Evans 20 Gallon Nano Reef

[Evansimp]

Thanks again everyone! Glad you all liked the video and all these kind words keep me motivated to keep making the tank better!

[Riverhawk]

To quote a friend of mine;dude,that tank is da bomb!!) love the corals,esp the flower pot!! That tank is anything but a dead sea! And you dont dose..neither do i.... Great job on the tank evansimp!

[Nikachu0315]

which hydor koralia should i get on marine depot? how many gph for a 20 gallon

[Evansimp]

Originally Posted by Nikachu0315

which hydor koralia should i get on marine depot? how many gph for a 20 gallon

I have 2 of the koralia nanos 240 gph I believe! That works great for my tank!

[TrekBear]

Originally Posted by Evansimp

I have 2 of the koralia nanos 240 gph I believe! That works great for my tank!

Yeah, you are right Evan... I generally go for 10-15 times tank volume. Alternating the units if you can is good, either use the Hydor wave maker or, if money is tight, there are several timers out that you can turn off and on every 3o mins or so... get 2 of them and when one turns off, have the other come on.. This will help in preventing the Toilet bowl flush in the tank. You don't want to give your fish any swirllies..

[TrekBear]

I must amend my post a little. In a soft/LPS tank I shoot for no more than 35gph x tank volume turn over. In my tanks that have SPS corals, I generally have 45-60(ish) turnover, I just try to aim the flow towards the top half of the tank. This still gives good flow to the SPS, and a bit calmer I
Towards the bottom half dwellers my LPS and even
N less to the bottom for the softies. The soft corals like rice, and others seem to expand better with the lower flow and gives them an opportunity to capture food when feeding the tank.

Hope this helps out!
Tom

[Nikachu0315]

what should i feed a sw reef

[TrekBear]

Originally Posted by Nikachu0315

what should i feed a sw reef

That is a tough one to answer... It really depends on the type of corals you have.

Softies and LPS as do SPS get most of their food from the light we use on the tank which the zooaxanthellae living within the tissues of the corals feed off of, giving off proteins and Carbohydrates as Tree Leaves use Chlorophyll to process CO2 and gives off Oxygen by using the light rays from the sun as their energy.

Now supplemental feedings of mysis shrimp Frozen (available at most LFS) and copepods and amphipods provided by your live rock and substrate (This is a main reason you should go slowly as it takes time for these critters to mulitply. Also, there are a multitude of foods available so so many, coral frenzy and others are powdered forms of foods you can feed which helps filter feeders and most of your tanks inhabitants. I have used Sea Chem's Reef Plus and it really makes the LPS and Soft corals extend very well. (It's a mixture of Iodine and amino acids and other good things in one bottle. Use sparingly especially in smaller tanks.

Hope this sheds some light on your question but others on here may have better foods or suggestions for you, I can't stress enough though Your Main Food for any reef tank is Quality Light Source and the Best you can afford, I Know of several people here that use a 150 watt MH light on their 10gallon Nanos.

Now feeding is strictly up to you to research and ask like you are now. But when I feed my tanks, I feed sparingly and wait for polyp extension before I feed. If there hungry they will let you know..

Hope this helps.
Tom

[Evansimp]

Picking up a 120 w led fixture today from a local reefer!!

[TrekBear]

If it's dimmable, turn it down to it's minimum setting which is around 20% or there 'bouts. If it's not dimmable move everything down to bottom of tank and make sure to hang it around 10"-12" if possible. Adjust the percentage up about every week. If it has Optics on the LED's then you will probably want to remove them to make the light less focused which concentrates the light. Too much focus will actually bleach the corals on the bottom of a 20 gallon tank... i have seen that happen to others I know. They just put the lights on the tank and didn't acclimate them at all just BAM 100% of the light and then WHAM bleached corals and some zoas on the bottom in the middle of the lights melted (1 day is all they were under it). So take care locate Mr.X on this board and ask him about acclimation he is very knowledgable about the LED fixtures. ( Is this light one of the TaoTronics available on Ebay? ) or a copycat one? If so there is a nice thread to follow.. Best Bang for your Bucks- Lighting your reeftank....
Link: www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/lighting-your-reef-best-bang-for-your-buck-239661-50.html

Read it and you will learn A Lot!

I am venturing again into LED's. I did my own LED setup on my old 12gallon BioCube (I actually had over 30 Watts going in that tank.) I installed Dimmers and also the LED Drivers I used were dimmable as well. I had Excellent Growth and was very impressed with them.

I now have that tank for sale since I want to run a Sump/Fuge w/ everything except the overflow and returns and my wave system, hidden in the sump/fuge for a cleaner look and also to keep parameters in check better and hide my Auto Top Off unit under the tank in the Stand I am building.

OK, enough rambling on and on... You need to get busy reading that link above. Believe me you will enjoy the read and also will get an education to boot.

Best Regards,
Tom

[Pisces3473]

Originally Posted by TrekBear

If it's dimmable, turn it down to it's minimum setting which is around 20% or there 'bouts. If it's not dimmable move everything down to bottom of tank and make sure to hang it around 10"-12" if possible. Adjust the percentage up about every week. If it has Optics on the LED's then you will probably want to remove them to make the light less focused which concentrates the light. Too much focus will actually bleach the corals on the bottom of a 20 gallon tank... i have seen that happen to others I know. They just put the lights on the tank and didn't acclimate them at all just BAM 100% of the light and then WHAM bleached corals and some zoas on the bottom in the middle of the lights melted (1 day is all they were under it). So take care locate Mr.X on this board and ask him about acclimation he is very knowledgable about the LED fixtures. ( Is this light one of the TaoTronics available on Ebay? ) or a copycat one? If so there is a nice thread to follow.. Best Bang for your Bucks- Lighting your reeftank....
Link: www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f11/lighting-your-reef-best-bang-for-your-buck-239661-50.html

Read it and you will learn A Lot!

