20 Gal Tank after 1 week

[Karlbob]

After many years of keeping fresh water tanks, I decided to try a salt tank. I intended to clean out and use a 20 gallon tall that was set up as a terrarium (I moved my leopard gecko to a new tank recently). In the course of cleaning the tank, I stood up from a kneeling position with my hand on the tank. Crack!

So, I bought a new 20 gallon tall. Why only 20 gallons? Because I have a tiny house with a cramped living room, and I already have a 12" by 24" stand.

The tank came with a hood and a standard-issue fluorescent tube. I also still had the hood from the terrarium. In addition, my wife had a tiny hex tank with a betta (recently deceased), so I swiped that fixture as well. Now I have one basic fluorescent tube, one 50/50 fluorescent/actinic bulb, and a compact fluorescent bulb intended for household lighting. All together, they total out at 40 watts. The hood arrangement that lets me get all of these over a 20 gallon tank is not pretty, but it is working so far. I've already spent a decent sum starting this tank, and I'm afraid I just don't have hundreds of dollars for a specialized lighting rig at the moment.

So far I have a hang-on power filter and a 175 gph powerhead, no protein skimmer, and no sump.

The folks at one LFS suggested that I start the tank with a bag of live aragonite sand, some live rock, and a couple of chromis or damselfish. I bought 10 lbs of live rock and two blue-green chromis. One chromis lived 3 days, the other managed to hold out for 5 days. Now that I've read a bit more, I'll wait a while before putting a fish in the tank again.

The initial lot of live rock contained one nice hitchhiker, a feather duster/fan worm, with a cool pattern of white and brown stripes. There was also a tiny brittle star, who I've only seen once, some small tube worms with plain white plumage, and a small snail. Rather than bristle worms, after dark I saw several worms that looked more like earthworms.

After a week, my wife and I went to another LFS to look for 5 more pounds of live rock. My wife spotted a rock with a mushroom coral, another with about 10 zooanthids, and a third rock with two leather corals. We also picked up a small hermit crab. One of the new rocks apparently included our first bristle worm.

To me, the best part of a salt tank is the invertebrates. A few years ago, I spent several months visiting a local bubble tea shop with a large reef tank. I enjoyed watching their corals spread over the course of weeks. To me, fish are okay, but not critical.

From what I've read so far, it sounds like my best bet now is to sit tight with what I have and watch to see which of my hitchhikers thrive in this setup, and which will not get the right conditions in my tank.

Any advice that doesn't involve plunking down hundreds of dollars right away is welcome.

 

[cindre2000]

Keeping tight is good. Just spend some time getting used to the new tank and getting into a routine. I would say the next "major" step would be to improve the lighting, either with a new fixture or DIY.

Only thing is- you might want to double check on the snail to make sure it is a harmless variety.

 

[Kazzy]

You can get cheap PC lighting totaling even just 80 watts and your corals will be much happier and it will expand your coral keeping horizons quite a bit.

 

[mr_X]

i would check your local craigs list and ebay for used stuff. also here in the "for sale" section. just don't make any purchases without asking more experienced members of this forum, and that will save you money.
i'm sure that more than a few of us purchased the wrong components, and had to re-purchase them later.

i would also start small water changes, due to the polyps and leathers.
i too, was directed to use damsels to populate my tank with bacteria. poor little guys :?

 

[Karlbob]

I did a one gallon water change this weekend. I've been reading some beginner's guides, and it seemed like a good compromise between the sources that said "Don't change the water for a week or two" and the ones that said "Start performing 10-15% water changes right away".

 

[ChrisRD]

No need to minimize water changes.

The idea of initially minimizing water changes comes from the perceived need to "cycle" the tank by letting ammonia build up. This may be applicable in a system where you're trying to grow bacteria in an inert biological filter, but not when you're dealing with a system that has been started with live rock/sand (which already contains the bacteria). In fact, if anything you're better off keeping ammonia levels undetectable with some initial water changes in this type of setup.

 

[Karlbob]

Since my original post, I have swapped out the last of the basic aquarium fluorescent tubes for an actinic bulb. The compact fluorescent household light just kept falling off the top of the tank, so it is gone (it was precariously balanced).

I think everything is content, if not rapturously happy, with the current light level. My leather corals have noticeably grown, my zooanthids have much better color, and my single mushroom stretched out its foot and deposited a baby 'shroom.

Now I have algae problems. The floor of the tank is covered with diatoms, and the walls and rocks keep producing hair algae. I purchased two trochus, two "chestnut snails" (don't know the scientific name), and three nassarius, plus four tiny blue leg hermit crabs. They have all helped, but I'm still scraping algae off the walls.

Someone will probably suggest a protein skimmer. Unfortunately, that will have to wait a little longer. My wife tells me that if I spend all my money this month on the aquarium and have none left for our delayed honeymoon/1 year anniversary vacation next month ... I will regret it.

After quite a bit of reading, I think I have an idea. My AquaClear power filter contains a foam filter block, a pouch of activated carbon, and a bag of BioMax ceramic rings. From what I gather, the 15 lbs of live rock in the tank is probably hosting more bacteria than the ceramic rings are. I'm not sure about the foam block, but most people seem to believe that activated carbon is a good thing to have.

My idea is to remove the foam block and the ceramic rings, leave the activated carbon, and add some macroalgae to the filter, turning it into a small refugium. The name is kind of ironic right now, because there aren't any fish for the macroalgae to take refuge from. Still, the macroalgae may outcompete the hair algae and diatoms for food. My LFS sells plastic cups full of algae for $10. I don't know what species it is, but I can find out before I make a final decision.

I have two main questions for the forum: 1) Is this a good idea? 2) Should I leave the foam block in the filter? If I do, there won't be much room for algae.

 

[mr_X]

i think it's a good idea.
but even so, this algae bloom is completely normal. let it ride itself out. you can do things to keep the tank pretty while the bloom takes it's course, but eventually, with proper husbandry, it will go away on it's own.
since you can't afford a protein skimmer at this time, keep strict with your water changes.

you don't need the foam filter, or the bio balls.

 

[Karlbob]

Thanks, mr_X. I spoke to the LFS, and the macroalgae they sell is chaetomorpha. I will probably pick some up tomorrow evening, and I'll try to be patient with the algae blooms. Right now I also have a 'pod bloom (I can't tell whether they are amphi- or cope-pods). Pulling the foam filter out created a debris storm in the tank, but it's all settled now. I'm sure I'll pick most of it up with the vacuum during my next weekly 10% water change.

 

[mr_X]

since you can't afford a protein skimmer at this time, keep strict with your water changes.
.

umm...always keep strict with your water changes, would be better advice. :wink:

chaeto is a nice safe macroalgae. it's a little slower growing than bubble caulerpa, but it won't ever get toxic.