how i set up my tank

first i had a 20 gallon tall tank hood a stand. the first thing i bought was a rena smartfilter. next i lucked out and found a lee's a bubble skimmer. next i bought reef crystalls. next i bought a 12 lb bag ...it think of arag-alive sand and beagn setting up. first i filled the plain tank nothing in it no power heads or filters and added a dechlorinizer. added and turned on a penguin powerhead to mix the water around. next i added the recommended amount of salt and let it mix around til the water was pristeen and clear. then i opened the bag of sand and added it and the water clear thing it came with. and let it settle. while it settled i washed the hob filter in scalding hot water and added and turned it on. turned on the light and waited two week and added 15 lbs of liverock and waited two weeks and added 5 hermits the cheap kind and 2 astrea snails. and two yellow tail damsels waited two weeks and added another two lbs of lr and a perc. and clown goby and i forgot every time i added i did a 5% water change. and i replaced the fw light with t5s cause they were cheap. and thats all i do besides check params. ill add pics and watknot later.

 

Sounds like a cool setup! got any pics?

 

sounds like youre off to an excellent start louis , well documented. definitely gonna look forward to pics of your setup.

 

You added fish and LR at the same time? Adding LR will start a mini cycle

 

yes but only being two lbs the lfs said it would be ok, as on the pics i have no enet at home and cant bring sd card to school. but it looks pretty cool and does anyone know if its normal for a clown goby to lay on a submersed heater?

 

another thing is it to early to add any corals or polyps. i kno it way to erly 4 a nem.

 

yes, its pretty normal for some species of fish to perch on heaters ( I had an algae blenny that did it often )but not ideal, as they can get a burn if they do it when heater has been on for a while - so a plastic mesh type heater guard is a good idea
some of the newer models of heater come with these already on

Steve

 

thank u steve

 

As long as you add liverock that is still alive and kept completely wet in transport, there will be no mini-cycle.

As for corals, you are 6 weeks into setup. I would get some cheapo starter corals off local craigslist reefers like:
zoanthids
palys/buttons
kenya trees
xenia
leathers
etc.

Once you know the corals are thriving and the water params are stable, get what you want but be conscientious about buying not so hardy corals and expert corals including nems too.

 

ok thanx but im a little farther along than six weeks i setup in august 3 and its october 30 so thats almost three mos. thats almost 12 weeks but i can understand how you thought that since i said every two weeks on the previous post.