FlynHawaiian's 20G and New 20G rimless *Update 7/15*

Alright guys and gals, I suppose this post has been a long time coming. I have been a member since 2009 and have not done a thread on my tanks at all. Well no better time than the present. I would like to preface with that I will try to update this as much as possible and some of the posts maybe lengthy/pic heavy at times depending on the update so bare with me please.

I have been into saltwater tanks roughly around 8 years now after my FW cichlid tanks became somewhat mundane and not a challenge to me anymore. I have definitely learned a lot and this forum has been more than helpful! In that time I have had a 90g, 20g tall, and now currently a 20g long as well as a 20g rimless. If you can't tell I do favor the smaller tanks for some reason. About two years ago I just completely lost interest due to a lot of other things going on in my life so my 90g and 20g tall sadly became my last priority and when I realized that I pretty much sold everything and only kept a few things here and there. One tank did remain though and that's the 20g long that has now been established for a little over 6 years. I did keep taking care of things in this tank but not like I should have been (top offs with tap water, terrible I know, changing filter media, etc.) A lonely percula clown was the only inhabitant besides a CUC. The tank for the longest time was lit by a current usa two bulb T5 unit, filtration was done by a cheap aquaeon HOB, 100w heater, a Koralia 1 for flow and that was it. Pretty minimalist approach if you asked me. It worked but was not great.

Recently, in March this year something sparked my interest to get back into the hobby. I think it was the fact that I missed having something to look at that was really nice and entertaining and all the trips to the local reef stores as well. Sooooooo, today the 20G long has had some upgrades and is being well maintained on a daily basis. I wish I had a picture of it from years ago for a comparison but I sadly do not. Then again I don't believe it was even picture worthy honestly. I'm still taking a minimalist approach but it has come a long way and only needs a few things now.

Now, the 20G long has an AquaClear 70 for filtration, a 100w heater, the same Koralia 1 (could use a little more flow), and is lit by a Kessil A350W tuna blue. I now have been using RO/DI water for top offs and mixing salt and that is all I use anymore (I knew in the past what to use but didn't have my own RO/DI system, didn't have an LFS that sold it, and I didn't want to constantly buy the water from the store in jugs and spend a lot of money). The tank receives up to a 5 gallon water change once a week and is becoming more and more of a reef tank since I have been taking care of it and adding corals. I have stopped using InstantOcean salt and switched to Aquacraft BioSea which has seemed to work way better for me. I was running the tank with a plexiglass top that I cut out a long time ago but the tank seems to be much much happier without that on there and things could never be looking better. I am looking into a Reef Octopus skimmer still for it and maybe a media reactor but not sure yet.

Currently right at this very second the tank is stocked with a cuc, pistol shrimp, and a mandarin dragonet. I have the same percula clown (6 years old!), and a purple firefish, that are currently in week 4 of treatment in the HT from ich. So, the tank is currently sitting somewhat fallow (4 weeks left) as I am taking the chance with leaving the mandarin in the tank. I have read about their thick mucous membrane and tendency to not always catch ich so I'm taking my chances and so far so good. Besides she needs plenty of pods to eat which there is an abundance of in the DT and not the HT.

As for corals right this moment, I have xenias, green star polyps, 3 different types of mushrooms, a small colony of zoas, colt coral, pink palys, a leather, and a gold torch coral. All of these can be seen in the picture I will upload but no fish currently since they are in the HT but I will update later.

Any suggestions/ideas and questions would be be greatly welcomed. Part 2 to come after this on the new 20g Rimless that I recently started! But for now I will leave one lonely pic of the tank I took last week. I don't have an expensive/nice camera so all pictures will be done with my iPhone 5 so I apologize for the crappy quality in advance!

 

Part 2........

As I had mentioned previously, my interest sparked back in March of this year. So not only had I started really getting back into reefing and taking care of my 20g long, I decided to purchase another 20g but this time rimless. I found out that a local company about 20 minutes away makes and sells, the tanks, stands, and accessories and they have been wonderful and their product and quality of it are top of the line! My local reef store had trouble with Innovative Marine tanks and some horror stories with those so he stopped carrying those tanks and switched to these. I couldn't be anymore happy that he told me about these tanks.

So by the middle of April I had got around to getting all the bare minimums, RO/DI water, Aquacraft BioSea salt, and some fiji pink sand. I got those together and got the tank up and running over the course of an hour or two on a free weekend. The tank sat with pretty much just water, sand, and a fiji rock I had from the other tank (before the case of ich) till about the end of April. I'm taking things super slow with this new tank and I am in no rush to get things fast tracked and moving. Beginning of May rolls around and I put in a order to Marine Depot for my Cobalt Aquatics Neotherm heater as well as my Ecotech Vortech MP10. I am super happy with these purchases! I also went to my LFS and bought 16 lbs of pukani live rock. For around 3 weeks now the tank has had the live rock in there slowly cycling (not that it hadn't been since I set it up though). I figured all the live pukani rock might cause a spike and I'm in no hurry to throw anything in the tank so I just put the rock in and let it go.

