20g long frag tank

nlutfi · Apr 10, 2020

My son (11yo) is getting interested in the hobby and is wanting to set up a small frag tank. We currently have a 81g (36x24x22) mixed reef thats been running great. Im looking for something cheapish and easy to take care of for him. 20g long for tank, not sure how to filter it? Maybe some type of HOB? Also thought about adding marine pure bricks for bio filtration. Maybe an ai prime for light, and I also have a tunxe 9004 skimmer I can throw in it. Thinking to start with mainly zoa's and shrooms to start and maybe a few small utilitarian fish (6 line, algae blenny, any other ideas here?) And a small CUC. Let me know if I missing anything!

Flippers4pups · Apr 10, 2020

nlutfi said:
My son (11yo) is getting interested in the hobby and is wanting to set up a small frag tank. We currently have a 81g (36x24x22) mixed reef thats been running great. Im looking for something cheapish and easy to take care of for him. 20g long for tank, not sure how to filter it? Maybe some type of HOB? Also thought about adding marine pure bricks for bio filtration. Maybe an ai prime for light, and I also have a tunxe 9004 skimmer I can throw in it. Thinking to start with mainly zoa's and shrooms to start and maybe a few small utilitarian fish (6 line, algae blenny, any other ideas here?) And a small CUC. Let me know if I missing anything!

Heater and a ATO would be helpful. Should work.

nlutfi · Apr 10, 2020

Oh yea of course a heater and ato.nwhat about filtrations for the tank? Would a job filter work, or maybe some kind of aio kit?

Flippers4pups · Apr 10, 2020

nlutfi said:
Oh yea of course a heater and ato.nwhat about filtrations for the tank? Would a job filter work, or maybe some kind of aio kit?

Well, for biological filtration, a couple pieces of live rock would act as hiding spots for fish and keep the bacterial strains going that the corals and fish need, but if used as a coral quarantine tank, treating the tank for pests would be better with a HOB filter. The later it would necessary to remove the fish for treatment because of the meds.

So, there's a couple ways to approach this.

nlutfi · Apr 10, 2020

Not necessarily looking for a coral qt, just a place to grow out some shrooms and zoa's he can learn to frag and trade. But I know he would like a few fish as well in the tank.

35ppt · Apr 10, 2020

Good advice above. If you're at all handy making up a baffle to turn it into an AIO is pretty easy. Especially if you happen to have a table saw (for the weir). If it were me I would turn that 20 long into a peninsula AIO and use live rock as bio-filtration. The plan you mentioned sounds good to me. If you're not into building the baffle I'm sure you could buy some kit. Or even just forgo mechanical filtration and just run the skimmer. You can always use the powerhead+water bottle filter trick for mechanical filtration after water changes. Leave it in for an hour or so then remove it. That's what I've been doing on a 10 gallon frag system for a couple years now.

Flippers4pups · Apr 10, 2020

nlutfi said:
Not necessarily looking for a coral qt, just a place to grow out some shrooms and zoa's he can learn to frag and trade. But I know he would like a few fish as well in the tank.

Then I would place some pieces of mature live rock in there for the biological filtration.

It's not much different that the old school " Berlin method" minus sand.

fishguy242 · Apr 10, 2020

agree w all above live rock,skimmer,hob for media would be fine

nlutfi · Apr 10, 2020

I like the aio idea but a hob filter might be an easier route just to run some carbon in. Is there a good easy hob that anyone can recommend?

fishguy242 · Apr 10, 2020

whisper dual,#2 choice penguin dual

gabrieltackitt · Apr 10, 2020

Fiji Cube makes a kit to turn a 20L into an AIO. It may be worth looking into.

Fiji Cube AIO Box All-in-One Kit 4th Gen - 20 Gallon Long

This is the 4th generation of the AIO DIY Kit with improvements made. The magnets and clamp are no longer provided in the 4th gen. A permanent silicone seal is required. Build your All-in-One (AIO) aquarium with Fiji Cube AIO box to maximize the fun of the aquarium hobby. Just drop this AIO box...

www.fijicube.com

gabrieltackitt · Apr 10, 2020

And definitely following along with this. I may need to build a small frag tank soon.

nlutfi · Apr 10, 2020

gabrieltackitt said:
Fiji Cube makes a kit to turn a 20L into an AIO. It may be worth looking into.

Fiji Cube AIO Box All-in-One Kit 4th Gen - 20 Gallon Long

This is the 4th generation of the AIO DIY Kit with improvements made. The magnets and clamp are no longer provided in the 4th gen. A permanent silicone seal is required. Build your All-in-One (AIO) aquarium with Fiji Cube AIO box to maximize the fun of the aquarium hobby. Just drop this AIO box...

www.fijicube.com

Thank I was definitely looking in to that. Maybe that would be the best way to go.

gabrieltackitt · Apr 10, 2020

nlutfi said:
Thank I was definitely looking in to that. Maybe that would be the best way to go.

I think the 10 kit is what I’m going to use for my Coral QT tank soon. Going to do my best to QT all corals for 76 days and keep any diseases out of my DT

Deschutes541 · Apr 10, 2020

I've been using a MarineLand Penguin 350 my 20 gallon long. I've removed the filter pads/bio wheels and use it basically as an refugium. Each side contains biopellets, ceramic rings, and chaeto. I do a 50% water change at least every other week. It's working well.

nlutfi · Apr 10, 2020

Deschutes541 said:
I've been using a MarineLand Penguin 350 my 20 gallon long. I've removed the filter pads/bio wheels and use it basically as an refugium. Each side contains biopellets, ceramic rings, and chaeto. I do a 50% water change at least every other week. It's working well.

Thanks I'll look into that one as well. I plan to do 5g weekly water changes to keep up on elements. With just zoa's and mushrooms I shouldn't have to dose anything I'm hoping.