Need a wingman/woman....fresh to salt 20g

[Brent419]

I came out of the closet as a freshwater to reefer a few years ago. Short story: I am back in the closet again. Somewhat longer story: the reef livestock wasn't as forgiving of my crazy work schedule as my hardy freshwater friends. I lost everything when a family member "fish sat" while I was out of town. She didn't even bother to remove the bodies of my beloved friends. Just left them there to stink up the house. Hmmm... Perhaps the better lesson was choosing a better strategy when leaving town!!
I am back to my freshwater hobby I have practiced since early childhood.
I wish you the best of luck. By the way, my vote is to use the 55 as your stock tank and the 20 as a sump. (More forgiving of similar disasters) Also, I think you mentioned getting a puffer. Careful with that choice, you'll love him dearly however he may destroy every other reef species you aim to collect. (You might wind up back in the closet with me!)

 

[Lepisosteus]

don't get discouraged, salt does not need to be expensive. I hooked a buddy up with a 135 gallon rimless full saltwater setup with live rock for $1000. For $200 he put lots of frags and corals in and honestly his tank is stunning. For a 20 gallon saltwater you could easily do it for $200 moreally. Buy a used HOB skimmer($35), keep your hang on the back if you want and pack it full of bio, and sponges, add a koralia nano pump 425gph($10) get some live rock ($2/pound*25 pounds $50) some live sand (50 cents a pound to a dollar so 20lbs is $20) and there your left with around $40 for frags. Better option is sell your full set up for 50 - $100 and buy a full reef setup. I plan to convert the 20 gallon in my apartment into saltwater this spring

 

[Lepisosteus]

The inexpensive LED's don't work very well. Get ones from a reputable manufacturer.

the inexpensive leds actually work very well, not saying this because I aid in sellimg them but they are becoming extremely common because they work. I attached 2 pictures of a 220 gallon reef using the cheap 6 foot led reef capable lights, it's been running for a year with great growth, I should get some update pictures from that customer. The first he had the blues turned down second only blue light was on. Honestly they are all great lights, I could continue to go through and find more pictures but trust me when I say they work well

 

[Lepisosteus]

and I have used all the high end lights, maxspect r420r radion you name it. first picture is a maxspectr420r I had...cost $1400 when the dimmable led lights in the next picture cost $200 and grew corals just as well, sure it didn't look as sharp as the maxspectr420r or have the settings but they are great lights

 

[Lepisosteus]

a few more things before I return back to this tomorrow. All that fancy equipment is not needed for a simple small reef. Look at those all in one reef tanks now, all they have is a skimmer, usually an internal filter behind the overflow at the back, lights, and a WaveMaker. Simple yet they are perfect for nano reefs. I feel $10 a weak is a little high as well for weekly water change. You can get the 5 gallon jug of deionized water for $3 at most Lowe's. Add in the required salt crystal amount (around 2$ worth). A water change is really all you need to do on small reefs. I talk with a lot of shop owners, I have had my own reef systems and honestly what I can tell you is you do not need to be fancy. Use the KISS principle

 

[markstrimaran]

The inexpensive LED's don't work very well. Get ones from a reputable manufacturer.

I am referring too the 2.99 E-27 60 leds, I am still using 30 watt T-8 50/50 acetic for 20 bucks, and 6500K 18 watt CFL for 6.99 . I did try some cheap leds, they flickered on and off if bumped.

 

[Bubbles_n_worms]

The inexpensive LED's don't work very well. Get ones from a reputable manufacturer.

I'll look the scrubber up, and remember I have the good leds.

 

[Bubbles_n_worms]

Have two of these led strips they are actually 24 inches. I have added a picture of my 150 gallon tank so you can see how well they brighten it up I also have a 24" and a 16" hood lights. The second brighter photo is with all 4 lights on.

 

[Bubbles_n_worms]

If I wanted to covert this weekend to start the cycling what would I HAVE to get? And keeping it reasonable I can spend the $ big picture. But my husband won't notice smaller increments remember this is a unsolicited project Lol. So spending $200 this weekend isn't in the books. I can get away with 100 though. Next weekend I can spend a little more ,and so on

 

[Bubbles_n_worms]

I came out of the closet as a freshwater to reefer a few years ago. Short story: I am back in the closet again. Somewhat longer story: the reef livestock wasn't as forgiving of my crazy work schedule as my hardy freshwater friends. I lost everything when a family member "fish sat" while I was out of town. She didn't even bother to remove the bodies of my beloved friends. Just left them there to stink up the house. Hmmm... Perhaps the better lesson was choosing a better strategy when leaving town!!
I am back to my freshwater hobby I have practiced since early childhood.
I wish you the best of luck. By the way, my vote is to use the 55 as your stock tank and the 20 as a sump. (More forgiving of similar disasters) Also, I think you mentioned getting a puffer. Careful with that choice, you'll love him dearly however he may destroy every other reef species you aim to collect. (You might wind up back in the closet with me!)

How much more would this cost in upkeep then the 20 ?