20 gallon FOWLR

lol i can't believe i will be going from knowing nothing about saltwater tanks to a 46 and a nano i'm hoping my puffer will be happy when i eventually get his tank redo going

 

Just know that if you have any questions, this is the place to ask! One thing i learned in this hobby is there is NOT a dumb question.

 

lol i have a feeling i will be having a lot more questions as my 46 matures. Or even tomorrow, if i'm able to get the new skimmer up and running

 

I still strongly suggest you invest in an RO/DI system before you invest in anymore equipment on either the 46 or the 20. It's the best piece of equipment you can buy for any tank.
Just curious, what are you planning on keeping in the 46? Have you thought about making a fuge for it? You mentioned putting cheato in the tank. I noticed that cheato will created a ton of hair algae if it dies and is left in the tank. That's what happened to mine in my nanocube anyway.

 

in the 46 as far as corals go i plan on keeping softies like zoas, and polyps, not sure what else, but down the long run i would like to get a birdsnest, thats if i am able to take care of softies first and let my tank mature

 

My water here in rochester is very good, not sure about yours. I have a 500+ gallon system with nothing BUT tap water and have not had any problems over the years. RO systems are good but if your water is fine i believe its not needed. Just my .02

 

yea i think our water here in so cal would be very good also, but i'm not sure if tap water is the reason why i've been getting so much algae, or if it's because of the possibly broken heater that is making it grow cause it gets so hot, right now temps at 78, and the temp is always moving around

 

Could be a little of both.

 

The water in So Cal has heavy concentrations of chlorimine and in some areas have fuel contamination. I know if I used tap from my municipal, I would have given up 4 years ago.
That said, it will be pretty hard to keep a birdsnest coral with the softies. SPS generally need moderately high flowrates, something softies will not tolerate. The high flow will rip the flesh of the softies right off the skeletal structures. Mixed reefs are tricky to maintain in smaller tanks.

 

+1

plus softies release checmicals into the water when they get upset or really for anything. This is NOT good! This is why you see people either go all softies or NO softies