Christian’s 20 gallon long build

Alright guys, I recently moved to Washington but I figured I’d stay active on this forum since there isn’t much going to the hobby up here. So I threw together a reef tank with only equipment I already had lying around the house, with the exception of the 20 gallon long that was a birthday present.
Equipment:
20 gallon long
The light on the left side is an LT professional light that I bought from pet kingdom about 3 years ago but never used.
The right side is a kessil A80 with about 15 days of use.
2 random powerheads I had in a box
Aquaclear 50 HOB filter
100W heater
My apex system with temp and pH probe.
3 gallon ATO
3 head doser that I plan to setup when i start to add coral.
Livestock
16ish pounds of rock.
1/2” of sand
I’ve got a HOB skimmer but I don’t plan on using it, as it’s too bulky.
I plan on adding
Clownfish
Cardinalfish
Yasha goby pistol shrimp combo
Couple sexy shrimp
Pom Pom crab

I plan on adding fish and corals after the cycle hopefully around the beginning of February. Want to do some low cost SPS but not sure if the lights will support so will most likely go zoas, mushrooms and a torch or two. I’ll keep you guys updated as it goes!

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alright guys, I need some help. after further review, it looks like i'll be spending a longer time in the Washington area than I anticipated. that being said I'd like to turn this into an SPS tank. I've changed the lighting to 4x36" T5s and will be running ATI bulbs. 1 aquablue, 2 coral plus and 1 purple plus. I may adjust the bulbs based on coloring if I need to. I've also considered drilling the tank to add a 10 gallon refugium, mainly because my fiancé really wants a mandarin. I've also debated getting rid of the small powerhead on the left side of the tank to add a protein skimmer. The HOB filter is already just a media basket that will either have chemipro elite or chemipro blue. I don't want to run all 3 of these since I feel like that would suck all my nutrients up without the coral actually getting a chance. what would you guys suggest? I'm open to any combination or singular option. thank you guys!

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Originally Posted by Christian

alright guys, I need some help. after further review, it looks like i'll be spending a longer time in the Washington area than I anticipated. that being said I'd like to turn this into an SPS tank. I've changed the lighting to 4x36" T5s and will be running ATI bulbs. 1 aquablue, 2 coral plus and 1 purple plus. I may adjust the bulbs based on coloring if I need to. I've also considered drilling the tank to add a 10 gallon refugium, mainly because my fiancé really wants a mandarin. I've also debated getting rid of the small powerhead on the left side of the tank to add a protein skimmer. The HOB filter is already just a media basket that will either have chemipro elite or chemipro blue. I don't want to run all 3 of these since I feel like that would suck all my nutrients up without the coral actually getting a chance. what would you guys suggest? I'm open to any combination or singular option. thank you guys!

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Christian,
Glad to see you’re still in the hobby man. I would definitely recommend keeping the powerhead and even adding a second controllable one like a low cost Jebao. Along with that, I’d try out a hang on fuge before a small protein skimmer. I feel like you’re going to have better luck going that route.
Good luck with the new setup 👌🏼

Alright guys, made a few changes. Swapped out the LEDs for a 4x39watt T5 fixture I had in the basement and took out the powerheads and bought a jebao OW-40 like TYDY suggested. Going to be an SPS dominated tank so I took some of the sand out to allow more flow. I would go no sand but I don’t like the bare bottom look. I’m gonna run run ATI bulbs: 2 coral plus, a purple plus and an aqua blue.
I’m going to run the HOB filter for filter floss(changed daily) and chemipure changed every 2-3 months depending on water conditions.
Current stocking plans:
Clownfish pair
Cardinalfish
Sexy shrimp
Pom Pom crab
Maybe a small goby
7-8 crabs and snails



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I love builds like this. Makes me think how many other forum members would like to try building something similar at the lowest cost possible, with less than the best stuff and achieve amazing results just for the fun of it. We see really nice equipment yield great results all the time on local tanks and sometimes it seems like it creates a whizzing contest between us to see who has the best tech on their tank rather than just enjoying the end results of our efforts. I feel like at times we’re really just showing off thousands of dollars of technology while not putting a lot of emphasis on what’s living inside of our tanks. I have an empty 10 gallon tank sitting in my garage and now my wheels are spinning....

Maybe we could do a contest for the “Most with the least” and highlight each other’s builds, upkeep and results?


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I would suggest either drilling the tank, or using an HOB overflow, and put a 10 gallon Petco tank under and use it as a sump/refugium. Just use some rocks to keep the macro algae clogging up the skimmer intake.
A well respected SPS reefer once told me to upgrade the skimmer and lights first of all. Looks like you have your lights, just buy a small in sump skimmer, and a good return pump, and you should be fine.
You will probably need a good way to keep your ALK, CA and MG stable. Dosing seems like a good idea for a small tank such as yours. A good test kit is paramount. I use Salifert for all 3, seems to work. Don't chase #s, there is no "sweet spot" for ALK,CA,MG. Some reefers have them high, I have mine low ALK 7.3-7.7 CA is 400-420
Good luck

Silence, thank you for the suggestions. I have a 4 head dosing pump to dose alk, magnesium and calcium. If water changes don’t work properly, I have an Aquamaxx HOB 1.5 that I can add on or substitute the filter for. I will not be adding a sump or drilling this tank, however. For test kits I have the Hanna checkers and Red Sea test kits that I check against each other for accuracy. Right now calcium is 430 and all is 9.0 so I need to lower that a little bit.

Cool setup !

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Quick update after getting my livestock from liveaquaria. I have some coral coming in from meccaman(chris) and ocdreefs(jonas) in the next week or two and I’m extremely excited. I plan on switching the filter for a HOB skimmer once I get a proper skimmer pump.
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