My nano reef

[BattlestarGalaxia]

A small introduction.
I've had tanks off and on for about 5 years now. It's been hard because I haven't had a steady place to live, and building tanks up and breaking them down is frustrating when it becomes a regular thing. Finally for the last 2 years I've been settled down in a townhouse we purchased. I've had my 20g up and running for over a year now. I do plan on upgrading and going bigger, but for now I've been making sure its for correctly. I've had problems in the past going bigger and not having having the proper equipment.
So here's my tank.

20g tall

24" marineland dual t5 fixture with a daytime and a 50/50 bulb
20" t8 fixture with an actinic bulb

Marineland 20g rated media filter
Remora aqua pro protein skimmer
Maxijet (the smallest one maybe a 400?)

That's all for my equipment but here's some picturesand thanks for reading!

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

Some more pictures!

 

[hectat2]

Nice

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

Nice

Thanks!

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

I changed some things up in the tank I rearanged the rocks a little. I still dont think im happy though. I want to maximize surface area, but in not sure I'll be able to without completely taking everything out. On a side note I picked up an acan frag, a colt coral frag, and a ORA clam! Merry Christmas to me here's some pictures!

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

Check this guy out he's huge!

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

Can anyone tell me why my corals color don't stand out in my tank? They look so beautiful at the store and then they look dull under my lights

 

[Coralsdaily]

Cute set up! Would love to see updates once the frags take root and grow!

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

Cute set up! Would love to see updates once the frags take root and grow!

Thanks you!

 

[Touring]

Can anyone tell me why my corals color don't stand out in my tank? They look so beautiful at the store and then they look dull under my lights

Bulb selection mainly. What are your parameters looking like?

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

Bulb selection mainly. What are your parameters looking like?

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 2ppm
Thats the only thing I test for. Should I be testing for other things? Everything grows awesome, I'm constantly battling coraline algae off my display glass and it covers my rocks fast. If it is my bulbs what would you recommend for t5s and a t8? Thank s for the response!

 

[AdamNC]

Ditch the t8 bulbs and go all t5s, preferably if you can a 4 x t5 bulb setup. T8s are good for reptiles, fish and freshwater stuff but not that great for corals.

 

[AdamNC]

Also just noticed you have a Maxima clam in there. You will need t5, halide or led for long term survival of it as well as any sps. The main perimeters you need to be looking at are SG, PH, Alk, Mag, Ca, NO2, NO3, PO4 and Ammonia. And stability of those perimeters are key.

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

Ditch the t8 bulbs and go all t5s, preferably if you can a 4 x t5 bulb setup. T8s are good for reptiles, fish and freshwater stuff but not that great for corals.

Okay so if I got about dual t5 light, what would you do as far as bulbs? Right note I have white and 50/50 white blue. Thanks!

 

[AdamNC]

I'm really not the best at t5 bulbs as I've gone from the older PC lights and went straight to LEDs. I've read the best bulbs to get are ATIs, and going with a 4 bulb setup you'll get a much better spectrum with 4 different type of bulbs compared to just 2. You want to try and hit 420nm(low spectrum actinic) up to 16k/20k. When going with t5 you want to get about 5-6 watts per gallon, but if later you decide to go LED it's a whole different game with PAR level.

Bottom line is your best place here to read up about it is https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...tive-radiation-rating-what-bulbs-use-etc.html

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

I'm really not the best at t5 bulbs as I've gone from the older PC lights and went straight to LEDs. I've read the best bulbs to get are ATIs, and going with a 4 bulb setup you'll get a much better spectrum with 4 different type of bulbs compared to just 2. You want to try and hit 420nm(low spectrum actinic) up to 16k/20k. When going with t5 you want to get about 5-6 watts per gallon, but if later you decide to go LED it's a whole different game with PAR level.

Bottom line is your best place here to read up about it is https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/eq...tive-radiation-rating-what-bulbs-use-etc.html

Thanks that was a big help! I wish I could go to leds but I don't have the money at the moment :/ im going to look around and see if I can find any used t5 fixture for a good price. You've been very helpful I really appreciate your advice! Do you see anything else wrong with my setup?

 

[AdamNC]

Just get your lighting straight and keep your testing and perameters up and you'll do fine. With the wealth of knowledge on the web and a lot of patience, anyone can do this hobby.

 

[reef_grrrl]

Nice tank! I wish I could get coralline to grow like yours!

I'm also a little short on cash to upgrade my lights too, but there's a guy on eBay that sells quad t5 fixtures for $50 with free shipping and comes with two 10k and two actinic bulbs. I bought one for a freshwater tank I have and I'm thinking about getting one for my 20g reef and slowly buying ATI bulbs as $ allows.

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

Nice tank! I wish I could get coralline to grow like yours!

I'm also a little short on cash to upgrade my lights too, but there's a guy on eBay that sells quad t5 fixtures for $50 with free shipping and comes with two 10k and two actinic bulbs. I bought one for a freshwater tank I have and I'm thinking about getting one for my 20g reef and slowly buying ATI bulbs as $ allows.

Thanks so much! I might have to start a new thread though because last weekend I got a 55 gallon. I've been so busy trying to be patient lol. It's one of the harder things I've learned in this hobby. I got the sand and the salt a new heater now I'm just waiting on the right deal on lights.

 

[BattlestarGalaxia]

So I had a huge problem feeding my acan. My clown fish would not let it eat even if she had food in her mouth she would spit it out to go eat the acan's! So I'm not sure if this had been done before but I used a baby food jar to protect it while it eats! I thought it was really neat! Has anyone else done anything similar?