KillerChimps New 20Gallon

[KillerChimps3600]

Hey guys, so i finally got some stuff in my tank. All i have so far is 3 pounds of Cured LR and 6 pounds of base rock, and thats it so far haha sometime in the next week or two ill be adding at least another 10pounds of cured rock mixed with more base.

So my questions right now are, since i added cured rock am i going to skip the cycle or no? Or should i just add some raw shrimp to start a cycle anyway? And also how much flow should my tank have? Right now i have 1 small little filter with a little sponge inside that pumps out a pretty good flow would that and adding a Koralia Nano 240gph be good a good amount?

 

[BL1]

I wouldn't worry about the cycle till you have all your Live Rock in there. Because even if you start a cycle now, when you add more rock, it may cause another one. In your 20g, I'd put two of those Koralia nanos or amybe even one 425 gph nano and a 240 nano in there for flow.

 

[KillerChimps3600]

Well its day 2 of my tank and I added about 7 more pounds of LR to the tank today. I think this is about all im going to get anytime soon besides some more base rock. With this LR i found some dead worm looking things on it but so far nothing alive.

Pics kinda blow, the sand is still settling.

 

[CDaubs]

Off to a good start!!

 

[Charliegrs]

Just out of curiousity, what do you have for filtration? Do you have a sump? What kind of overflow do you have? I imagine its pretty a hang on type right?

 

[KillerChimps3600]

As of now i have nothing but the rock, i have been reading up on here and from what i can tell with my size tank that as long as i keep up with my water changes i shouldn't really need much else. Somebody please correct me if im wrong though haha. But i do plan on adding a HOB skimmer some time in the not to distant future.

New pic with more LR

flash was on

 

[dcantucson]

Is there water in there yet? I couldn't tell.

 

[KillerChimps3600]

haha yea the picture with the flash on makes it look empty, but ya there is water.

 

[dcantucson]

Cool. I like the background too. When you do get a HOB Skimmer look at the Reef Octopus ones. I've had 3 different brands and that one seems to be the best IMO.

 

[KillerChimps3600]

Thanks, and alright I just checked pretty pricey ha might not happen for a little while.

 

[dcantucson]

Save up for a good one that way you won't have to waste money upgrading later. I've been there, done that.

 

[Jenna09]

Is your heater laying on a piece of live rock? I would be inclined to secure it to the side of the tank and not have it laying down.

And I am thinking you will need at least a small filter to get things going...a hang on filter, canister, sump, refugium or protein skimmer (or a combo of them) is necessary imo even for a smaller tank. I don't think just water changes would be enough but I could be wrong. Not only for water circulation, but when you have a smaller tank its much harder to keep the water chemistry correct and by adding a filtration system you are essentially increasing the amount of water you have in your tank and giving you more room for error incase you miss a water change.

See if you can find something used if you cannot afford brandnew right now and then like dcantucson said save for a good product that you can buy in the future once things have cycled and got going.

Goodluck!
Jenna

EDIT: I missed that you said you have a small filter with some sponge in it...is it a hangon? I cannot see it from the picture.

 

[KillerChimps3600]

The heater is on the back glass a couple inches behind the rock, and the filter hangs onto the glass with a suction cup. And alright ill look more into adding another filter to it.

I did have a HOB filter from when i had another freshwater tank but when I plugged it in it didn't work. Would buying another and gutting it and turning it into a refugium be a good idea? Also would the light above it need to be on all night?

 

[Sharkie]

I had a marineland bio wheel 200 on my 20 gallon and it was easy to keep clean.... i'd suggest getting one of those ( i think they are like $20) and maybe a k2... at least thats what I had in my 20... as well as a 150watt heater. Still running those things on the tank currently and it's doing great :3

 

[KillerChimps3600]

alright sounds good ill look into those thanks

 

[wontonflip]

Looks good so far! Need more rocks (not that I can talk...I need more rocks for mine, too LOL)

Actually, the way you have your heater is fine, as long as it's not touching rocks or sand. It allows for a more even heat distribution....plus it hides better horizontal :D

 

[KillerChimps3600]

Yea i know I need more rocks I will probably add about 10more pounds within the week to help hide that heater even more haha

 

[prthd]

i guess my concern with thr heater laying down is, what if a rock would fall on it and break it. that could be bad.

 

[KillerChimps3600]

Yea i guess your right about that but the rocks are pretty secure and ill make sure that it wont be able to happen before i add anything into the tank.

 

[KillerChimps3600]

Last night i found my first hitch hikers, pretty sure it was an emerald crab was green and about the size of a dime, maybe smaller and saw my first live bristle worm was about a half inch long.
I got some more rocks today, so i had to move things around, how do you guys like how they are set up?

Also is this diatoms? or whatever it is called haha