OffTopic's 20 Gallon SPS Reef Tank

[OffTopic]

Introduction

Over this build thread I am going to embark on my first ever Saltwater Fish Tank. To be perfectly honest I have never had a successful fish tank; growing up probably like most kids wanted a fish tank and then I simply got bored days later. That being said I really hope it isn’t a prerequisite to having a successful reef tank.

Now I am super excited to jump straight into the hobby with a 20 Gallon SPS Dominant Reef Tank. This reef tank is in anticipation of my 120 Gallon SPS Reef Tank that I am going to setup once I move to Seattle, Washington next year. I am hoping the reef tank will help me learn the hobby of reef keeping and allow the 120 Gallon SPS tank to run smoothly/avoid the pitfalls I know I will make on this tank.

After being extremely disappointed going a LFS due to its uncleanliness; I worried that the LFS would be the standard, however I found this amazingly clean LFS and decided to do a entire fish tank build with them. The owner was extremely helpful and spent over an hour answering questions with me.

Goals of The Reef Tank

To be honest, I want to see if the hobby is right for me before I invest in a huge 120 Gallon behemoth of a fish tank. Now I know the 20 Gallons will actually be more difficult in terms of PH/Ammonia swings than the 120 Gallon Fish Tank due to less of a dilution factor, making this more unforgiving than the 120 Gallon Tank. But, I feel that with the lower barrier to entry and the ability to learn hands on, instead of reading a book will be invaluable later on.

1. Create a beautiful SPS Dominant Reef Tank, with healthy corals and find a good balance with nutrient control.
   
   
2. Learn as much as possible about Reef Keeping, not saying making no mistakes but trying to limit them.
   
   
3. Understand the hobby requires takes patience and time commitment, not to make any rash decisions which I will regret later.

Equipment for the Reef Tank

My plan is to acquire parts throughout the year and test equipment before I chose a close iteration for my eventual larger 120 Gallon Reef Tank. I really want to get to know the inner workings of the equipment and have them not seem so foreign to me.

Tank: Innovative Marine Nuvo 20 Gallons

Lighting #1: Kessil A160WE

Lighting #2: Kessil A160WE

Powerhead: Tunze Turnbelle Nano 6055

Protein Skimmer: AquaMaxx 1.5 HOB Skimmer

Heater: Neo-therm 75 Watt

Carbon/GFO Reactor: Media Racks

Return Pump: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.0 Pump

Stocking List for the Reef Tank

2 X Ocellaris Clownfish

Invert Stocking List for the Reef Tank

To be completely honest I am extremely confused on how to stock a proper clean-up crew or if one is truly needed. I love the idea of having various crabs and snails cleaning up the whole day for me. However, I don't want to be inherently cruel and stock a clean-up crew that is bound to die. Does anyone have good advice for what I should stock for the tank in terms of inverts?

Maintenance Schedule

Really from what I have gathered there really will not be too much to maintain the tank. I will make sure to look after spikes in chemistry which will be more likely with less dilution. However in pure tank maintenance there doesn't seem to be much. Note some of this will change once I get the protein skimmer and the GFO/Carbon Reactor. Here is a sample of my weekly maintenance

1.) Test the Water Parameters every 2-3 Days
2.) Every Sunday do a Three Gallon water change
3) Every Sunday clean the Sand and Glass

Build Process So Far

Honestly this process has been pretty plug and play so far. Nothing was overly complicated with the cable management notably taking the most time to do. I did have a bit of a problem with the Kessil A-Series Gooseneck as I was boneheaded and didn't do a really basic step right(I honestly don't know how I made the mistake). The lights kept tipping over as a result but after I figured out my mistake all went smoothly and the build went right along.

I tried my best to keep all of the cords neat and tidy with the use of cable clips/ties. I still have some work to do with the drip loops but I think it soon will be pretty safe. It was really nice how easy IM made the tank to setup and get right into reefing.

Now the aquascape I don't really know what to think about it. It isn't anything special that will make your mouth drop and to me it is just to simple. I only had ten pounds of live rock so I got only ten pounds of aquascape... duh. I defiantly will tweak the aquascape and probably purchase another ten pounds of live rock in order to have more rock to work with. I was wondering, does R2R have any articles or forum posts on aquascaping? I wouldn't be surprised this forum is chalk full of information, I just haven't gotten around to looking for an aquascaping guide.

