First saltwater tank (very slow start)

[Kiko]

i have been collecting thing now and then to start a salty tank heres what i have so far:

• 20L(soon to be drilled)(thinking about derimming)
• 10g sump
• Nac3+ (need to pick up from myjohnson)
• mag3
• 24" t5ho QUAD light w/ DIY 1 watt LED (changing the color of the LED to blue)

I need a couple more things and ill be ready to set it up
Need:

• refractometer
• reactor
• maxijet for mixing salt
• salt
• live rock
• live sand
• ATO system(should i use a mini-jet or a aqualifter)

feel free to give me any advice or if im missing something...

i wanna make sure that i have everything before i start

[myjohnson]

Nice!

I can frag some corals off for you when your tank is up and running.

Some of my thoughts:

1) don't de-rim the 20g. That's cheesy. Just get a 60p if you going to do all that.

2) I would use either the tunze or Elos ATO so you not need neither the mj or the al pumps. I been through 3 ATOs. Nothing works as well as the tunze or the Elos.

3) You also need at least a heater, return pump, and mp10 for flow.

[Kiko]

thanks for the frag offer!!.. once the tank is established ill hit you up..lol i got mag3 and a heater... i forgot to list the heater... lol.. man if i can afford a mp10 you know i would get that thing right away... lol =DDD... as for a ATO i have a extra piece of acrylic and ima just buy a float switch for it (i think ima do dual switch in case one fails)... i have limit space since i want to hardline everything...

[Kiko]

hey guys i have a great idea for my sump!! i wasnt thinking about doing a mangrove rack in the fuge area... have about 15-20 mangrove trees in it... what you guy think?!?!?

[sunkenmetal]

you need a pistol shrimp and a goby pair

[johnnymisty]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but there was a reason I didn't do mangroves in my Sump and I believe they have to grow a certin height to be effective or something like that

[TexSun]

hey guys i have a great idea for my sump!! i wasnt thinking about doing a mangrove rack in the fuge area... have about 15-20 mangrove trees in it... what you guy think?!?!?

This would be cool.

[eklikewhoa]

having used mangroves before it is a slow means of nutrient export/consumption.

Skimmer > Macro Algae > Mangroves

[Kiko]

yea thats what i figured too... is cheato a macro algae?

[reefling]

Yes. Chaeto is a macro algae. I prefer a gravity fed topoff. I use a float valve and it has been great. I don't use mangroves because they consume magnesium. I don't want something to disrupt the ionic balance.

[mistahoo]

Been a little over a month and still haven't started. smh. Did you ever get the tank drilled?