My 20 long FOWLR build

[Munchie]

My 20 long FOWLR build - not cycling for me

Freshie trying salt for the first time. I set up a 20 galling long. 16lbs live rock and 20 lbs live sand.





Having issues. Salinity keeps reading low or 0 on my hydrometer..I need a refractometer I know, just waiting for it to arrive.

Also after 4 days no Amonia, nitrate or nitrite. Any tips besides a rotting shrimp? The tank is in our bedroom and my wife will flip. Lol

 

[Munchie]

Any takers?

 

[Bectan01]

Yup, def invest in a refractometer. How did you mix your salt or did you buy it? It would be best to add an ammonia source to kick start the cycle, shrimp is best but I believe you can add pure ammonia ought from a store. I have never done this but I believe you just have to make sure it has no other chemicals, I heard if you shake the bottle and there are no bubbles? Hopefully someone else can confirm this any other questions just ask!

 

[Zimmanski]

I can't help you here, but I'm following this thread because I want to try my hand at salt too. Good luck!

 

[fouldsy]

I tried shrimp once, and the smell can get pretty ripe in just a few days Pure ammonia is probably the quickest and easiest way to kick start things. Not sure on where you live, but Ace Hardware sell a pure ammonia that I use and a number of people here recommend. Seems to be the about the safest option for bottled ammonia.

Is that actual live rock or base rock? With live rock you should see your tank coming along pretty quick, but base rock will take a long time without something else to help seed it. I ended up with about 35lbs of base rock in my 20g long and then added a 5lbs piece of live rock later on as the base rock was just taking an age by itself.

And what kind of HOB is that?

 

[Munchie]

Thanks I may go pure Amonia. 25 lbs live sand 16lbs of live rock. The filter is a Aquaclear 50 with carbon in it. Thinking I should pull that out? Would that cause salinity issues?

 

[fouldsy]

I don't think the filter would really cause any salinity issues, but I think with 16lbs of live rock you'd still need some form of mechanical filtration. If you added in additional live rock, maybe you could forgo one, but one of the challenges of a small tank like a 20g is you don't have much margin for error in terms of keeping the water parameters in the optimal range. I moved to a canister filter, which I was in two minds about, but I'm finding the water quality is much more consistent. It does still require regular maintenance, but I've been happy with it.

 

[Munchie]

I finally took the plunge on Saturday and bought Amonia from ACE. Dosed to 2ppm, a few days later I am seeing the cycle happen slowly.

Ordered a skimmer and this weekend converting my AC to a refugium.

 

[Munchie]

Ammonia 0ppm

Nitrite 0ppm

Nitrate 10ppm

Dosed more Ammonia to 4ppm tonight to see if it breaks down in a day.

 

[Munchie]

Wow..it broke down in 12 hours! Added a clown and a few snails tonight. So far so good.

Time to pull the 750gph power head out I had in during cycle and stick to the 425 gph head. Will clean the large one well and toss it in my 100 gallon flowerhorn tank to give that guy a little extra movement.

Waiting a few weeks to add another clown and a watchman goby.

Pics coming soon!

 

[Munchie]

 

[Zimmanski]

Looks great! And yea the koralias have a great output, I have the 250 on my FW 20L but the 425 would be better for SW

 

[redsea]

Beautiful new Clown, he looks awesome! Enjoy!

 

[Munchie]

Thanks, I completed the Aqua Clear 50 to refugium conversion and was able to get a free golf ball sized piece of chaeto..which is all I have tumbling in there for now with a LED light from ikea lighting it (strong enough?) and I just ordered a BadFish reef AC50 surface skimmer.

My protein skimmer will arrive tomorrow (Aqua Euro2).

Param's are hanging around 0 (ammonia was up a tad but not quite at 0.25ppm.) will check it again in the morning.

 

[fishlover07]

Thanks, I completed the Aqua Clear 50 to refugium conversion and was able to get a free golf ball sized piece of chaeto..which is all I have tumbling in there for now with a LED light from ikea lighting it (strong enough?) and I just ordered a BadFish reef AC50 surface skimmer.

My protein skimmer will arrive tomorrow (Aqua Euro2).

Param's are hanging around 0 (ammonia was up a tad but not quite at 0.25ppm.) will check it again in the morning.

Can you post a thread on how you turned it into a refujium

 

[Munchie]

Sure! Here is what I used. Convert Aqua Clear to Refugium

If you have a larger AC70 BadFish Reef has a drop in insert to save time.

I also learned a important lesson when it comes to plugging my AC in.. for some reason I plugged it in backwards and came home to the room smelling like a beach...but no water was out of the tank. I noticed it could be backwards because my chaeto algae wasn't tumbling anymore.. switched the plug around and bam! it is back tumbling, now to see if the salt smell is gone when I get home today.

 

[Munchie]

Protein skimmer arrived and was installed tonight. Pretty straightforward..now to see if it works!

 

[Munchie]

Even with mixed reviews on the Aqua Euro nano2 skimmer..I purchased it. It was delivered Tuesday and installed right away. Less than 48 hours and a bit of "tuning" later it is producing skimmate. Not bad for $39.95.

Testing parameters tonight.





I even picked up a few frags:

 

[Munchie]

Moved a few things around and added a rock with about 12 mushrooms on it as well as a peppermint shrimp.

Params are staying consistent, added a gallon of RO to it last night to make up for evaporation, not bad for a week.

 

[Munchie]

Added a 2nd Koralia 425and a hydor Koralia wave maker. Retired the 750 gph for now and will run the two 425's.

Skimmer is skimming!
AC50 refug is working well

Params at 0 still across the board!

Thoughts on adding more live rock? Should I do anything special with it? Only want 3-5lbs more.