20 gallon all in one build

[lovemyfish79]

Alright, so I currently have a ten gallon nano that's thriving! But..........I want a bigger tank for my 2 occ clowns so I'm going to be building a 20 aio. My question is, seeing how I'm still pretty much a noob to saltwater, how do I go about switching over my live rock, live sand, corals, etc to the new tank? Will the 20 still have to cycle? Any help will be appreciated and I really don't care to hear from those people knocking me for having 2 occ clowns in a 10. Thank you

 

[Bectan01]

I would consider buying new sand and more rock (you may need it in the bigger tank anyway) and letting that cycle first in the 20 then in theory you could just move everything over without too much disruption. I am going to have to do this soon too when I upgrade my ten so have been thinking about it but would love others opinions...

 

[lovemyfish79]

Alright so I have purchased my tank, $10 craigslist find and it even came with a aquaclear filter. Will be starting to build the stand this weekend.

Sent from my EVO using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[lovemyfish79]

Does anybody have any experience with this light? Looking at lights and its so confusing or if anyone could stir me in a different direction?

 

[Sniperhank]

Does anybody have any experience with this light? Looking at lights and its so confusing or if anyone could stir me in a different direction?

This is actually a popular pick in terms of reef lighting. Very strong lighting and you would be able to keep anything under it. I would recommend a unit you can dim as to not burn corals when acclimating them to the light.

 

[lovemyfish79]

Nice, will one of these by efficient enough for a 20 gallon long?

Sent from my EVO using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Sniperhank]

Easily. These units can cover 2ft length of tank.

 

[lovemyfish79]

Awesome. Well I will be starting the stand and tank this weekend, pictures to follow.

Sent from my EVO using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[Reefey]

Can you have that light on a 10g or do it get to bigg?

 

[lovemyfish79]

I don't see why you couldn't, probably just want to mount it higher?

Sent from my EVO using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[lovemyfish79]

And so the frame begins, couldn't wait for the weekend. Should have the frame done tomorrow then put the skin on this weekend depended on how much snow we get here in Denver.

 

[lovemyfish79]

So I got the false wall siliconed tonight, tomorrow it goes into the tank and water test on Sunday and also the tank stand and I have to fix the overflow teeth

 

[lovemyfish79]

False wall setup

 

[lovemyfish79]

Basic stand and aio 20 long, still have to put skin around the stand, paint etc.

 

[lovemyfish79]

Paint going on

 

[lovemyfish79]

So after everything I have to make my baffles a little bigger, I'm not getting enough flow through my false wall. Is 1" underneath the baffles enough or should I go for 1/2"? Right now its at 1 1/4"

Sent from my EVO using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[lovemyfish79]

Base rock and live sand came in today, hopefully have this tank setup this weekend

Sent from my EVO using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[lovemyfish79]

Alright finally got it wet, waiting for the silicone on my media rack to dry so I can get some media in the, only thing I have now is some live rock robble that I got from my lfs and one piece of live rock from my ten

 

[lovemyfish79]

Better picture with the water cleared up

 

[dingusplease]

Looking great! I'll be tagging along