Setting up a 20g

[BCreefmaker]

well since my custom tank cracked i decied just to go the cheaper route for now and set up a really nice 20 gallon high. so far i have ordered a new light and filter:
Giesemann basic HQI metal halide pendent- 150 watt 13k
http://www.jlaquatics.com/images/giesemann/basics.jpg
Hagen Aquaclear 110 hang-on filter
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000260FV6.01-A3N3VAFSB57PBN._AA200_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Plus i already had a pump and heater:
Eheim Universal 1048 pump
http://www.jlaquatics.com/images/eheim/pump-1260.jpg
Visitherm Heater - 150 watt
http://www.jlaquatics.com/images/heaters/visitherm.jpg

tommorow im picking up the tank and adding the water, sand, and some LR, and there should be some real pictures. hopefully my new light will arrive in few days to really brighten up my tank . :D

[mr9iron]

It looks like your well on your way to starting a nice nano. So, what are you going to stock it with? Are you going to use sand or go bare bottom?

[BCreefmaker]

stock plans so far:
1-2 clowns
1 skunk cleaner
1 anenome crab
3 sexy shrimp
maybe a little clam later on
or i might ditch the clowns and go for a invert only tank seeing as corals are my real favorite in saltwater tanks.
as far as the bottom definatly either fine sand, or its possible i might try one of them zoa carpet bottoms with the tiles... but im having a hard time finding the tiles locally. all they have to be is made of limestone right or is there something else?

[Lagger]

Looks like it's going to be a great set-up! :thumbsup: Nice choice on the light.

As far as the bottom goes, are you talking about starboard, or something else?

I would also turn the aquaclear into a fuge if you're BB, otherwise you'll probably be battling nitrates. GL, keep us posted ;)

[BCreefmaker]

Looks like it's going to be a great set-up! Nice choice on the light.

As far as the bottom goes, are you talking about starboard, or something else?

I would also turn the aquaclear into a fuge if you're BB, otherwise you'll probably be battling nitrates. GL, keep us posted

thx alot dude,
well as far as the bottom goes i saw some people that have these stone tiles, which i cannot recall what they are made of, that zoas easily grow and eventualy get the same or similar bacteria like a sand bed just without sand. and yeah i was planning to make that aqua clear into a mini fuge, no other thought really came to my mind when i bought it.
:D

UPDATES:
today i got a 20 high and my LR and euipment back from its mistreatment. the water didnt smell bad, the aspasita, lol or however you spell it :p , are doing fine and acctualy to my amazement what i thought were baby sps corals seem to be growing even in the absence of light or water changes. they are red with little white polyps, im pretty shure they were sps because i inspected the LR when it arived and they were smaller. i felt them and they felt hard, like a stone i guess. now one of them has grow to the size of almost half a penny. along with all my equipment came my bag of salt that is half crystalized... can i break the chunks up and still use it to mix up salt water or at still use least the stuff that is still powder?

[alien9168]

glad to see your starting up again. sorry about the custom tank :(

i dont think ive ever seen someone use a geismen fixture on a nano. tell us how you like it....

was it pricey?

[BCreefmaker]

glad to see your starting up again. sorry about the custom tank

i dont think ive ever seen someone use a geismen fixture on a nano. tell us how you like it....

was it pricey?

suprizingly they were on sale so it was only a 60$ diffrence between that geisemen HQI 150watt 13k 12" pendant and the coral life HQI 150 watt 10k clip on/pendant light. so i dedcided to go with the one year warrenty, the sleeker look, and the better bulb.
remeber prices are canadain:
corallife 150W HQI- 299.99 +tax
geiseman 150w HQI- 359.99+tax
i just really hated to look of the coral life pendants, and i doubt thier quatily even comes close to that of the geisemen. hopefully it will be here today or tommorow so i can snap some picture of it above my tank.

[alien9168]

ok. :) thanks....

its sitll out of my price range though :)

[BCreefmaker]

UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES: well to get everything to the point of setting up it took a while, the light arrived on thursday and i got the plexiglass to make my AC110 into a HOB fuge (which turns out to be kind of a waste since i now have a real 20g fuge, but it will help with the flow in the main tank). because i decided to also go with a real fuge i got a bulk head and 2 peices of plexi to make an overflow box with. now the tank is drilled and my light is mounted, the last step is just to get some more water and mix up the salt and fill everything up. unfortuanatly i think im going to have enough water to fill up my main tank and half the fuge :(

[999sterling]

Sounds like a nice setup you have planned.

