The beginnings of my first 20g SW tank

[Wiedertäufer]

Well, I finally got pretty much everything I need to get started with my 20 gallon marine tank. Live rock is next.

I must say, after getting into a marine tank, fresh water aquarium keeping is one of the cheapest hobbies there is.

For example, my 20 gallon setup:

- 20 gallon glass aquarium
- 65w 50/50 (mixture of 10000K and actinic blue) Power Compact Fixture
- 20 lbs of live sand
- 50 gallons worth of salt mixture
- 100 watt heater
- another 50 watt heater to preheat water change water (some things in a marine tank can be too sensitive to rapid changes to just dump in room temperature water like you often can in a tropical freshwater tank)
- one of those cool Koralia powerheads
- Aquaclear 70 hang on back filter (place to toss any filter media I might need, and possibly to convert into a refuge for macroalgae or other things I don't want in my tank proper)
- test kits, hydrometer, etc.,.
- buffers and additives for calcium and alkalinity
- phosphate remover, good quality carbon and other such medias & bags
- one of those cool mag float cleaners (and got one for my planted tank)

That's about $350 between a purchase a week or so ago and today's boxing day finds. Live rock will probably be another $130 or so. Clean up crew, maybe another $30-40 (which are all cool in their own right). Then some fish-- probably a firefish and a smaller blenny (though I may go for a clown fish because they're so cool). It'll also probably be another $20-30 for the clear plastic to make the tight fitting tank cover that lets a lot of light through (firefish are master escape artists). As for corals, I'm probably just going to stick with zoanthids, xenia and maybe some other soft lower light corals, but I'll probably run the tank as a FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock) for the first year of it's life.

For live rock, I'm going to go with the cultured rock from Pacific Aquatics for most of it. I've read it's good to get live rock from a couple different places for diversity in the various bacteria species that live inside of it, so I'll probably buy a small piece here and there as I check out different stores in the greater Vancouver region.

[thegrandpoohbah]

Looks like a good start. Remember to take it REALLY slow until things stabilize. My only advice would be to decide now what corals you are going to want and plan accordingly. If it were me I'd return the Coralife unit and spend a little more (ok, a lot more) on a metal halide set-up that will allow you to keep more corals down the road.

[KnaveTO]

Actually don't the Coralife units include a Metal Halide Centre light?

[Wiedertäufer]

No, it's just a cheaper power compact. It's sufficient for the beginning stages, was only $60 and if I upgrade to a MH fixture in the future, I'll either put an actinic bulb in it and use it as supplemental to the MH or it'll go on a fresh water 15 or 20 gallon tank to grow plants. I know a lot of reef keepers (especially in Europe) are getting great SPS growth using T5HO lighting with individual reflectors. I'd probably go that route rather than MH as an upgrade path-- who knows though.

I spent a lot of time researching lighting-- it was quite frustrating to get it all figured out and I think I have a good handle on everything. I'm leaning towards mostly a FOWLR tank with a slight shift towards low light corals in the future. The 65w PC 50/50 is more than sufficient for that.

As for corals, I'm thinking some mushrooms, maybe somezoanthids and possibly some xenia or some sort of low light soft coral, but likely not until the summer or later. I really like zoanthids are cool and don't really like any of the stony corals (SPS, LPS) right now. I'm more interested in things like feather duster worms, emerald crabs, shrimp, firefish and blennies (and of course, the ubiquitous clown fish) than corals.

[Melody]

Looks like quite a set up!

[mixixe]

Current USA also makes good light fixtures. Their HO T5 fixtures are very well priced and alot stronger than the CF. I got mine from ocean aquatics. High lighting is the best investment to make on a coral tank. It's hard to stick to low light corals. If you start them off with good lighting you wont have to shock them later with photoshock when you upgrade to MH.

You are right too, SW is expensive, but after you spend all your money, and your corals glow and puff up all pretty and happy you forget how much you spend You'll also keep spending money on this tank, its' an endless vaccum. You just have to learn to accept it. :wink:

[Shelley]

You are right too, SW is expensive, but after you spend all your money, and your corals glow and puff up all pretty and happy you forget how much you spend You'll also keep spending money on this tank, its' an endless vaccum. You just have to learn to accept it. :wink:


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[Wiedertäufer]

Current USA also makes good light fixtures. Their HO T5 fixtures are very well priced and alot stronger than the CF. I got mine from ocean aquatics. High lighting is the best investment to make on a coral tank.I'm still not 100% sure I'm making an out and out coral tank. At the moment I'm leaning towards more of a FOWLR setup with the eventual introduction of zoanthids and soft corals a while from now. Xenia is something I'd like to get as well. I'm still not 100% sure if I'll end up going with MH or T5HOs when/if I ever do upgrade.

