Hello! I started my tank almost 2 months ago but I wanted to create this thread to document my progress and hopefully be able to get some advice and tips. I am a college student, so I have been building this on a budget and everything is a bit pieced together! I have plans to update gradually in the future.
I decided to set up this tank as part of an industrial design capstone project. I am putting together a speculative project that would allow those that grow coral at home to participate in coral restoration all over the world. (I plan on setting up another thread later on to talk about that project and get some reefers reactions!) Anyway, setting up this tank was a huge part of that project in order to understand the care, time, and passion that goes into taking care of a reef tank! I have loved having it and am excited to see my tank grow even after this project is complete.
So here is what I started with:
Tank: 20g acrylic Tank
Filter: Fluval AquaClear
Light: Current USA Orbit Marine 24”
Heater: Aquatop heater
Livesand
Dryrock
Stand: Display stand from design studio
This was my original setup about a month ago. For a couple of different reasons, it has to be set up in the design studio where I work. So I don't have much control over the temperature of the space or lighting. There is a full wall of windows in this room but I have tucked it away from exposure as much as possible. But I think that the temperature regulation of the room has been and will continue to be the biggest problem.
View attachment 3080965
I only added a pair of clownfish once it was cycled. There was almost no growth in the tank so I decided to wait until the clowns had been in for a little to start a CUC. After they had been in for a couple of days there was a bit of black algae spotting.
I had to leave town for a week right not long after adding the clowns and came back to a lot of algae. But overall everything seemed good so I decided it was time to add my CUC and the first corals.
Added:
2 trochus snails
3 Frags (1 Zoa, 1 GSP, 1 mixed plug with some zoas and a mystery frag that I can't remember the name of)
Aquascape and plugs
I don't love my aquascape and will probably be changing it in the future. And honestly, everything will probably continue to change for a while so I decided not to glue down my coral. But that meant they weren't safe on the rock. I didn't have them wedged into the rock well enough and one of my snails knocked a plug and the gsp over. The one on the plug was looking pretty bad and really freaked me out! But I set it back up and it was feeling better in about a day. He is now living in a frag holder but looks much better
Laser Cutting a Lid
I didn't have a lid for the tank and was dealing with a ton of evaporation. This was becoming a problem because I had to top off every day by hand. Luckily I was able to get some 1/8" acrylic for free and have access to a laser cutter to make my own. Because of the rim filter, I had to make some custom cutouts. It was pretty easy and free to do so this was a big win. I have some warping on the acrylic due to the light but I am not worried unless it gets worse.
(need to clean the lid... eeek)
Problems with the Clowns
My clowns have been behaving a bit odd since I got them. They constantly hang around the heater so of course I assumed they were always cold. But when I checked the water temp was at a steady 78-79. And then 2 days ago I noticed them staying at the surface and they weren't moving as much. After some research, my conclusion was that there was not enough oxygen in the tank. Today I added a powerhead to the back corner and it seemed to have an almost immediate effect. They are no longer at the surface and seem a lot more active, moving away from the heater more and more. We will see if that fixed the issue, if not I will add an airstone.
P.S. This change was around the time that I added the lid. Wondering if that could have had an effect on the oxygen in the tank and the fish?
Adding the Powerhead
Although I think that adding the powerhead was the right thing to do, I don't know if I have the right one. I am afraid that the one I got is too powerful for my small tank. I have it directed slightly toward the short end of the tank. I don't know if it is too strong for the coral I have in it or if it is too strong for the clowns. I have a video of the flow on two of the coral for example. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!
So that was a lot of information and pictures but I hope that it was all relevant and interesting. Let me know if there is more info I should be including.
I am definitely still learning about tanking care for a tank and don't have much technical knowledge but have been doing a ton of research before each change I make. I think a lot of what I learn will come through experience.
For now, I am going to make sure that my issues with my clowns are good and that my tank conditions can support the coral I have before making any other additions. I hope to get another fish and a couple more corals but we will see when that happens!
Thanks
I decided to set up this tank as part of an industrial design capstone project. I am putting together a speculative project that would allow those that grow coral at home to participate in coral restoration all over the world. (I plan on setting up another thread later on to talk about that project and get some reefers reactions!) Anyway, setting up this tank was a huge part of that project in order to understand the care, time, and passion that goes into taking care of a reef tank! I have loved having it and am excited to see my tank grow even after this project is complete.
So here is what I started with:
Tank: 20g acrylic Tank
Filter: Fluval AquaClear
Light: Current USA Orbit Marine 24”
Heater: Aquatop heater
Livesand
Dryrock
Stand: Display stand from design studio
This was my original setup about a month ago. For a couple of different reasons, it has to be set up in the design studio where I work. So I don't have much control over the temperature of the space or lighting. There is a full wall of windows in this room but I have tucked it away from exposure as much as possible. But I think that the temperature regulation of the room has been and will continue to be the biggest problem.
I only added a pair of clownfish once it was cycled. There was almost no growth in the tank so I decided to wait until the clowns had been in for a little to start a CUC. After they had been in for a couple of days there was a bit of black algae spotting.
I had to leave town for a week right not long after adding the clowns and came back to a lot of algae. But overall everything seemed good so I decided it was time to add my CUC and the first corals.
Added:
2 trochus snails
3 Frags (1 Zoa, 1 GSP, 1 mixed plug with some zoas and a mystery frag that I can't remember the name of)
Aquascape and plugs
I don't love my aquascape and will probably be changing it in the future. And honestly, everything will probably continue to change for a while so I decided not to glue down my coral. But that meant they weren't safe on the rock. I didn't have them wedged into the rock well enough and one of my snails knocked a plug and the gsp over. The one on the plug was looking pretty bad and really freaked me out! But I set it back up and it was feeling better in about a day. He is now living in a frag holder but looks much better
Laser Cutting a Lid
I didn't have a lid for the tank and was dealing with a ton of evaporation. This was becoming a problem because I had to top off every day by hand. Luckily I was able to get some 1/8" acrylic for free and have access to a laser cutter to make my own. Because of the rim filter, I had to make some custom cutouts. It was pretty easy and free to do so this was a big win. I have some warping on the acrylic due to the light but I am not worried unless it gets worse.
(need to clean the lid... eeek)
Problems with the Clowns
My clowns have been behaving a bit odd since I got them. They constantly hang around the heater so of course I assumed they were always cold. But when I checked the water temp was at a steady 78-79. And then 2 days ago I noticed them staying at the surface and they weren't moving as much. After some research, my conclusion was that there was not enough oxygen in the tank. Today I added a powerhead to the back corner and it seemed to have an almost immediate effect. They are no longer at the surface and seem a lot more active, moving away from the heater more and more. We will see if that fixed the issue, if not I will add an airstone.
P.S. This change was around the time that I added the lid. Wondering if that could have had an effect on the oxygen in the tank and the fish?
Adding the Powerhead
Although I think that adding the powerhead was the right thing to do, I don't know if I have the right one. I am afraid that the one I got is too powerful for my small tank. I have it directed slightly toward the short end of the tank. I don't know if it is too strong for the coral I have in it or if it is too strong for the clowns. I have a video of the flow on two of the coral for example. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!
So that was a lot of information and pictures but I hope that it was all relevant and interesting. Let me know if there is more info I should be including.
I am definitely still learning about tanking care for a tank and don't have much technical knowledge but have been doing a ton of research before each change I make. I think a lot of what I learn will come through experience.
For now, I am going to make sure that my issues with my clowns are good and that my tank conditions can support the coral I have before making any other additions. I hope to get another fish and a couple more corals but we will see when that happens!
Thanks
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