Did you ever find anything about these tiles you mentioned at the begining?

(or its possible i might try one of them zoa carpet bottoms with the tiles... but im having a hard time finding the tiles locally. all they have to be is made of limestone right or is there something else?)

It sounds interesting. I have never heard of such a thing before myself. I'd be interested in any info you found.

[BCreefmaker]

from what i have herd on fourms and from my local tile people the tiles are probbably untumbled, unpolished, and unglazed marble or limestone tiles. however i havent had much luck finding them locally or online :(

[999sterling]

You could probrably use polished tiles, If you had the $. Just install them smoth side down. They don't polish the bottoms of them. Glazed tiles would be something to stay away from though. You never know what's in the glaze. But polished tile are just ground down until the surface is smooth, wash it well and there should be no dangerous residues. All the uses I've heard of for marble tiles.....I've never heard of putting them in a reef. Probrably because of $$.

[cgarza]

How good does the aqua clear work for saltwater tanks?

[BCreefmaker]

the aqua clear right out of the box is kind of useless for reef tanks... but i modded it into a fuge, so now it works really great to hold cheato, a heater, filter media, and LR rubble. if you run them how the come from the box the become a big ol' nitrate factory. which is fine if your running fish only i guess...

[cgarza]

Thanks..I have a 125 I want to set up just for some rocks and fish and I was kind of hoping I could use them. I have two 500 just sitting around.

Thanks Again

[BCreefmaker]

UPDATES: here are some pictures of the set up tank. (please note there is an brightness adjuster on my digital camera, so my MH looks really dim, when really its just the image.)

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0241.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0240.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0242.jpg

[BCreefmaker]

UPDATES: just a few more pics of the tank cleared up and the HOB fuge.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0243.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0244.jpg

[Blinkgyrl2987]

I'm diggin the 110 Aquaclear as a filter/fuge. I think I want to do something like that on my 20 long. How'd you get that screen thing there where it overflows over the lip?

What exactely are you using it for? The rock rubble and heater sounds like a good plan, any sort of media or no? Is this going to act as the "filter" or is the filter essentially the overflow to the sump? Just curious to your plans, I'm looking for some ideas.

I'm also curious about your lights. I need nicer lights like the ones you have, but all the lighting stuff confuses me. What kinds of corals do you plan to go with? And what kind of lighting is that?

I like your set up alot keep posting pctures!

[sjm1978]

nice start i made 2 ac110 fuges sofar and sold them. i sold one to my friend who was having a bad purple cyano problem because his skimmer broke. his tank took 1 week to clear of cyano after we put the fuge on. one thing you should do tho is get that filter to sit level. if you dont have the thing that goes on the bottom of it then put some foam or something. im just trying to save you from water spilling onto your floor.

[BCreefmaker]

thanks for the comments everyone :D when i was having some power problems (damn cheap power bar) this morning i found out i really need to upgrade my sump pump. that little eheim is having such a hard time with 2.5 feet of head loss, its basically just a trickle into the tank. but its not that bad since my sump is basically empty right now. so next on the wish list is ~12lbs of LR, a skimmer, and a new sump pump.

Blinkgyrl2987- the screen on the overflow is a peice used in the bottom of the filter to help hold a sponge in place. since i wasent running it with the sponge i just cut it to size and siliconed it in. as for additions to the fuge other then the LR and heater i might add some cheato later on. but my media bags will go in the sump, no reason to cram even more stuff in the HOB fuge. the purpose of this is to just add a fuge onto my tank for pods and a nice place to hide cheato and heaters plus it really give nice surface aggitation. it dosent run to my sump, i have drilled a hole in the back for that purpose. the light is a Giesemann 150 watt basic pendant. as for the corals i plan to keep, pretty much everything sps, lps, and softies. maybe even a anenome or 2 later on. my LFS guy said this over a 20 gallon would be find for pretty much any sps or clam. plus i really lover the shimmer on the bottom of the tank the light provides.

sjm1978- thanks for the tip bro, but if you look closely at the picture there is a peice of foam there already, its just not quite big enough, the weight of the HOB filter compresses it quite a bit. and i know what you mean about taking care of cyano, the fuge is the only thing really providing flow right now since my sump pump is pretty gutless and there anrnt really any dead spots.

