General advice please.

[Robsue]

In my 20 gal tank I was going to set up a brackish. However I made a start on it and was gently raing levels of salt etc and decided just to go whole hog and go to SW. I'm still unsure as to go for coral and some smaller fish or the Valentini puffer that we both liked. We originally wanted a dwarf lion and a dogface but tank not large enough. Any suggestions please?

 

[Bectan01]

How did you set up the tank? Filtration etc? A valentini needs a bigger tank and if you go corals you will probably need a better light. Is this your first salt water? If so, there is a lot you will need to know before purchasing livestock. Tell us where you are at and hopefully we can help you go forward...

 

[Robsue]

Been slowly increasing salt levels over last 2 weeks, external filter, fluorescent lighting, slowly adding live rock. Filter running great. Temp is at approx 81 as unsure of US to uk conversion. Still in early stages as taking time for first SW

 

[Bectan01]

Do you have a power head for flow? What kind of substrate did you use? Just a heads up, if you used tap water you will run into algae problems down the road. With no livestock in the tank you can mix saltwater in tank to bring it up to the right levels. Do you have a test kit for saltwater? I recommend picking one up too as for livestock you could do a couple of clowns and maybe one other small fish to go with them. Definitely will need a lighting upgrade if you wish to add corals in the future.

 

[Bectan01]

Oh is it a canister filter? They are not commonly used in saltwater (some people do use them and have success with regular maintenance) but they are known for being referred to as nitrate factories I not cleaned out a couple of times a week...

 

[Robsue]

No power head yet as wasn't sure if required, using filter inlet for flow. Used tap water. But as doing changes going to use RO. Have bubble curtain as well. Sitting looking at empty at present. Unsure which way to go still.

 

[Robsue]

Picking up test kit tomorrow as wanted to give a couple of weeks running in first

 

[Robsue]

External canister (looks like a bucket with a lid) has ceramics and bio balls inside

 

[Bectan01]

A bubble curtain I also not generally used in saltwater, use a powerhead for water movement for sure. I believe you can fill canisters with live rock rubble and they work ok, but perhaps someone else has had experience with them can chime in. Try as get all your live rock (or dry rock if that's what your starting with) in there ASAP so you can start your cycle

 

[Robsue]

Thanks Bectan will sort out things to what you suggested, will see how canister goes as is at moment though and will look at getting power head this weekend, am getting little rock as at £10 a kilo it ain't cheap or easy to manoeuvre. Lol

 

[swtric85]

I ran a 3 stage canister filter on my 20gal for 2 years and never really had a nitrate problem, I did have a good amount of live rock though. Every month I changed the filter media and rinsed the bio ball with old saltwater taken from the tank for water changes.

 

[Robsue]

Will take I go on board and see what works best for me. Thanks

 

[Mebbid]

Don't use any bubblers in salt water. It will splash the salt all over everything and cause salt damage to everything including the tank, wall, and lights.

For a reef tank you are going to want 10x - 40x the tank volume per hour in flow. I would shoot at minimum for 20x myself. If your canister doesn't put out that much I would look at adding a powerhead or two.

What lights do you currently have?

 

[Robsue]

Currently standard fluorescent but am slowly converting everything. I'm in no rush to do this as I'm aware that the longer you take to set up te better the out come. Have been recommended daylight tube and a blue light so will need to adapt lid for second tube. Will remove bubblers. Filter is circulating at about 20 so that's good and am getting power head on Saturday. If its exactly what I want I'm not afraid to ask for guidance or take my time to do it.

 

[Mebbid]

If they are the t8 fluorescent bulbs you will need to upgrade them if you want to keep corals. A dual t5ho will work well for softies but I use one of the chinese 120w LED lights over my 20 reef an it is working exceptionally well. imho it's better to upgrade the lighting now rather than waste money on adding more light that wont be sufficient when / if you decide that you want corals.

As for bulb selection on fluorescent lights I would go with a 10000k and an actinic for my color selections.

 

[Robsue]

How easy is it to add a second housing as my lid only has one fitting fortune. Am more than happy to do as am wanting corals and want best for them when I put them I

 

[Mebbid]

How easy is it to add a second housing as my lid only has one fitting fortune. Am more than happy to do as am wanting corals and want best for them when I put them I

Most lights that will support corals are made to either hang above the tank or rest on legs that sit on the edges. It's pretty standard to get a glass lid to accommodate them.

As for modifying, Im not sure about the best way to do that.

 

[Robsue]

So maybe if I construct a glass lid it would be easier?

 

[Mebbid]

Yeah, most likely.