20G going reef!

[etoja]

Hi everyone,

I am fairly new here and I like that people seem nice and helpful.

I currently have 20g tank with 1.5 in of gravel, 4 pounds of live rock, one clown, one shrimp and one mushroom coral, which I was running for about 2 years. I've decided to go reef and grow more corals so I will have to upgrade current equipment. (Can't really afford bigger tank at this point)

My current setup: Penguin 150 filter, Heater and thermometer )) Oh, and a T8 light bulb under the hood. Yeah it's lame, i know )

My questions for you guys:
1) Is it even realistic to try to keep 20 reef tank for someone who never maintained corals before? Or should I give up on that whole idea and have it as a FOWLR until I can afford larger tank+equipment?

2) I know I need better lights, protein skimmer and air circulation pump. Anything else? How is Penguin 150 for corals - is it good enough? Also, what is a good protein skimmer that is not loud - the tank is right next to the couch, I tried SeaClone 100 and it was so loud I could barely hear the TV so I had to return it.

3) How many corals will fit in 20g "comfortably" assuming I only have 2-3 fish in the tank.

I'd love to hear your thought and advice! I will be putting updates here as I get my new equipment/corals with some pictures. So excited!!

 

[carey]

Once you upgrade your lights I think you will be ready for some more corals.
If you do weekly water changes you can skip on the protein skimmer. I would however add 2 powerheads to the tank, like maybe 2 koralia 425's or 550's.

 

[etoja]

Ah thanks! So I will make lights/powerheads my first priority! Are you sure two 425s or 550s won't be too much of a flow? It's only 20g and the box says one 425 should be plenty..

 

[carey]

I vote for two so that you have proper circulation. I had 2 750's in my 29g tank. lol

Is it a 20L tank? Or a regular 24 inch long tank?

 

[etoja]

It's regular 24 inches long tank. hope it's not too small..

 

[carey]

For a 24 inch tank I think two 425's would be good. I have them in my 20g and my 29g tank now and they don't generate much flow.

 

[etoja]

I will definitely make power heads and light my number one priority, and get more rock in. I was also told that sand is much better then gravel, because it does not trap so many debris and thus higher nitrites which corals don't like, so I am planning on doing that also - my gravel is ugly anyways.

For the lights i was thinking LED, because I really dig the moonlight option they have and also the fact that I won't have to replace bulbs. But if I can't find decent deal I will look into T5s

 

[carey]

Sounds good.

When you start to change out the gravel you can do 1/4 of the tank every water change. You don't want to switch it all out at once, just do it in sections.

 

[jwalsh]

Look into the reef octopus bh-1000 hand on back Skimmer. Its nice and quiet and the pump isn't in the tank like most other hob Skimmers. I just got it for my 29 and its super quiet! Or like Carey said just do once a week changes. As for power heads I have 2 koralia 550's and kind of wish I went a little bigger but they are great power heads I would recommend them to anyone

 

[Lauramichelle]

I'm currently running a 20 gal tall, coral only. I was wondering how u would position the 2 power heads? Are u looking for one at each end forming a whirlpool effect? Or one pointing up for air mix and the other for circular flow? ( mine r like this now)

 

[Lauramichelle]

I'm currently running a 20 gal tall, coral only. I was wondering how u would position the 2 power heads? Are u looking for one at each end forming a whirlpool effect? Or one pointing up for air mix and the other for circular flow? ( mine r like this now)

Here's the tank

 

[etoja]

Sounds good.

When you start to change out the gravel you can do 1/4 of the tank every water change. You don't want to switch it all out at once, just do it in sections.

I am glad you said that! because I was really going to just swap it ! I thought I would put my guys in the bucket (or hospital tank), drain the water out in a big bottle (I have couple of 10 gal bottles from water delivery service) and replace the gravel with sand. It makes much more sense to do it with water changes.

I installed one 425 air pump this morning (second will have to wait till i have more $), and fish seem to like it

 

[etoja]

Look into the reef octopus bh-1000 hand on back Skimmer. Its nice and quiet and the pump isn't in the tank like most other hob Skimmers. I just got it for my 29 and its super quiet! Or like Carey said just do once a week changes. As for power heads I have 2 koralia 550's and kind of wish I went a little bigger but they are great power heads I would recommend them to anyone

I like quiet! Main reason I didn't have protein skimmer in the first place is that the one I tried (SeaClone 100) was super loud. My fish tank is next to the couch an I literally could not hear the sound on TV when installed it. I think I will go with water changes for now since I need to invest in lights, live rock and power heads. But will definitely look into getting it in a few month. Thanks!

 

[jwalsh]

I like quiet! Main reason I didn't have protein skimmer in the first place is that the one I tried (SeaClone 100) was super loud. My fish tank is next to the couch an I literally could not hear the sound on TV when installed it. I think I will go with water changes for now since I need to invest in lights, live rock and power heads. But will definitely look into getting it in a few month. Thanks!

No problem. My tank is right next to my couch also and I just installed my new lights yesterday and holy crap! I went from a 17w t8 to a 346w fixture with 4 t5s and 1 250w mh. I would suggest the fixture I got to anyone. It is the odyssea 30" advance plus fixture. Awesome! Just needed to swap the bulbs out for ati's oh and the fixture without new bulbs is $179 with new bulbs about 260

 

[etoja]

How cool, I should look into into getting that light fixture - price is very decent!

Meanwhile, I changed gravel for the sand. I tried doing it gradually with water changes, but it clouded the tank so much I got worried for the fish. So I moved everyone out, drained the water and cleaned out all gravel. Now my tank has 40 pounds of sand - half live and half regular. Looks pretty cloudy... But my guys are happily hanging out in the "hotel"

 

[jwalsh]

Yeah its a great fixture! Only thing I really say you have to do is get a clip on fan to blow between the fixture and the glass top. If you don't the water heats up 1 degree per hour on a 29 gal tank. Other than that its fantastic. Glad to hear you got the gravel all switched out. The clouding will go down soon. Then back in with the fish