It's hard to stick to low light corals.Why is that? If I don't have the conditions to have something, why am I going to want it? I don't want to add discus to my hard water cichlid tank and if I did, they wouldn't thrive. Why will it be hard to stick to low light corals? Photoshock, bleaching and light acclimation is definitely something I'll have to deal with when the time comes. I don't know if I ever will upgrade to MH or T5HO. If I do though, I will be vary mindful of acclimating the tank with proper incremental increases in light proximity and length of the photo period.

You are right too, SW is expensive, but after you spend all your money, and your corals glow and puff up all pretty and happy you forget how much you spend My main attraction to keeping aquariums (and any pet) is the desire to take care of things. I love seeing my plants and fish thrive and money spent on taking care of something is far better spent than say buying a new TV or something. There will be a constant barrage on my wallet from test kits, salt mixture, additives, food, etc.,. I think it's money well spent though.

Anyway, I've figured out where i'm going to put my tank. I have a very solid older desk that I think will be perfect. I'm going to rearrange my furniture a bit so that I can sit at my computer station and look right to see my planted fresh water tank and look left to see the SW tank. My boxing day order from J&L should arrive on Monday (or maybe Tuesday). I'm still debating whether or not to spray paint the back of the tank black or use a black background or have no background and just use the colour of my blue walls.

[mixixe]

Ok... so i just want to say from my experience, when I delved into saltwater I wanted a simple set up. I didn't think I'd go to far with the SW thing b/c I loved my freshwater, I didn't want to get equipment that was too expensive. I just wanted to try it. I wanted zoo's and xenia, and mushrooms too. I ONLY wanted those.

I got a light that worked nicely and I loved my tank. The tank did quite well and then I kept thinking of how much healthier my corals would be if they had stronger lighting and how they would grow faster. My interest went from softies, and then to LPS's, and now more and more I think, SPS's. Many hobbyists also find this evolution because at the end of the day we all love our fish and corals. I upgraded my lighting 3 times. Cost alot of money. Some other hobbyists did it right from the start and went for the big lighting didn't waste as much money as me.

In my experience, and others that I know of, it was hard to stick to softies because we all evolved from the easy to the hard stuff. When you say its' not like you dont' have the environment for it, that is not true, the only thing you don't have for it, is the correct lighting. If you even have an inkling of wanting other corals, spending the money now will save you lots of money from upgrading later, which, like I said earlier can also cause photo shock, algae blooms etc.

But if your sure you don't want too many corals then of course you don't need awesome lighting. You sound like you know for sure. I'd just feel irresponsible not letting you know about the lighting as it will cost you alot more money later if and when you want to upgrade. SW is very expensive and always will be. It's also very addictive. So, if you even have an inkling of a thought to do it, why not save money now and get better lighting? Softies may be able to survive under low lighting, but they thrive under higher light, especially zoos. The lighting not only makes corals healthier, look better, but also makes fish look nicer.

[Slipstream]

I would spray the back of your tank Royal Blue, but black would work as well, but a DARK blue just looks better from my experiences.. This will do 2 things.

1.) Make it look a bit more realistic

2.) It will help your fish colors show up sharper.

[Melody]

But if your sure you don't want too many corals then of course you don't need awesome lighting. You sound like you know for sure. I'd just feel irresponsible not letting you know about the lighting as it will cost you alot more money later if and when you want to upgrade. SW is very expensive and always will be. It's also very addictive. So, if you even have an inkling of a thought to do it, why not save money now and get better lighting? Softies may be able to survive under low lighting, but they thrive under higher light, especially zoos. The lighting not only makes corals healthier, look better, but also makes fish look nicer.

Very good point - same goes for planted tanks. If you're into something it is natural to want to expand it eventually and its less expensive to do it up right from the beginning. That's one of the most valuable parts about listening to the voice of experience - learning from others' mistakes.

If you are sure you will always be content with what your lighting accomodates, then you can just file the information. The majority of hobbyists are never content though...lol...so its good advice to spread around.

Thanks for taking the time to post your experiences Mixixe, much appreciated.:notworthy:

[Wiedertäufer]

Excellent advice everyone. Thanks!

It is true that if I get into corals and find out I really like them I'll probably want to give them the best environment they can have, which means more light. In that case, I'll take my coralife fixture, put it on a 15/20 gallon fresh water tank for plants and get myself a MH or T5HO fixture. Or I'll use it to supplement actinic.

Interesting about the dark blue. I'll see if I can't find some pictures of a dark blue background on a tank.

[Wiedertäufer]

Well, I figured out what I'm going to do about the background colour.

I'm going to rearrange some furniture so that both the long sides and one of the short sides will be for viewing. So instead of having a back long side of the tank, I'm going to have a back short side. It'll almost be a 360 degree viewable tank.

[CACAdmin]

Sounds like a great idea. It's nice to have the space to be able to set it up that way and enjoy the tank from (almost) all sides.