[Blinkgyrl2987]

BCreefmaker: Thanks so much for that whole response... it helped me alot, Now I actually understand the purpose of a fuge.... so let me get this straight the pods will reproduce in there given enough sand and rubble and such? and then they are slowly spilled through the over flow into the tank via movement? just wondering how that works.

And as for the lights it looks great, I'm seriously contemplating getting something exact or similar to that for my 20 long.... if that really is strong enough to keep all kinds of corals than thats something I should look into. I have a 20L I wonder if it would make a difference? How much were the lights were could I find them?

Ps: I have a smaller aquaclear on my tank and I use the filter as is, so I see where you got that little screen thing from ( great idea btw). Since I am upgrading to a nicer canister filter this Christmas should I convert my aqua clear into a fuge as well?

Thanks for the help, I dont want to steal your thread though, haha! I just thought your ideas were cool. We need more pics. I cant see from the pics how the light shimmers. Also does the sump act as a fuge as well? or thats just for media/ pump purposes. I feel very unsmart right now. What is Cheato?

[BCreefmaker]

Blinkgyrl2987: haha, dont worry i love answering questions. the fuge is for pods to be safe from the tank predators. im not shure if sand will help them breed, but i know the rubble does. and yes you got the idea, the waterfall will hopefully sprinkle them into the tank if they wander to close to it. right now the rubble is pretty barren and there is no algea to eat in the fuge, so i doubt any pods are in there right now. since i filled my tank i havent seen any. they are usually feasting on the blue sponges that grow on one rock in my tank. as for the light, befor you make a commitment you should think about what corals/inverts do you really want to keep. if you like sps/clams/anenomes all across your tank and not just all crammed under the bright spot then you should consider a 150watt with 2 T5 bulbs. maybe even get some LED moonlight and cooling fans. mine dosent have any of that it would brighten up the entire tank and you will most likely want it down the road anyways. as for the retailer, it wont really make much diffrence. since i live in canada the cross border duty and all that jazz makes it not worth it, plus you can get something cheaper and better in the US anyways :p . but it cost 359.99+tax candain on sale, noramlly 399.99. apparently Giesemann is a really good brand. and i do know they offer a 150watt /w 2 39watt T5s in a hanging pendant similar to mine, but they are quite pricy, due to the high quality german engineering. or somethin like that :lol: . im shure you can find them in some online store, i check dr.foster and smith but no luck. for your fuge situation, if you need a place to hide heaters and stuff or you just want more water volume or want a small fuge to get some extra pods and grow cheato. then go ahead and convert it. its really simple you just need some silicone and maybe a peice of plexiglass. and you really shouldent give me so much credit for the idea :D iv seen soooo many people with these HOB fuges, they are acctualy quite common. cheato is a flossy looking macro algea that dosent go "sexual". meaning if it does manage to make a unoticed breakout into the tank it wont become a huge problem a month later. right now my sump is just a little fuge, i need to install some baffles, get a skimmer, add a real fuge, and get some media bags. and here are some more pictures of my HOB fuge, my pretty empty sump/fuge, cheato, and "shimmer".
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0248.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0249.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0251.jpg
http://www.liveaquaria.com/images/products/large/p_80574.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0253.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0252.jpg
notice the changing pattern of light and dark. its kinda hard to see cuz of my welfare digital camera. if you save it and then look at it in a smaller view its easyer to see.

[Blinkgyrl2987]

I'm getting a bigger tank soon and I was thinking abut possibly making my 20 L into a sump. What is the benifit of this exactely... Mostly just more water volume? Because I really like the idea of the second tank as a sump, but I dont know what I'd use it for... how is it used for a fuge? Just set it up with sand, rock rubble, light and heater to do the same sort of thing you explained the aqua clear was for?

I'm a little confused. Because I just bought a really nice canister filter that I plan on using but I realize this isnt the pump that goes into the sump as return to the main tank... this would have to sit outside the sump and I'd have a separate pump for overflow and return to the maintank.

How do people do this without drilling the tank? I really dont know what I'm doing.. haha... But I like the ideas. Help! lol

I think I'm going to go with a 40 Breeder as the main tank... because anything bigger right now I dont have space for... but since the stand will allow for a sump I would like to try this.

What are my options?

