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My intensions are to do the most with the extra equipment I have laying around the house.
This tank was started on a whim which I do not recommend anyone else doing but what the hay I do this for other people every day and I miss having a reef around my house. My last tank was an experiment trying to set up a salt water planted tank. There were many lessons to learn from that tank. Some were more obvious than others but to get into that I need to start another thread. On this tank I will stay with what I know but have intergraded my finding from my last tank into a mixed reef.
1 20 gallon tank
1x 5,000k A.D.A 150w D.E. M.H.
2x 65w power compacts 1, 420nm 1 460nm/10k
I have an old (cheep if you find them used) Berlin skimmer with a mag 7.
Ten gallon sump mag 5 return.
A maxi jet 900.
I set it up on new years day and love it.. The full spectrum light really brings out the true color of my corals and macro algae. I will be posting pic’s soon. I don’t have a camera and my best friend is a little jealous because he has worked his butt off on his tank and has also had many problems that was not his fault with it. So right now all I can do is wait for him to e-mail them to me. Until then I am open to any questions you may have about my set up but I will warn you my answers are jest my opinions not stated facts. I hold no degrees and have had no schooling in such subjects other than high school bio and six years in the industry.
This one will not be a plant tank only. my goal is to grow some non-invasive macro's among my corrals. My friend Aaron let me borrow a video of the great barrier reef and it gave me inspiration. I could see macros growing everywhere that corrals were not. Herbivores of course keep it mowed but I will do that job myself. this was my planted tank.
hey B actually that last shot didn't look half bad, well done bud. Alot of activity that most folks spend looking at the fuge areas & you have the balls to make it front & centre. Hats off to you brother!
Awesome! I can't wait to follow this thread. I've always been interested in planted tanks, whether marine or fresh water.
I had a nice collection of various macros going in my refugium. Unfortunately, I passed around too much of them and when left with smallish colonies, had an "oopsie" in the sump. When cleaning the float valve for my auto top off, I neglected to put it back together tight. I had over 15 gallons of fresh water enter the sump and BOOM, my macro turned into "macro mush". It was real sweet for the few months it was up and running.
I love those hobbyists out there on the "frontiers". Keep this thread going... you've now got demand for reporting
yea it was ugly but I learned a lot from it. mainly that you can not have too much nitrate. I wish i had a nitrate reactor (wet dry filter) on that tank.
call me Dr. House of the aquarium world. If it is normal it bores me.
I have 28 accounts that I take care of so "your a typical reef" is a bore in my home
I hope to post pic's of my new 20 later tonight. I have the pic's but I have tanks to clean today i will post again when I have time.
Ok…..well the pic’s did not turn out as well as I hoped they would but I am a man of my word so the 20 gallon story continues. I have been quite impressed with the response I have had with my friends/customers when I let it be known that I was starting up my own reef tank. Giving people good advice and trying to make sure that everyone succeeds in the hobby really pays off. The only thing I bought for my tank was a O.R.A tricolor Vidalia and a cleanup crew.
Keep in mind this tank was started January first of this year and is still in its cycle.
Yeah...let me dig out my logs. I've got most of them listed. They were harvested during the late Summer, off of Cape Cod, when the Gulf Stream comes closest to MA. I pick them up off the ebb line on the beach. DON'T go collecting algae/seaweed from the water. IT IS NOT legal in all locations.
BRB...with the log... in the mean time, those ricordia will NOT make it in your system. I suggest you pack them appropriately, and send them to me
Great set-up! I look forward to following this as well.
So, are you planning on not acquiring any algae-eating fish? And you rather prune it yourself? Did I understand that right?
nope these macros have slow growth rates (for the most part) and it is a twenty gallon. i would love to have a : Tomini tang but I would feel soooooooooooooooo bad even if I only had one for a day
DANG IT YOUR RIGHT jestdavid I found corallimorpharian eating flat snails, you can see them in the picture. I’ll pack them and ship them right away. you can save them..... JestJoking
I also have Ulva (Sea Lettuce) from time to time, and a grasslike macro, Enteromorpha, that is connected to smallish rocks and shells. Neither of these are pictured
Unfortunately, the sargassum does very poorly in my tank. It really needs flow that I can't provide. Without it, it tends to get taken over by other algae and die off from the tips down. There are two different varieties that I find up here. They do tend to be plentiful most of the summer. My tang LOVED it.
Maybe this Summer, if you and I can remember, I'll try sending you a bunch of differing types. The Ulva is a "no brainer" and lasts long. As does the Codium (also sometimes called "dead mans fingers"). The wrack also needs high flow. It's typically found in estuaries and canals where the water really rushes by. Crazy thing is, even though it needs good flow, it can also survive periods of low tide, out of the water, in the direct sun.... go figure!
icon under their name to add to their reputation. 
V-series Productions 
