salt water n00b here

Hi everyone, just wanted to introduce myself. I am new to saltwater and very eager. I've spent just about every spare moment for the last few weeks online looking up info (when I wasn't in my lfs lol). Here's what I've got so far:

20 gal tank
20lbs live sand
20lbs+ live rock
a nice piece of base rock about a lb
coralline ho t5
a 75wt heater (not sure what brand, it was recommended)
koralia nano 425
aquaclear 50 which is going to become a small refugium (I also plan on making a pod condo to go in my tank)

I am currently cycling. So far ammonia hasn't gotten above .5ppm, but today NO2 made its appearance at .25ppmv (yay! one step closer)

my specific gravity is 1.025 and my pH is 8.2. I bought pre made water to start out with, but plan on making my own in the future.

Since I am so new to this I am attempting to go as natural as possible (like avoiding skimmers for the time being).

I will save questions for other threads, but if anyone has any advice or suggestions i would be glad to hear it. Thanks

 

Sounds great to me! Job well done. Only 3 things i can think of to ask is:
what water are you using?
thermometer, sounds dumb, i know, but you'd be surprised
stocking wish list?

good job, and welcome to 3reef

 

Welcome to 3reef.

Sound like you have a good handle on the situation.

I have found the Koralia Nano to be insufficient for tanks of 20 gallons. I like Koralia's very much but the Nano is just too small and never provided the flow I wanted. You may need to add another down the road.

Congrats on the new tank.

 

Welcome sounds like you have a good start! ONly comment, I wouldn't call skimmers unnatural it works like a white cap going to shore in sorts. But, tons of ppl have success without them. Personally I see the amount of crap(literally) they pull out so I am all about a skimmer. Keep us updated! O and it didn't happen unless there is a picture.

 

Great point kwinter! what he said

 

Thanks cosmo

I actually have 2 thermometers in different parts of the tank. I wasn't sure how the current would effect the temp. There seems to be a difference of about 2 degrees.
Nutri-sea water was used.

As for the stocking list
cleanup crew: (recommended by reef cleaners.org)
3 x Limpets
2 x Fuzzy Chiton
3 x Nerite Snails
3 x Assorted Hermits
4 x Florida Cerith
3 x Nassarius Vibex
10 x Dwarf Cerith

I was also thinking about 2 cleaner shrimp to go with these. As for fish I would like:
2 Ocellaris (one black, one orange)
a red scooter dragonette (blenny?)
and a six line wrasse

I also would like some coral, but what I'm not sure exactly. Probably start off with some zooanthids. Thanks again for the help and welcome

and you're right... its not that a skimmer is unnatural, but from what I understand it will pull out all the minerals and whatnot that are needed in there for corals and inverts. I R afraid of dosing at this point

 

Sounds good except for the fish IMO. I think you'll be stretching it to have a mated pair of clowns in a tank with a 6 line. All 3 will become very aggressive and territorial in a tank that size. It may work if they play nice, but I wouldnt bet on it, at all. Maybe think of another fish than the 6line, like one of these:
Nano Fish

also, read up on that dragonette, it will not live in a tank that size without an enormous amount of money spent on pods. Sorry

 

maybe a possum wrasse instead of the 6 line. zoa a re a good place to start! When I decided to go for corals I had only seen dull zoas so I thought they were dumb, but now I have seen some awesome morphs and plan to mind a little spot for some. Mushrooms are good starters to. Stay with softies to help avoid dosing.

 

my tank

here it is

 

nice scape, prolly want a little more flow tho, surface aggitation = oxygenated water