[BCreefmaker]

UPDATES!!: well i got 13 more pounds premo fiji once again covered in all sorts of cool stuff. this time i also got a big white coral of some sort growing on a rock in the bottom right, somehow i think its a coral skeleton of some sort.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0254.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0255.jpg
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q184/bcreefmaker/IMG_0256.jpg


Blinkgyrl2987: a 40 breeder with a sump is the perfect tank size imo unless you like the fish that like lots of swimmin room. and using your 20 L (and thats 20 gallons right?) for a sump would be a great idea. sumps do alot more then hold your heater and give you more water volume. it gives you a constant water level in your display tank and a place to hide skimmers, phosban reactors, canister filters, chemical drip lines, top off systems, ect. not only that but you can set up a little fuge and add some LR on one end if you so desire. im not shure if your canister filter can go in your sump, is depends if its submersible, if nto it has to be hooked up to it and not acctaully be in it. How they work without drilling is you get a "overflow" box which is a non-break syphon. that means if the water level drops to below the overflow box, you wont have to restart it like a normal syphon. the overflow must be rated to take out more water then the sump pump (or return pump) is rated for plus any head loss (thats water pressure loss from pumping water dirctly up or throught complex piping). for example you have a 900GPH overflow and a 1100GPH return pump, you can make a T in the pipe for the return to control the flow of your retun pump just incase it is faster then your overflow. and you can use the T-ed off pipe to fill your fuge on one side. and remeber some return pumps are fully submersible in the sump. as for how you should set up your sump, drilling the tank is always preffered, since non-break syphons are f'in expensive and not as reliable. and as far as what to pup in the sump, your imagination and the size of the sump are the only limits.

[Lagger]

Looks like it's coming along nicely BC! Once that thing cycles you need to get a live favia in there. :D

Now time to get a black background :thumbsup:

[Blinkgyrl2987]

BCreefmaker... that all sounds so wonderful... too bad I suck at this part of reef keeping. Now with all this thought put into it I was wondering if maybe the 20 L beneath my tank should just be its own clowed system for a quarantine tank or hospital tank.

The fuge I could still do on the back of the main tank.... this may save me money instead of trying to get a sump going. I looked into predrilled and built in overflows since they seem to be the only thing you can rely on, and they arent made for tanks that are smaller such as a 40 Breeder. I'd love to go bigger so I can do this, but for sake of space I think I have to stick with my smaller tank ( being the 40)

I'm excited for the bigger tank though I'm bummed because I never thought about the constant filled level of the main tank, that sounds really nice, ( water evaporates quick)

But theres always later to upgrade again.
I went from the nano cube 12 to the 20 gallon, to the 40 gallon, and who knows what will be next

[BCreefmaker]

Updates: well my LR is really getting alot of macro algea growing on it, 6 diffrent types have shown up so far. pods are going crazy, they seem to really love the silicone corners and overflow. i cant wait for the tank to cycle so i can put in a pepermint shrimp to help take care of the aspastia.

Blinkgyrl2987:well its up to you. just remeber after your tank is stocked and everything has been fine for a long time, you wont need the hospital tank really. so you will probbably want to convert it into a fuge or sump anyways. IMO a 10 gallon or so would be better. just throw in a little LR, a few hardy corals, a heater, a cheap powerhead, and a cheap light. again you can make it into a fuge to add to your other 20 gallon sump if you find its really isnt needed down the road. but you will always be happier with a under the tank fuge then without. if you need more space maybe just get a taller tank, it still takes up the same room but you can get alot more gallonage . :D

[BCreefmaker]

UPDATES: livestock added- 1 Turbo snail and 2 blue leg hermits.

[Blinkgyrl2987]

So a fuge doesnt have to be connected to the tank? it can be separate?

[Carrera76]

Hi BCreefmaker

This thread is very interesting. I just fhinised setting up a 29 gallon SW tank myself . I am new to SW and have lots to learn and threads like this help newbies a lot.

I have an aquaclear filter too and it is running with foam, carbon and something that looks like little rocks(but it is not). Based on you what said earlier it seems that it is not a good idea to have all those things in the filter. I am going to take them out and put some small pieces of live rock.

I have a question for you......what are PODS and what do they look like? you guys talk about them but I have no idea what they are. I know that Mandarin Gobies love these creatures.

I would like to see more pics of your tank.
Cheers
Daniel