Newby im a lil conufsed about my 20 g fowlr

[Craig Manoukian]

Great advice everyone, thanks for your time and effort.

Wilson,

I have a Seaclone 100 HOB skimmer on my 20 gallon long that I got a great price on. It does a fantastic job for me. I have only two fish in my tank as there isn't a whole lot of swim room with the live rock. They are small, both damsels, and so I won't have an overstocking issue.

You can get good pricing and reasonable shipping at http://www.bigalsonline.com/?splash_done=1

It will give you enough capacity to move up to 55 gallon tank in the future.

HTH

[wilson]

well heres the thing i dont really want one cuz i hear u need a sump and stuff and i am tryin to keep as low maintenance as possible, water changes weekly, and testing and cleaning of the sides and stuff.

[wilson]

SUPER SKIMMER IV

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SUPER SKIMMER IV

THE CORALIFE SUPER SKIMMERS REMOVE PROTEIN AND ORGANIC CONTAMINANTS RAPIDLY AND EFFICIENTLY FROM THE AQUARIUM BEFORE THEY CAN POLLUTE THE WATER. THE BIOLOGICAL AND MECHANICAL FILTERS CAN THEN PERFORM AT OPTIMAL LEVELS, CREATING A SPARKLING CLEAN AQUARIUM. THE CORALIFE SUPER SKIMMERS ARE CONSTRUCTED OF RUGGED MATERIALS DERIVED FROM THE LATEST THERMAL PLASTIC TECHNOLOGY. THE SKIMMERS CONTAIN A CORALIFE LIMEWOOD AIRSTONE FOR OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE AND LONG LIFE. ALL COMPONENTS ARE MADE IN THE U.S.A.

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Price: $69.99

heres a skimmer i found its from http://www.bigalsonline.ca/catalog/p...tegory_id=1745

check it out tell me wat ya think. i think i will only get one if they have any at my lfs. and i think i will look into that and ask u guys b 4 i buy one

[Craig Manoukian]

My Seaclone 150 that I use for my 80 gallon reef is on my 29 gallon long sump/refugium.

HTH

[wilson]

well is that one there ok if i even get one.

[Maxx]

Wilson,
Welcome to the Sanctuary!!
Couple of things from my perspective here...
First off as this is going to be a FOWLR a skimmer isnt an immediate requirement. If this was going to be a reef tank, then it would be a different story. If you think you will eventually get into a reef tank, buying the best possible skimmer is something to think about, that way you are only buying a skimmer once...Just My Opinion. As it stands, yes, buying a skimmer is a good thing, but not necessary for a FO set up, and especially since none of the fish you mentioned were especially delicate. You can get buy w/ frequent water changes if you don't have a skimmer. No, its not optimal...yes this amounts to almost heresy to some people...but remember, marine fish were kept quite well for many decades using only undergravel filters. A skimmer will help you out immensly, but its not necessary to have a successful saltwater aquarium. You will be required to do water changes religiously though. Think of your aquarium as a toilet. The fish gotta go somewhere, and if you dont remove it through water changes, they're gonna die. That simple.
Keep in mind that for a 20 H you're not gonna have a whole lot of real estate to keep these fish in, and marine fish are kinda like dogs...they get territorial sometimes.
I would personally reccomend no more than 3 fish the size of adult Occelaris (false Percula) clownfish, in a 20 H. You might be able to keep more in there, but your margin for error/ ability to recover from a mistake, (overfeeding, miss a water change, etc) will be MUCH smaller. And since you are just getting involved in this hobby, (and need to be able to get your mom to help you out occaissonally while you're out working to earn money for college etc....) you want to cut yourself as much slack as possible.
Do you know what the Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate cycle is? Its important, but kinda lengthy, so if ya already know about it, I wont bore you w/ another version of it.
Live rock....I'd go w/ 1-2 lbs per gallon.
Live sand....ya dont need it for what you're doing. Buy the cheaper regular, (unlive) sand and let it be seeded w/ life from your rock.
Water movement...hmmm....not really applicable to this type of tank since its not going to be a reef, and you're not going to be able to keep the type of fish that like lots of water movement in it due to its size. A couple of powerheads, (two) will be fine, and the hagen aquaclear filter will be fine to help you w/ filtering out all the big stuff. Just remember to rinse out the filter sponge on a regular basis, so stuff doesnt rot in there.
wow...for what was sposed to be a short reply its gotten kinda long..sorry bout that.
Good luck and welcome to the Sanctuary,
Nick

[Reef Geek]

Wilson,
That skimmer is a bad idea.
1) Air-driven skimmers are less powerful than Venturi and other skimmer types.
2) Those are just terrible prices.

Try this one, its a better skimmer, and a better deal.
http://www.marinedepot.com/a_ps_cpr_...fo.asp?CartId=

[wilson]

i might just nnot end up gettin one cuz they are really expensive and i just dont have the money for them now. mayb later on after i get some stuff established on it. do i need a sump with that one cuz i am not gettin a sump for sure

[Reef Geek]

A sump is not 100% necessary. It does help, but on a small tank it is more hastle than it is worth.
Thats probably a good call on the skimmer, wait until you can afford the equipment you want.
I was in the same situation you are in when I was building up my system, in college, no money. And then when circumstances permitted I replaced what I had bought with good stuff. I should have just gotten the good stuff from the beginning.
But then again I didnt know as much either.

[wilson]

was just wondering when using dead sand do i mix it with the livesand together, and do i ahve to acclimate the sand and LR to the tank or can i just stick it in. i have alos heard i can have 4 fish. wodnerin if this is alright:

2 false percula clownfish
1 yellow clown goby
1 royal gramma

and does n e one have n e advice on setting up the LR i think its called aquascaping

also should i maybe just get rid of the ac200 and get 2 ac ph 301s.
sum1 told me that and im not sure what to do.

o and i dont think i want a skimmer right away mayb after funds are good enough which would b a bit after i got fish. also what should i use to clean out my freshwater to convert it to s/w

[wilson]

instead of yellow clown goby i ithnk i am goin to go with firefish

[Reef Geek]

I would put in the dead sand, then the live sand. Then I would put a dinner plate on the sand, and pour the mixed saltwater onto the plate, it keep the sand from blowing all over the place. Then remove the plate.

Excellent fish selection!!!
But make sure you stagger your purchaces. Get the tank set up with the sand & rock & water, then let it cycle for about a month. Then add the 2 clowns, wait another month. Then another fish and another month wait, and finally the last fish.

When you aquascape you will want to stack the rock in such a way that it will be stable, but with lots of open areas. You will see that your fish will enjoy swimming through archways. Originally I had one arch, once I saw how much my tangs enjoyed swimming throught arch I added two more.

Keep the AC200 for now. But remove the filter pad.

Good call on the skimmer, but I would get the skimmer before the fish. You dont get the newest ATI video card if your processor is only Pentium II.

Keep in mind that there is are no set in stone rules about keeping saltwater fish, just some people with no life that give advice online.

[wilson]

well i might just not get the skimmer because i probably wont be ablet o afford one but if i do i might i dunno. more hassle for me and i gott to make it easy to have my mom let me have it

[wilson]

and waht firefish is ok either of them or jsut the regular one or can i get the purpleback

[wilson]

adn i jsut learned its not a purple back jsut purple firefish. also when using dead sand if i dont use n e live sand when i put the dead sand in with live roakc will it be live by the time the tank is cycled how will i tell if the sand is live