Matt's 20 gallon long

[Washburn82]

Hey all, got my powerhead last night. A Koralia 425 gph powerhead. Baby's got some kick! Love the magnet mount too instead of the suction cup. Still messing with where i want the flow to go. My HOB filter for the time being also sets out some flow as well. Dont know if i should keep the same flow as that direction or make my own. Also debating on getting another powerhead once i get rid of my hob filter, maybe a smaller one not sure yet. Ammonia is declining slowly no signs of nitrites yet though. Could anyone tell me if doing a water change is necessary after the full cycle. Ive read conflicting opinions on the subject. Some say yes to prevent a diatom bloom others say it is not needed. Atm my powerhead is on the right side near the front pointing at the big elevated rock on the right and the middle.....if that makes any sense. cant wait to start adding livestock!

 

[Washburn82]

Got my aquaticlife protein skimmer 115 today. I was afraid it would take up too much room, but was pleasently surprised at its compactness. Not sure if i have it set right i was messing with the settings. Its foaming but not enough yet to flow over the spoute. Im assuming it takes awhile for it to build up some guck. Its producing a butt load of micro bubbles as well. Hopefully that stops after it breaks in.

 

[Washburn82]

Oh also got this little guy. I beleive its a Marble Shrimp. So cool looking had to get it. :D

 

[little_fish]

Very cool shrimp!

 

[slm32123]

Noticed you got the double bright. And I am curious as if to whether you have any corals or not? If you do, you will probably want to be extremely careful on where you place them. I would personally suggest up close to the top, and centered under the sets of LEDs. Or I would recommend returning it if possible and getting the reef capable fixture they make.

 

[Washburn82]

Thanks for the input Sim i had a similar convo with Beeguilles about this. At the moment there is no corals in my tank its fairly new 3 weeks roughly and although the cycle is completed i dont plan on putting any corals in for a little while. Although in my 12g nano i have a red gargonian, devil's hand and a torch coral and they are all doing just great even with the even cheaper marineland leds. Maybe i got lucky. My new tank is only 12 inches deep being a 20 gallon long so im hoping that the lack of depth with make up for the lack of light if not i have no problem purchasing more effeciant lights. Thanks. :) I have heard great things about the reef capable leds by marineland. My LFS also suggested just buying another doublebright and putting them side by side. Not sure how well that would work though.

 

[ErinCahir]

SUPER cool shrimp!!

 

[slwedge71]

Looks good man. Congrats on the upgrade!! You could turn your nano into a refugium for the other tank since they are already side by side.

 

[Washburn82]

YA that shrimp has some personality to match his wild exterior. All over my hands when i reach in to move a rock. Almost let me take him out of the water lol. But i didnt of course. ALways comes right to the glass to when im there. Funny little guy. The refuge idea is a good one, although if i did make one id want it hidden i think. I dont know much about refugiums. Its basically like the sump in the back of my Nano, correct?

 

[Washburn82]

So i may catch hell from some of you guys for doing this but my readings were stable even after such a short time. My ammonia went up then down, nitrites showed up then down and now i have around 10ppm nitrates, I started adding to my tank my livestock. My LFS owner said it would be safe and said it went so fast due to the cured rock i was using and i trust him. I have known him awhile. Here is my tank with my clowns and some cleaners in it. Levels are maintaining there stability. Everything has been in there for about 2 days now and they all seem healthy and happy and active and hungry! I check my levels every day to be safe. My gargonian is eating, my devils hand is a little smaller then it was in the other tank. Ill have to keep an eye on it. Water and rock has been in tank for around 3 weeks.

 

[Washburn82]

Oh had to add this too lol my emerald crab. Got a good pic of him. :) Hes a monster. Doubled in size since ive had him.

 

[little_fish]

As long as you have no ammonia, its safe to add your fish and inverts.

Also what about turning your nano into a display fuge? There are some really beautiful macros out there.

 

[Washburn82]

A display fuge?? hmm. Never heard of that. Good idea though. Ill look into it. get some ideas. Still dont like the side by side look though.

 

[Washburn82]

So im already thinking i want to upgrade my lighting to either the marineland reef capable 24'-36' leds or the aqua medic sunbeam t5 36" model. Or the 24" might be enough considering my tank is only 30" long. The marineland reef capable are around 300 bucks after taxes. Where as the T5's are around id say 175 after the exchange. Any opinions on this? Im assuming t5's produce more heat but better lighting where as the led's no heat but from what i read not as good lighting. Im not sure here. Either way its gonna render my brand new double brights useless lol. I doubt i can return them although i did email him tonight so i will find out. Any opinions would be much appreciated my tank is only 13 " deep so maybe the reef capable leds would suffice.

 

[beeguiles]

I have the marineland reef leds on my standard 29 gallon tank and they are great. I have to Anemones, zoas, rics, lps and a couple sps and all are healthy.

 

[Washburn82]

Not sure how wide your tank is beeguiles or what size of led panel you have but do you find that the outside edges dont get as much light as the middle?

 

[Washburn82]

So im actually leaing towards the Corallife Aqualight H.O T-5 30" dual lamp fixture. It easily mounts just like the marineland leds. It is roughly half the price of the reef capable leds. I was planning on actually keeping them both on the double brights and the t-5's. The double brights mainly for the moonlight mode it has, since the t-5 im looking at lacks this. The aqualight comes with 1 10,000k daylight and 1 actinic bluelight high output bulbs. Should these bulbs be enough for coral growth? I see there is many options for bulbs just curious if i should order different bulbs as well.

 

[beeguiles]

My light spreads pretty well to the ends of the tank. But it is a bit brighter where the light actually sits. There's a little bit of spotlighting also with the marineland reef led. But I don't mind it.

 

[Washburn82]

I know what you mean Bee, its the same with my doublebrights. although i only have 12 lights comapared to your 27? i think. Its a hard decision leds last so long but the t5's are tried and true. i got some decision making to deal with. Thanks for the info Bee.

 

[little_fish]

The issue with the t5 fixture is that its only two bulbs, im not sure if that is going to be enough to take care of any of the higher demanding light corals.