Hello, I'm new here and to SW tanks. I've been keeping FW tanks for 5+ years, and I was never all that interested in SW (the only thing I ever really wanted was maybe a 55g dedicated to a lionfish 
) until my parents decided to take the plunge for me. We had a relative who could no longer care for her fish and a number of them had died, leaving a 55g barren except for one little clownfish with a weird dorsal fin and a tendency to bob (not gasp, just bob) at the surface of the water and a giant snail.
My parents bought a 20g "reef-ready" tank and set it up about three months ago..about three and a half weeks ago we started introducing corals. Here are the specs at the present:
Tank: 20g "standard" (30"x12"x13", I believe)
Cycling Method: Used media from another tank
Lighting: Coralife Deluxe Fluorescent 130w (2 30" 65w lights w/actinic)
Filtration: Penguin Biowheel 170, ~25+ lbs liverock, AquaC Remora
Heater: ThermalCompact 100w
Substrate: Aragonite, 4"
Decor: 1 ~8lb volcanic rock w/two "cave" gaps
Salt Mix: ...can't remember at the moment
Additives: 1x weekly dose of Ca and Alkalinity buffer...may stop using them though based on what I've been reading.
Macroalgae: Caulerpa prolifera
pH: 8.2
Temp.: 78 degrees F
Specific Gravity: 1.023
Water Source: Tap (I know)
Fish:
1 A. ocellaris (Ocellaris/False Percula Clownfish)
That's it for fish at the moment.
Invertebrates (I):
1 Lysmata debenius (fire shrimp [?])
1 Mithrax sculptus (emerald crab)
13 Clibanarius tricolor (blue-leg hermit crab)
12 Astrea sp. (astrea snail)
12 Nassarius snails
10 turbo snails
1 unidentified snail (either Nassarius (yay!), or a whelk (boo))
1 unidentified organism (possibly a tunicate)
1 unspecified featherduster
Multiple tube worms (calcerous)
Multiple tube worms (sand sifters)
Multiple bristleworms
Copepods!
Invertebrates (II):
1 Euphyllia glabrescens (torch coral) / Deceased
1 Plerogyra flexuosa (sp?) (pearl bubble coral)
1 Rhodactis mussoides (elephant-ear mushroom)
9 Actinodiscus sp. (red mushrooms- moved from original rock)
1 unidentified coral (came on a piece of LR)
Microscopic zooanthid colony on LR
Old Photos:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3519&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1 - This is our clownfish. You can read about its dorsal fin on the page.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3516&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1 - Crabby.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3518&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1 - Macro shot of the elephant-ear, the day after we go it.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3514&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=500 - The whole tank about a month ago, probably the day we got the corals. You could call it an "in-the-making" picture because it looks a great deal better now. The hair algae has gone poof since then, and my parents tell me that the clownfish really likes the macroalgae we are cultivating in there instead. This picture was taken in the morning, so you can see the red mushrooms on the right just starting to open up. The torch coral is on the left and the elephant-ear is next to the red mushroom rock, with the pearl bubble barely visible behind it. Since this photo was taken a stand of Caulerpa has been added in the back and another large piece of liverock was added (Tahimi). The new piece has the unidentified coral and the other unidentified "thingie" on it, but I can't take any pictures of either till I go back home for the summer.
My plans for the future include:
-figuring out what RO/DI unit I should get
-1 Mespilia globulus (blue tuxedo urchin)
-one more fish (either another ocellaris, a six-line wrasse, or one of the fairy wrasses being most likely)
Since the tank has been set up I've been reading everything I can about saltwater because my parents will only do what I tell them to do (except read all the books they need to :roll. The only death the tank has had was the old (few years) snail. =( The clownfish is at least 5 years old.
) until my parents decided to take the plunge for me. We had a relative who could no longer care for her fish and a number of them had died, leaving a 55g barren except for one little clownfish with a weird dorsal fin and a tendency to bob (not gasp, just bob) at the surface of the water and a giant snail.My parents bought a 20g "reef-ready" tank and set it up about three months ago..about three and a half weeks ago we started introducing corals. Here are the specs at the present:
Tank: 20g "standard" (30"x12"x13", I believe)
Cycling Method: Used media from another tank
Lighting: Coralife Deluxe Fluorescent 130w (2 30" 65w lights w/actinic)
Filtration: Penguin Biowheel 170, ~25+ lbs liverock, AquaC Remora
Heater: ThermalCompact 100w
Substrate: Aragonite, 4"
Decor: 1 ~8lb volcanic rock w/two "cave" gaps
Salt Mix: ...can't remember at the moment
Additives: 1x weekly dose of Ca and Alkalinity buffer...may stop using them though based on what I've been reading.
Macroalgae: Caulerpa prolifera
pH: 8.2
Temp.: 78 degrees F
Specific Gravity: 1.023
Water Source: Tap (I know
)Fish:
1 A. ocellaris (Ocellaris/False Percula Clownfish)
That's it for fish at the moment.
Invertebrates (I):
1 Lysmata debenius (fire shrimp [?])
1 Mithrax sculptus (emerald crab)
13 Clibanarius tricolor (blue-leg hermit crab)
12 Astrea sp. (astrea snail)
12 Nassarius snails
10 turbo snails
1 unidentified snail (either Nassarius (yay!), or a whelk (boo
))1 unidentified organism (possibly a tunicate)
1 unspecified featherduster
Multiple tube worms (calcerous)
Multiple tube worms (sand sifters)
Multiple bristleworms
Copepods!
Invertebrates (II):
1 Euphyllia glabrescens (torch coral) / Deceased
1 Plerogyra flexuosa (sp?) (pearl bubble coral)
1 Rhodactis mussoides (elephant-ear mushroom)
9 Actinodiscus sp. (red mushrooms- moved from original rock)
1 unidentified coral (came on a piece of LR)
Microscopic zooanthid colony on LR
Old Photos:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3519&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1 - This is our clownfish. You can read about its dorsal fin on the page.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3516&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1 - Crabby.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3518&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1 - Macro shot of the elephant-ear, the day after we go it.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3514&size=big&password=&sort=1&cat=500 - The whole tank about a month ago, probably the day we got the corals. You could call it an "in-the-making" picture because it looks a great deal better now. The hair algae has gone poof since then, and my parents tell me that the clownfish really likes the macroalgae we are cultivating in there instead. This picture was taken in the morning, so you can see the red mushrooms on the right just starting to open up. The torch coral is on the left and the elephant-ear is next to the red mushroom rock, with the pearl bubble barely visible behind it. Since this photo was taken a stand of Caulerpa has been added in the back and another large piece of liverock was added (Tahimi). The new piece has the unidentified coral and the other unidentified "thingie" on it, but I can't take any pictures of either till I go back home for the summer.
My plans for the future include:
-figuring out what RO/DI unit I should get
-1 Mespilia globulus (blue tuxedo urchin)
-one more fish (either another ocellaris, a six-line wrasse, or one of the fairy wrasses being most likely)
Since the tank has been set up I've been reading everything I can about saltwater because my parents will only do what I tell them to do (except read all the books they need to :roll
. The only death the tank has had was the old (few years) snail. =( The clownfish is at least 5 years old.