The tank of course was extremely cloudy after I added the water to the tank. But as I am writing this it should be cleared by the time final pictures are taken. Per the LFS Owners advice I am instant cycling the tank and purchasing the new tank additions today. I dosed ATM Bacteria colony and will continue doing it for the next week.

Final Thoughts/Pictures

All in all I have to say I am quite pleased with how everything turned out. It isn't anything too insane but I find it awesome and thats enough for me! Today I am getting the fishy friends who will inhabit this tank, so I would love all of your advice on that. Here are some pictures of the build before, after, and everywhere in between.

The tank sits next to my desk and I do know there is a window next to it. I will try my best to close it so I don't get direct sunlight but I will just have to try my best.

These are pictures of the tank being constructed/without any water in it yet. I wish I got a picture of the aquascape before I filled the tank with water but it is probably alright, I rather not drain the tank just for that!

Last night after I filled it and it was extremely cloudy! Note the cables are considerably more tidy following these pictures.

Now here is the pictures of the beautiful tank this morning! The lights or on medium color and lowest intensity in these pictures.

Now I know it may not seem like much to you experienced reefers, who have stunning tanks. But this is my little slice of the ocean and I am so happy to have it! I would love to hear everyones feedback and have a great day!

 

[Dan Korczak]

Would you consider the MP40 wasteful for this size tank?

I have considered buying a used mp40 for my 25g reef tank - mainly because i find them cheaper than new MP10’s. If I ever want to dump this reef tank, I can always use the 40 on my larger tank.

 

[Reefcowboy]

Sharp looking set up! Good luck with build

 

[OffTopic]

Would you consider the MP40 wasteful for this size tank?

I have considered buying a used mp40 for my 25g reef tank - mainly because i find them cheaper than new MP10’s. If I ever want to dump this reef tank, I can always use the 40 on my larger tank.

Well I personally had one laying around and I thought why buy a new MP10 when I have a perfectly good MP40 laying around. I agree, at least on R2R you can find used MP40's for around $220-270. I also like the idea that it has flexibility and can be moved to a bigger tank, which a MP10 would have less success in.

Sharp looking set up! Good luck with build

Thank you!

 

[Dan Korczak]

And at that, I’ll have to grab an MP40 next time I see one.

 

[OffTopic]

Update #1

Went to the LFS and picked up a pair of clownfish. Sadie and Ricardo will be the first inhabitants of the fish tank! One fun thing I learned today was that clownfish are a-sexual and typically the larger clownfish becomes the female, the more I know...

 

[RichtheReefer21]

Welcome to r2r! Good luck with the new tank.

Ocd and attention to detail are required for success, and it appears u have both!

U got this!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks like a well though out plan. Two thoughts I have are

1. pick up an auto top off (ATO) - it will help with stability and be ready if you go away for a few days
2. If you get a new heater I recommend the Cobalt Neo-Therm as you mentioned (lifetime guarantee for the product)

Looks good so far. I am not a huge fan of arches (only my opinion), but I think the natural, simple way you layed out your aquascape works very well aesthetically and looks quite elegant.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Also, you asked about aquascaping. I think yours works, but since you asked I really liked this video series. The videos are short and pack in a ton of ideas and philosophy.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reef-aquascaping-video-series.392876/

 

[OffTopic]

Looks like a well though out plan. Two thoughts I have are

1. pick up an auto top off (ATO) - it will help with stability and be ready if you go away for a few days
2. If you get a new heater I recommend the Cobalt Neo-Therm as you mentioned (lifetime guarantee for the product)

Looks good so far. I am not a huge fan of arches (only my opinion), but I think the natural, simple way you layed out your aquascape works very well aesthetically and looks quite elegant.

Thanks for the advice, would you recommend getting an ATO before I get the Protein Skimmer? My First plan for gear was to get and RODI, one to lower the need to buy RODI water, but the real reason is that the LFS I am going to has a Toll Road and Id rather not have to pay that every week.

Though that all being said I do have this square 10 gallon cube that I use to keep freshwater fish in. My plan was to eventually either convert this into a DIY Refugium or a AutoTop Off system. From what I have researched a AutoTop Off is more beneficial addition early on, whilst a Refugium probably best added later on as a method for nutrient control.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Thanks for the advice, would you recommend getting an ATO before I get the Protein Skimmer? My First plan for gear was to get and RODI, one to lower the need to buy RODI water, but the real reason is that the LFS I am going to has a Toll Road and Id rather not have to pay that every week.