I am venturing again into LED's. I did my own LED setup on my old 12gallon BioCube (I actually had over 30 Watts going in that tank.) I installed Dimmers and also the LED Drivers I used were dimmable as well. I had Excellent Growth and was very impressed with them.

I now have that tank for sale since I want to run a Sump/Fuge w/ everything except the overflow and returns and my wave system, hidden in the sump/fuge for a cleaner look and also to keep parameters in check better and hide my Auto Top Off unit under the tank in the Stand I am building.

OK, enough rambling on and on... You need to get busy reading that link above. Believe me you will enjoy the read and also will get an education to boot.

Best Regards,
Tom

The answer is in the first two pages. TaoTronics, I'm a believer...

[Evansimp]

It's not dimmable :/ I'm going to be putting it a foot above my tank and hope its not to much light. I'm gonna only do blue for a bit then turn on the whites! Let's hope for the best

[TrekBear]

Originally Posted by Evansimp

It's not dimmable :/ I'm going to be putting it a foot above my tank and hope its not to much light. I'm gonna only do blue for a bit then turn on the whites! Let's hope for the best

Keep in mind that Just using the Blue lights will not really stop your corals from bleaching. It's just a different spectrum of light and the LED's are going to be far sttronger than ANY actinic lighting you have used in the Past on other fixtures, Ie.. T5HO, Compaact Fluorescent, even Metal Halide 20K bulbs don't match the intensity of the Blue LED's.

Hanging the Unit 12 inches from the tank is a good start but you will definitely need to move your corals lower in the tank maybe all the way down to the sand bed. Also, you probably should limit the time of the unit being on and gradually incease the time over 5-7 days increase it by 30-minutes to an hour NO MORE than an hour increase until you reach your actual total photo period. put the blues and whites on a timer and have the blues come on 30 minutes before the whitesl and 30 minutes after whites go off. I would run the lights in the beginning about 3 1/2 to 4 hours total. If you notice the light is still too strong. you can always use sheets of screen, like 6 maybe 7 sheets and remove 1 sheet every week as you in crease you photo period this will aid in deflecting the light directly and will help the acclimation process go smoother.

other LED owners Please chime in if you have a better Idea or if I am way off here. I just want to help Mr. Evan and I am sure he would appreciate your help. ( Not taking over Evan, just soliciting more help for you.

Best wishes!
Tom

[Nikachu0315]

sorry for stealing the spotlight but im getting a 20


and want to stock as you can see i have enough cuc lol what else can i add 2x Ocellaris Clowns
1x yellow watchman goby
1x pistol shrimp
1x sand sifting sea star



Clean Up Crew
1x Scarlet cleaner Shrimp
1x peppermint shrimp
3x nassarius snails
5x astrea snails
5x dwarf red leg hermit crabs
2x porcelain crabs


2x feather duster
1x bubble anemone

[Evansimp]

Thanks for the help everyone! got my lights up and they are a foot above the tank! Im going to start by having the lights on 4 hours a day and move up from there! Let's hope for the best!!

[Evansimp]

Here are some pictures!

[TrekBear]

Originally Posted by Evansimp

Thanks for the help everyone! got my lights up and they are a foot above the tank! Im going to start by having the lights on 4 hours a day and move up from there! Let's hope for the best!!

Well, show some pics man. I won't believe it until I see it... J/K I trust you did get them up and going just fine. Just curious on how the tank looks now. So, show me what you got what you got now w/ those pimping lights. I'm sure we will need sun shades...

Good job!
Tom

[TrekBear]

Originally Posted by Evansimp

Here are some pictures!

Dangit! you beat me to it... LOL great shots, the tank will be pimpin' to show now....

Good that you moved those corals down for now... Just take your time getting them up in the rock scape. Al see o, I still think you might want to put some sheets of some door screen on the tank. It's like less than $5 for a roll of it @ WallyWorld... Better to be safe and not bleach out your corals.

Cheers to you bro,
Tom

[Pisces3473]

Originally Posted by TrekBear

Keep in mind that Just using the Blue lights will not really stop your corals from bleaching. It's just a different spectrum of light and the LED's are going to be far sttronger than ANY actinic lighting you have used in the Past on other fixtures, Ie.. T5HO, Compaact Fluorescent, even Metal Halide 20K bulbs don't match the intensity of the Blue LED's.

Hanging the Unit 12 inches from the tank is a good start but you will definitely need to move your corals lower in the tank maybe all the way down to the sand bed. Also, you probably should limit the time of the unit being on and gradually incease the time over 5-7 days increase it by 30-minutes to an hour NO MORE than an hour increase until you reach your actual total photo period. put the blues and whites on a timer and have the blues come on 30 minutes before the whitesl and 30 minutes after whites go off. I would run the lights in the beginning about 3 1/2 to 4 hours total. If you notice the light is still too strong. you can always use sheets of screen, like 6 maybe 7 sheets and remove 1 sheet every week as you in crease you photo period this will aid in deflecting the light directly and will help the acclimation process go smoother.

other LED owners Please chime in if you have a better Idea or if I am way off here. I just want to help Mr. Evan and I am sure he would appreciate your help. ( Not taking over Evan, just soliciting more help for you.

Best wishes!
Tom

Yeah, Dimmable. Only $20-40 more...

[Evansimp]

Dimmable are between 50-60$ more and I couldn't afford that. The unit I got was practically brand new and so far things seem okay! Lets hope for the best! Can't wait to get sps and a clam! maybe in a few months