I even noticed the other day that I somehow have pods already started in that tank which I was shocked about yet delightfully surprised with. BUT, once again I am in no hurry and I'm going to let the tank sit until the end of June because I was thinking about moving my fish from the other tank (except the mandarin cause of the established pods) as well as the corals and moving them to the rimless tank. It just so works out that my fallow period will end at the same time I was wanting to start stocking my rimless tank. Then I could eventually get a Fu Manchu lionfish for my older 20g once the mandarin is out. Anyone have any input on what I should do? Should I move all the fish and corals over? Should I leave them in the current tank? Either way I'm going to have room for some livestock and corals in one tank or the other. Give me some ideas fellow reefers!;D

I have yet to get a media reactor, Tunze 9002 skimmer, and the Aqua Illumination Hydra 52 for the tank. Those will all be on the way very soon and I will update when that happens. As for now, this past weekend I pulled out my old T5 that I had on the other tank and put it on there and have been lighting the tank about 3-4 hours a day for now.

I will be keeping everyone updated on this tank as it progresses. It has been a little hard on the wallet lately with setting up this new tank as well as improving my old tank but it has been and will be well worth it when I get it to my liking. Any and all suggestions/ideas/comments/questions will be welcomed. But enough of my blabbering for the moment, time to throw in some pictures (once again sorry for the bad quality in advance!)

 

Here are two more pictures of some of the equipment and how the tank was sitting as of this weekend

 

Looks great man.

 

love the new tank and I really like your 20L. In terms of ideas, I'd ask you what attracts you in the hobby? Is there something that you've always been fascinated with? Certain fish, corals, inverts?

My first thought with your current livestock is what about a goby to go with the pistol? also, what about a possible mate for your clown? although if it's been the lone clown for so long, that may be hard. I love some of the designer clowns that are out there.

congratulations on all of your progress and look forward to reading more of your posts. I personally really like detailed posts and you're a good writer - not one big giant paragraph

 

Thank you DSC and OFK! Yeah I have been trying to think of a mate for my pistol shrimp. I was thinking of a goby that is colorful and has a personality and I am totally open to suggestions. I have also questioned a mate for my clown. I think a mate would be awesome but he/she is pretty territorial. The purple firefish's fins can vouch for that in the HT but they aren't anything to be alarmed about. I would like a mating pair of clowns other than the percula maybe in one of the tanks but I know that will cost so not too sure about that at the moment.

As for a stocking list I know I am limited due to what I have already and the size of tanks they will be going in. I was thinking of a goby to pair up with the pistol shrimp, perhaps a pink streak wrasse, a bicolor blenny, and maybe a yellow clown goby. These all won't be in one tank but split somehow. The stocking list isn't set by any means and I am open to input from anyone willing to give me ideas and that goes for corals as well. I was thinking about going in the direction of mushrooms, zoas, palys, LPS, and I might try my hand at some SPS as well. I really want to try and stock some really nice acans in the 20g rimless but there are so many to choose from. I check out the aquasd, liveaquaria, and marine depot live websites on a consistent basis and there are soooo many corals I want but not enough money lol

I would like to get as much discussion on my tanks as I can along the way Helps myself learn more and is a good reference for later and besides everyone has useful and valuable input that I can take away. I will try to update within the next few days with some coral and maybe fish pix before the site goes down for the update on the weekend.

 

sounds good! I have a pink spotted goby with my pistol and it's very active and has a lot of personality. I also recently acquired a leopard wrasse that is way cool. I love my flame hawkfish (I'm not sure on the minimum size on that one) but it is so colorful and very active - perches all over the tank. I would imagine that if you tried a smaller clown with your current clown (may want to try an acclimation box), you could have your own mating pair.

I like your ideas on your corals - lots of variety and colors with what you're thinking about. I also totally understand on the money portion - I usually get my coral at the LFS but have been looking on-line and some of the pieces are so beautiful but the price tags - ouch!

 

I did think about a pink spotted goby and I do like the way they look. I think hawkfish have quite the personality and I like the way they perch and present themselves lol But i think their tank size requirement is more than 20g unfortunately for me. I may have to try a smaller clown with an acclimation box and see what happens I suppose. It would be awesome if I could get a mated pair. I never put a whole lot of thought into it really but the more and more I think about it the more I like the idea.

As far as the corals go I'm just trying to go for as much color as I can and I want to fill up the rimless with a decent amount of corals and just a few fish. I figure the AI Hydra 52 will be more than enough adequate light for my coral needs. There are so many nice corals online. I may do a purchase here and there but its not the cost of the corals that gets me all the time. It's having to pay that darn shipping cost over and over. Not hard to flush down hundreds of dollars on shipping alone when it ranges anywhere from $25-$50 (depending on the website and depending on what you spend sometimes b/c in some cases it is free over a high amount).

**Sorry I have been slacking lately. I have been taking care of my tanks and haven't been snapping any pix. I really want to get a few uploaded of the corals at least before the site is down for the weekend**

 

well, hope to it! I did see where unique corals is running a special on shipping right now.

 

I have never heard of that website but I am going to hop on over there and check it out! Thanks! You know of any other websites? Like I said I check Marine Depot Live, Live Aquaria, AquaSD, and Happy Coral on a daily basis pretty much. Now that you have recommended that website it could be trouble lol I get paid at midnight tonight!;D

**Update - I am still slacking on the pix as I have been working 12 hour days, so when I do tank maintenance today or Saturday I will snap some pix to post once the site comes back up after the weekend. And i'm going to the local reef store so maybe I will purchase a few things**