Though that all being said I do have this square 10 gallon cube that I use to keep freshwater fish in. My plan was to eventually either convert this into a DIY Refugium or a AutoTop Off system. From what I have researched a AutoTop Off is more beneficial addition early on, whilst a Refugium probably best added later on as a method for nutrient control.

I would robably say RO/DI, ATO, Skimmer, Refugium for my opinion on the order when setting up a tank. I would prioritize a skimmer over the ATO myself though because I personally would always use a skimmer and I could always top off manually if I had too.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I should add, I went with the skimmer prioritized because I started with live rock. I wanted it to help with any die off.

 

[Ranjib]

Do you want to get to sps heavy within 1 year? You mentioned moving to seattle. Within a year it might be challenging.

I would suggest following things if you are serious about sps (like acropora) that I have learned in the past two years (mixed reef, biocube)

- Two A160 instead of a80, they are no good for tank of that size (a80 is 15watts, you want at least 5 watts per gallon and use it till 80%)
- Smart ATO micro. You don't want salinity swings. Water level can also impact the heater.
- MP10, because you want to run reef crust or some other modes .. and not constant speed.
- Skimmer: Aquamax 1.5 HOB, or tunze, or even any cheap one, do wet skimming.
- Use media cab and run chemipure blue (carbon + gfo + purigen). Use the empty space for dosing pump tubing, ph probe etc
- Control feeding. Use reef roid or some small particle food (i.e. choose LPS corals carefully) to reduce detritus issues. Choose fish carefully as well. Reduce bioload as much as possible. Have things like wrasse for dealing with AEFW and other pests.
- Start measuring alk/Ca from early on. definitely before introducing acroporas. read about Kalk and two-part, and check if you need any of those (in due time, you should).
- Don't introduce dry rocks. Ceramic balls and anything that can leach unwanted things (phosphate, aluminum etc)
- You can add purple up and other safe to try additives to boost various aspects of the tank. Almost all of them will help sps (like coralline coverage will reduce real estates for algae)
- Be religious about water changes. This is something that will save you in the long run, and minimize all your errors regularly. It does not have to be very thorough, i.e. its ok if you don't clean all the little algae, or blow all the crevices,, as long as 10-15% water is changed, its a big help. Get a small RO/DI setup like ro buddie, if you have not. Make water change easy,

Design your tank for sps specifically, in short, you are trying to hit high light, high flow (at least from middle to top), relative low nutrient, but able to feed corals twice a week and fish 3 to 4 times a week, add amino acids etc. Start with harder sps and slowly move to delicate ones (e.ge. montipora > birdnest, green pociliopora -> green slimer -> tricolor valida -> red dragon). Avoid invasive encrusting sps like orange digitata

 

[OffTopic]

Do you want to get to sps heavy within 1 year? You mentioned moving to seattle. Within a year it might be challenging.

I would suggest following things if you are serious about sps (like acropora) that I have learned in the past two years (mixed reef, biocube)

- Two A160 instead of a80, they are no good for tank of that size (a80 is 15watts, you want at least 5 watts per gallon and use it till 80%)
- Smart ATO micro. You don't want salinity swings. Water level can also impact the heater.
- MP10, because you want to run reef crust or some other modes .. and not constant speed.
- Skimmer: Aquamax 1.5 HOB, or tunze, or even any cheap one, do wet skimming.
- Use media cab and run chemipure blue (carbon + gfo + purigen). Use the empty space for dosing pump tubing, ph probe etc
- Control feeding. Use reef roid or some small particle food (i.e. choose LPS corals carefully) to reduce detritus issues. Choose fish carefully as well. Reduce bioload as much as possible. Have things like wrasse for dealing with AEFW and other pests.
- Start measuring alk/Ca from early on. definitely before introducing acroporas. read about Kalk and two-part, and check if you need any of those (in due time, you should).
- Don't introduce dry rocks. Ceramic balls and anything that can leach unwanted things (phosphate, aluminum etc)
- You can add purple up and other safe to try additives to boost various aspects of the tank. Almost all of them will help sps (like coralline coverage will reduce real estates for algae)
- Be religious about water changes. This is something that will save you in the long run, and minimize all your errors regularly. It does not have to be very thorough, i.e. its ok if you don't clean all the little algae, or blow all the crevices,, as long as 10-15% water is changed, its a big help. Get a small RO/DI setup like ro buddie, if you have not. Make water change easy,

