Hello there, I've been browsing this and a couple other forums and this hobby interests me. My first question would be; In order to see if this would be something that I (we) would be able to do long term, would it be possible to setup a reef aquarium with a 20 gallon tank? We have a 20 gallon tank on hand that has set empty for a few months (got it from friends when they gave up their freshwater habitat). Could we setup a 20 gallon saltwater tank, or is that too small? We don't want to go to the expense of the larger equipment unless/until we convince ourselves that we could do this and maintain it properly. Thanks for any suggestions in advance, Michael
You can do a 20 gallon-no problem. You will have to stick to small fish (firefish, goby's, etc) but they make some really nice tanks. There is quite a selection in the store now. You first need to decide what kind of tank you want. If you want corals then you will need at least compacts for it (for the low light corals, mushroom's, toadstools, zoas, etc.).
Well, from what I've read, it seems that a tank with live rock, with its' numerous hitch hikers, and maybe a couple small creatures would be something to start with. One thing; I was at Northside Aquatics last week, and the gentleman that showed me around (sorry I forget his name but a very nice guy) showed me what I thought was very cool; a goby I think it was, and a pistol shrimp. He said that those two form a symbiotic relationship, and from watching them for a bit in the tank, I thought it was cool watching them work together.
My son has a 16 gallon saltwater tank. He only wants invertebrates but the tank is doing fine with basic equipment. He has a couple of corals but I wouldn't recommend that unless you get the better lights for your system. Good luck and keep us posted!
A 20 gallon would be a nice size to start with. Just do some research to decide what livestock you may be interested in. A shrimp/goby pair would be really neat. There are lots of small gobies that would fine in a 20 g. Depending on what other livestock you pick out you could get you some sexy anemone shrimp they are soo cute and really fun to watch. The main thing to keep in mind on a smaller tank is you will have to be consistent with your water changes to keep everything happy and healthy. I would be hesitent to add too many corals in a small tank unless you want to invest in a protein skimmer.
With what I have been reading lately, probably would not tackle any corals to start; would want to keep it simple to start with and go from there. I have some co-workers who used to have a saltwater tank; they are bringing me some lights that they used on their tank. Will know more about that when they bring it to the office. They also said they'd bring a powerhead or two. As far as other equipment, we have an Emporer 400 HOB filter that we had in a larger fresh tank a few years ago; would that work ok in a salt environment? What other pieces of equipment should we be looking for to get this off the ground? Michael
In my opinion, there are some down-sides to a small aquarium. Harder to balance system parameters( chemicals ). PH, Ammonia,and nitrate spikes. With less water volume, this drastically affects all and I mean all in your tank. But please don't let me scare u of this hobby, it is truely amazing and very rewarding in the long-run!!! I have very small tanks and they are fine, just takes alot of attention.
your basic cookie cutter system is going to be. tank,stand,lights,skimmer, and filter. the emporer will work for filtrationa and water movement in a tank that size. add a power head and you probably have all the water movement you will need for a tank that size. thats the basics. once you get alittle farther into it you will want to add a sump and refugium to keep things in the display tank nice and neat looking. as far as stocking, there are limitless options even for small tanks that are colorful and exciting. welcome to reefkeeping.
I have a light that will fit your take if it is a 20 long, it will grow softies. Â I also got one that would grow everything if your interested in it.
im sorry guys, this thread is over 2 years old, I was just checking a function of the website. I'm sorry :-(
Smaller tanks are some of the funnest projects. I have a 5.5gal that was initially intended for frags but it's become more of a frag + invert experiment setup now. Parameters have to be closely monitored with the higher evaporation and top-offs are frequent, but it's well worth it.
Well since Ethan is aiding in keeping this thread alive a bit, I had one problem when my bubble tip anem got caught in my koralia and crashed my tank when I was home for christmas, its back up and running as an sps tank with one of the new Hydor Pico 180G pumps. Ordered a led light last week that should be here in a few days to up the lighting hopefully and at the same time test the leds. So over all I've never had a problem of the water volume just the stupid idea of putting a koralia nano in there with an anem. I would also like to lobby for a pico reef thread so this 2 year old thread can die in piece : )
+1.....We need both a pico and a nano reef thread. I know Chris like myself has also downsized to nano's and I think the challenges they present are very different in way from that of larger reefs. Maybe this is something we could discuss at the next meeting or maybe just do it. I would be glad to moderate the Nano forum as I am running a nano currently.
I think a pico/nano section would be great; sometimes I feel all alone out here with my 28, 24, and 12G (yes the 12 is new and is cycling along with the 120) Nano Cubes. Oh by the way the 120G is coming alone nicely.
My 10 gal. Reef has been up and running for 3 years. I'm growing montiporas chalice and an acro. My only problem were heaters sticking on. I could let my water level drop a little and not have a problem because I would keep my sanity too high. raffle grabber
