It really ties the room together

[LeftFootedJedi]

I recently bought a 20G Innovative AIO Peninsula & hope to have up & running in a few weeks. Long term my plan is to keep the tank as low maintenance as reasonably possible and house 2 clowns, goby of some sort & maybe a firefish or 1-2 purple pseudochromis along with a CUC. Assuming I don’t kill everything & they seem to be thriving, I will gradually add some soft corals. The idea being a hardy and colorful tank that doesn’t need daily maintenance once it’s established. I’ll have several questions that have all probably been asked countless times, but right now I’m focusing on setup & equipment recommendations. I have about $ 400 left in my startup budget & not sure where to go next.

I know at some point I’d really like to have an ATO system, I’ll need lights of course, probably a decent wavemaker & maybe protein skimmer?? Any differing thoughts on that? What will give me the most bang for my buck while I’m cyclying (no lights) for the next few months?

Looking forward to any & all feedback.

 

[Darsh]

Depends how much DIY you're willing to do

 

[FishyDP]

You could check out hipargero/aquaknight leds on amazon. They are around $60 a piece and 2 of them would likely light your tank sufficiently. The mounting arms are designed for rimless tanks and come with the light and look pretty slick. A skimmer would be a good investment imo. The aquatic life 115 internal skimmer could do the trick on your size tank. I have used a couple of these when I didnt have a sump, they worked well for the price. The jebao ow series wavemakers are good bang for buck ime, they can create varied flow patterns ect. This should keep you close to budget. As far as maintenance, if you create good flow with minimal dead spots it should help keep more detritus suspended in water for your skimmer/mechanical filtration to pick up.

 

[LeftFootedJedi]

That brings up a good point. I don’t mind spending the money if it makes sense in the long term. I’d rather spend the money now vs gradually build up to the inevitable and spend 3x the money in the process.

 

[LeftFootedJedi]

Any other thoughts? Probably not much protein to skim while cycling. Should I spend a little more on the lights & get an ATO?

 

[LeftFootedJedi]

Home repairs are complete, time to get wet this weekend. Had a question about filter media. Is there a specific order I should put things in? This fits the stock basket and everything is separated by the 3 inserts but something feels wrong about it. Top to bottom I have Chemi-Pure Blue, filter floss & purigen.