Design your tank for sps specifically, in short, you are trying to hit high light, high flow (at least from middle to top), relative low nutrient, but able to feed corals twice a week and fish 3 to 4 times a week, add amino acids etc. Start with harder sps and slowly move to delicate ones (e.ge. montipora > birdnest, green pociliopora -> green slimer -> tricolor valida -> red dragon). Avoid invasive encrusting sps like orange digitata

Thank you for the advice, theres a ton to break down which is great. For the lights that is really interesting, when talking to my LFS owner he was saying how these would be more than enough. But I definitely see your point how they are just 15 watt bulbs and SPS in general require a lot more light and I am not sure if this will do the trick. If I understand it correct SPS requires between 150-300 Par for better growth. My question being instead of investing in two totally new lights could I grab two-four T5's and rock with them with the A80's? That would just lower the cost dramatically early on.

Smart ATO micro I will look into picking one up, I can buy any container to run these correct. I don't have to buy those $160 glass cubes I keep seeing on BRS? If I go down to Homedepot and grab a bucket and setup the ATO that would work?

For the MP10 I 100% understand where you are coming from, I initially just had a MP40 laying around so I figured I might aswell use it. But the eventual plan for the tank is defiantly going to be purchasing a MP10.

I have been reading into Two-Part and I was thinking I would go with BRS option. My question is how early on do I go out and invest in the Two-Part system. Is it needed today or should it be after I pick up after I purchase the skimmer/other equipment mentioned.

On the notion not to introduce dry rocks and ceramic balls, if I may ask why? Wouldn't that help with nutrient control? I am sorry I am obviously new to this whole hobby!

My final thought is, when do I introduce corals to the tank? Taking to my LFS they can never really gauge when to do it, mostly saying, "we will know when the time comes." I don't want this to be interpreted as rushing it or anything, I just want to have a better gauge of what we are waiting for, is it for the live rock to cycle or is it to ensure that the tank has stabilized chemically? My plan was to wait about two months for the tank to cycle and the chemicals to balance and then get serious about adding corals. All this being said I think I am going to make a stand dedicated to the fish tank, it seems that there will be a lot needed to be stored down below.


* Also for the fish options, I didn't know I would be adding any more fish past my pair of clownfish. Would it be beneficial to get another fish like a Gobby and once they grow out of it move them to a bigger tank? *

 

[OffTopic]

I would robably say RO/DI, ATO, Skimmer, Refugium for my opinion on the order when setting up a tank. I would prioritize a skimmer over the ATO myself though because I personally would always use a skimmer and I could always top off manually if I had too.

Thank you for the help, I have been looking into your build thread, amazing job with it! Everything seemed very well planned out, admittedly haven't gotten through the entirety of it but it is truly an inspiration.

 

[NY_Caveman]

Thank you for the help, I have been looking into your build thread, amazing job with it! Everything seemed very well planned out, admittedly haven't gotten through the entirety of it but it is truly an inspiration.

Thanks! Very kind.

 

[OffTopic]

Do you want to get to sps heavy within 1 year? You mentioned moving to seattle. Within a year it might be challenging.

I would suggest following things if you are serious about sps (like acropora) that I have learned in the past two years (mixed reef, biocube)

- Two A160 instead of a80, they are no good for tank of that size (a80 is 15watts, you want at least 5 watts per gallon and use it till 80%)
- Smart ATO micro. You don't want salinity swings. Water level can also impact the heater.
- MP10, because you want to run reef crust or some other modes .. and not constant speed.
- Skimmer: Aquamax 1.5 HOB, or tunze, or even any cheap one, do wet skimming.
- Use media cab and run chemipure blue (carbon + gfo + purigen). Use the empty space for dosing pump tubing, ph probe etc
- Control feeding. Use reef roid or some small particle food (i.e. choose LPS corals carefully) to reduce detritus issues. Choose fish carefully as well. Reduce bioload as much as possible. Have things like wrasse for dealing with AEFW and other pests.
- Start measuring alk/Ca from early on. definitely before introducing acroporas. read about Kalk and two-part, and check if you need any of those (in due time, you should).
- Don't introduce dry rocks. Ceramic balls and anything that can leach unwanted things (phosphate, aluminum etc)
- You can add purple up and other safe to try additives to boost various aspects of the tank. Almost all of them will help sps (like coralline coverage will reduce real estates for algae)
- Be religious about water changes. This is something that will save you in the long run, and minimize all your errors regularly. It does not have to be very thorough, i.e. its ok if you don't clean all the little algae, or blow all the crevices,, as long as 10-15% water is changed, its a big help. Get a small RO/DI setup like ro buddie, if you have not. Make water change easy,

