super-Skimmer 65.

I also have a 75G for fish and softies and I'm thinking this might be a hard-coral tank (but don't quote me on that yet :-).

I have a two questions.

1) Has anyone had any experience going strait to hard-corals in a 20ish gallon tank fairly quickly? and if so any advice/thoughts/
comments? (LPS or SPS comments welcome)

2) Any experiences with lined-Wrasse, Dottybacks, hawkfish and/or coral banded shrimp in in such a setup?

[m2434]

20H front

as you can see it's pretty boring now... lets hear some ideas!

oh, and this is the canopy I built

canopy

[edwing206]

Canopy and tank look great! I would suggest making the rockwork a little different. Like add hiding spot for fish and stuff.

[m2434]

Thanks edwing. There is a lot of caves in the rockwork, but its hard tough see in the photo. Hopefully it will look much better soon!

[snulma1]

Hey M2434,

I also have a 20H setup, since im limited on space. But great job on the setup.

Just some things I noticed that you may want to look into....

1. You are gonna need some more flow in that tank, at least 1-2 PH's should give you decent flow.

2. Alot of people paint the backs of their tank to hide wiring and also contrast colors to give them extra pop! Its a quick and simple task to make things stand out a little more.

3. You mention going to hard corals in your original post. If you are referring to sps, I only say that you have 4x55w PCs. You would have to keep your SPS up very high under that lighting. I would look into a 150w or even 250w MH if you want to keep SPS.

4. If you are gonna run a 250w MH (like I have). Also look into setting up a sump. This way you increase your water volume, you can move the skimmer into the sump (my CSS is there and skims better in sump then HOT, and also no microbubbles in the display), and also helps keep your temp more stable.

Just some suggestions. But great start!

[Travis L. Stevens]

1) It can be done, but a lot of SPS are quite finicky. You'll go through various phases as your tank ages, and they might not like it that much. I would stick with some of the easier LPS such as Euphyllia and Caulastrea at first and let the tank slowly progress

2) Lined Wrasses - Safe but can be aggressive to new tank mates at time. Dottybacks - Might as well call them streamlined damsels. Very aggressive. Hawkfish - Nice, but eats invertebrates. Coral Banded Shrimp - Nice, but can eat other invertebrates and tiny fish.

[m2434]

Thanks all. The comments help!

as to the comments...

At the moment actually think I have a lot of flow (500GPH), but this is split between the protein skimmer and the filter (it would be nice to have a sump for this reason - not very directable).

My plan for now is to keep LPS low-mid level and SPS at the top. I have an extra 250MH from my 75gallon tank, but I found it too difficult to keep soft-corals and even LPS corals from bleaching with it, in the 75 (all the corals ended up at the bottom of the tank), so I replaced it with PC's.

Definitely would like to paint the back of the tank (and the canopy).

As for the fish, I guess that's why I haven't owned any of those yet...

I think I might head to the LFS shortly, I'm still not sure exactly what I'll be back with.

[InLimbo87]

Personally, I don't think the SPS will do well under the PC lighting. I would suggest sticking to the LPS and maybe some soft corals.

[m2434]

I'm certainly no expert on lights, but from what I understand, lumen wise, 210W of PC light is equivelent to roughly 100 to 150W of metal halides. Of course, this may be on the low end for Acropora, but I would think it would be okay for some SPS such as montipora and certainly LPS. I figure if things work out, I always have the MH on standby, but I'm leary to jump right in, because with my past experience I've had better luck with PC's...