Aquarium Schmo's 20 Gallon Mixed Reef

[AquariumSchmo]

Hi,

My name is Casey Martin. I just joined ARC yesterday (10/06/2018).

I started with a 10 gallon reef tank in August 2016 and built my current 20 gallon mixed reef with a 10 gallon sump about a year later. Despite having a reef tank for over two years, I still have very few corals (about a dozen), but my tank is very stable and I plan to start adding more. I joined ARC with the hopes of meeting lots of people that share this passion and maybe win some corals in raffles at upcoming events.

Display Tank:

• Standard 20 gallon
• Drilled with overflow
• Mixed reef
• Jebao OW-10 wavemaker

Livestock:

• Yellow clown goby
• Peppermint shrimp
• Hermit crabs and trochus snails

Stand:

• DIY using 2x4's and plywood

Sump:

• Standard 10 gallon
• Aqualife Mini 115 protein skimmer
• Chemipure Blue
• Filter socks
• Aqueon AQ1700 return pump
• Rock ruble and SeaChem Matrix
• Chateo
• Two hanging pendant lights with a LED grow bulb and a daylight bulb
  
• Coral Box A100 ATO
  
• Wooden air stone for occasional bubble scrubbing
• Computer fan
• Egg crate to absorb sound

Miscellaneous Equipment:

• Mars Aqua LED
• DIY clear plastic net lid
  
• Fan
• Ink Bird temperature controller

Here are some pictures:

 

[lmm1967]

Looks good !

 

[Adam]

Pretty cool start. You did a great job with the top net cover too!

 

[AquariumSchmo]

Pretty cool start. You did a great job with the top net cover too!

Thanks. I used the 1/4 inch netting from Bulk Reef Supply and window screen frame from Home Depot. I initially had a firefish, but it jumped out. I wish I had purchased the 1/8 inch instead. Lesson learned for a later date to replace it. In the meantime, my yellow clown goby is certainly not going anywhere.

 

[AquariumSchmo]

Looks good !

Thanks!

 

[fishyfishy]

That sump setup looks Great!

 

[AquariumSchmo]

@fishyfishy - That's my second iteration. I redid it about 7 months ago. A couple of the baffles were loose. I made the first chamber wider so I can eventually buy a bigger skimmer. I also added a shelf after the refugium for additional mechanical filtration and to hold the chateo in. If I were to ever redo it again, I would add a chamber and holder for the filter sock.

 

[AquariumSchmo]

I built a canopy for the lights this past weekend. Previously my Mars Aqua LED light was hanging from the ceiling. I bought a single bulb T5 light fixture though to make it a LED/T5 Hybrid and figured it would look ugly to have both hanging, so this project had to happen.

 

[AquariumSchmo]

November 2018 Update...
New corals: mushroom, zoas, birdsnest, starburst monti, and green slimmer acro
Changes: moved recently purchased xenia to island, though I understand they may still be able to drift to other parts of the tank

 

[FutureInterest]

Looking really nice!

 

[AquariumSchmo]

I picked up 7 new corals at the frag swap from @futureinterest and @brent311

 

[FutureInterest]

I don't know what it is but I love seeing my frags in other tanks. I guess I feel a bit parental and even a lil proud of those guys.

I hope they keep doing well for you and thanks for sharing Casey your tank is looking great!

 

[AquariumSchmo]

I don't know what it is but I love seeing my frags in other tanks. I guess I feel a bit parental and even a lil proud of those guys.

I hope they keep doing well for you and thanks for sharing Casey your tank is looking great!

They may not respond like a dog or cat, but I do my best to keep these animals happy. The first year and a half or so was a struggle at times to keep all the coral alive, but it has been much easier over the last six months. Up until joining the club last month, I still had very few corals because I was hesitant to add more. I figure the tank has finally matured and stabilized. All these corals from you has certainly brought this mini reef to life.

 

[AquariumSchmo]

Can't say I won't add more corals, but I'm certainly going to slow down a bit for now and let these get settled in. I have some test kits, but I would like to get some Hanna checkers for my birthday in March to see if continued weekly 20% water changes is enough, or if I need to buy a dosing pump. I like the digital read out on them, which will really help with figuring out how much of the elements the corals are consuming daily. I haven't been testing or dosing anything, just regular water changes.

 

[AquariumSchmo]

Small update: I just added 500 pods, a two head red candy cane coral, and 5 additional blue leg hermit crabs... all from @aquariumdepot. That was my first live box order ever from any company. Everything arrived alive and well.

 

[Trizzino]

Looking good! I say I won't add anything and then I get on the forums and that changes

 

[aquariumdepot]

Small update: I just added 500 pods, a two head red candy cane coral, and 5 additional blue leg hermit crabs... all from @aquariumdepot. That was my first live box order ever from any company. Everything arrived alive and well.

Thank You @AquariumSchmo - appreciate the mention!! You might want to checkout our Coral Sale - all corals are 50% off for a few more days!!

 

[AquariumSchmo]

It has been about two and half months since my last update. The only additions are a six-line wrasse and an acro. I have also been dosing Tropic Marin's All-For-Reef and AcroPower. In the next couple of weeks, I will be adding a doser. For the following month, I think I need to make a change to my lighting. I have a Mars Aqua (Chinese black box) at 45% blues and 15% whites, and a single bulb blue T5. I am not happy with the color of the corals; just kind of faded (i.e. a setosa was bright red, now pink). I could be wrong, but I think the lighting is to blame. Still debating what to switch to, but I have a limited budget ($200 or less). Anyone have thoughts on this? Are my lights turned up too bright? Could that cause a setosa to go from bright red to pink? If not, do you have any lighting suggestions? I have a Hipargero Aqua Knight A029 on my 11 gallon tank and the corals look much fluffier in comparison. The same strand of candy canes are not as open and fluffy in this tank.

 

[Mom2Many]

I have two current orbit marine LEDs (not the pros) on my 20 long and everything is very colored up. But it is a shallow tank and I dont have any high light corals in it. You can see my 20 long in members tanks. I do have a hiperago (sp?) On my ten and everything is happy at 40% white 80% blue.

 

[t_anton0283]

Wow really nice tank all those corals are really going to fill out the space really nicely in a few months or so.