Design your tank for sps specifically, in short, you are trying to hit high light, high flow (at least from middle to top), relative low nutrient, but able to feed corals twice a week and fish 3 to 4 times a week, add amino acids etc. Start with harder sps and slowly move to delicate ones (e.ge. montipora > birdnest, green pociliopora -> green slimer -> tricolor valida -> red dragon). Avoid invasive encrusting sps like orange digitata

One more question, you said to use a Media Cab what is that? Is it some sort of media reactor? Or is is something a bit more simple, like grabbing a media bag and filtering out that way?

Also this is a question for everyone, does anyone know a good quite return pump? The IM one might drive me crazy, I must have just gotten an abnormally loud one.

 

[OffTopic]

Here was what I was thinking doing on lighting. From what I read doing hybrid options can be very valuable in getting the desired goal for best reef tanks. I was thinking I could stay with the Kessil A80s as I just bought them and it would be a shame not to use them. This is the route I am thinking of going, also sorry for me drawing out my idea, not at the fancy computer drawn schematic phase of the hobby yet.... LOL

That is compared to this

I understand that I could sell my Kessil A80s and get some return on them, but they are only two days old at this point and I rather roll with them. I also like the idea that I can upgrade to the Kessil 160WE's if this method still won't provide enough lighting. Would this idea work and provide enough light? Id just hate to sell the lights I got two days ago.

I know with this idea I would have to build a canopy of some sort, however I honestly don't mind doing it and I think I can make it look pretty good with my knowledge of woodworking.

Also for the return pump, I was thinking about picking up this on by Sicce, mainly for the work silent in the title/good reviews. Also it fits within my sump area/provides about the same flow as the current return pump. Will this hopefully solve my problems?

 

[dgruic0712]

I don’t necessarily think the Watts per gallon rule applies to leds. Although if you want an sps dominated tank, you may have shadowing issues with your current lights. The t5s would be a good edition to help. An ATO is a must have for a smaller tank, and having a skimmer without an ato makes it really hard to properly skim since the water level is going to be changing without an ATO. +1 on the chemipure and smart ato.

 

[Ranjib]

One more question, you said to use a Media Cab what is that? Is it some sort of media reactor? Or is is something a bit more simple, like grabbing a media bag and filtering out that way?

Also this is a question for everyone, does anyone know a good quite return pump? The IM one might drive me crazy, I must have just gotten an abnormally loud one.

Sicce is a quiet return pump (just noticed you already got that). The pain with a80 is that they are also very wide. But its ok if you are supplementing with t5. I will worry about too much wiring/stuff on the top. A160s can be reused in any larger tank, a80 i doubt. I use a 1G used kent salt jar as ATO water. I would use anything fro container store thats around 1G and food grade. BRS two parts is good, b-ionic is also good. You'll need them in a month or so , at earliest, so you have some time to research on that front. I'll say once cycled, wait till you get green algae and then add CUC. Once CUC is stabilized then add montipora at bottom, and then slowly next harder sps, giving a month of half in between. Its ok to add two or more frags at a time, as long as they get proper light acclimation.
I cant quiet explain in very scientific way that why dry rocks are bad. I have had serious issues with sps and specific dry rock island in my tank. I also read through forums (and a video with Mike Paletta's interview ) is all i can reference. Ceramic balls of some brand are known to leach aluminum, particularly under high flow. In nano tanks, they can also cause detritus traps (since skimmer have limited mileage). Probably it will be fine if its bleached and then throroughly cure, but I think its not worth the risk and time. The other end, risks of introducing pests via live rock is much managable. Particularly with nano tanks. From buble algae to majano and aiptasia.. you can literally wage manual war fare with them and take them out during weekly water changes. I think its good to learn how to deal with them (particularly the natural cures and how to avoid them), at the same time. This is the media basket i was talking about: https://intankaquatics.com/innovative-marine-fusion-nano-lagoon-peninsula-media-basket/
go simple, go with good equipment. wait as much as you can in between any changes. stability is key with SPS.