20 gallon

[Corey Shelk]

So I would definitely need a new light. It's peak par is 47

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

You’ll need a new light for par and coverage. It’s not long enough to cover the space required to light a 30 gallon. Nor is it powerful enough for light to hit the bottom. I use a photon V2, it’s an investment, but worth it. I get great growth in my tank, even from sps.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

It is a big investment, it’s all about what makes you happy though. If you prefer a 20 gallon that’s awesome, just know you’ll be space limited and coral limited (I wouldn’t do sps without a sump). If you want more, do a 30.

Example: right now I’d love to upgrade to a 72 gallon, I’d have more room, wayyy more fish, and it’d be really fun for me to setup. However I’m in college, I figure that would cost around $750-1000. I don’t have that type of money to spend. I’ll stay with my little 35, and be happy with it. I do wish I had the room for a tang or two though.

 

[Corey Shelk]

Yeah I wish I had room and money to go bigger but I don't :/ I'm happy with keeping this 20 and if I can find a good deal on lights I can upgrade to the 30 gallon. I'm not looking into any of the higher light corals right now but that could definitely change in the future.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

You may want to still add the HOB overflow and sump though

 

[Corey Shelk]

What are the benefits of a sump? I know it allows for way more filtration but I'm looking at getting a circulation pump and I think my 20 gallon is lightly stocked and the fly all HOB I have does 200 GPH which is 10x the volume (more of you take into account volume thah rock and substrate take up)

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

A circulation pump isn't filtration. You can run far more media types, much more effectively remove nitrates with a refugium, and add a skimmer (if you want to). My 35 gallon manages about 800 gph, you need a lot.

 

[Corey Shelk]

I have wanted a refugium to grow a mangrove or two

 

[Corey Shelk]

Something came up and I might end up having to sell this tank :/ I'm looking into internships and studying abroad and my roommate said he wouldn't be able to take care of the tank and I don't trust my LFS to do it. Plus I've recently had to start budgeting a lot harder and I don't think I can maintain the saltwater hobby, or improve my current setup. I'll let you all know what happens, thank you!

 

[count krunk]

what's the timeline on selling it? I might be able to buy your corals, depending on that.

I found it impossible to have a reef while in college. I was too mobile and too poor haha.

 

[Corey Shelk]

Yeah it really limits my mobility haha, like even visiting home for a week or two during break I wouldn't be able to do. There isn't a concrete timeline yet to sell everything, I already received some interest from Craigslist. Where are you? I haven't ever shipped live animals before so idk if I would trust my shipping long distances

 

[Corey Shelk]

I'll continue to add updates until the tank is bought. The coralline algae in a bottle seems to have worked after the huge diatom bloom it caused. I don't know if you can tell but I'm starting to see pink coralline on the rocks that used to be stark white. Also Langston might have inadvertently killed the small GSP Frag I had. I found it buried in the substrate with all of the polyps closed. I think a snail must've knocked it off and Langston continued making his tunnels and moved the sand on top of the frag. I'll include pics of some of his excavation processes. The 5th might not look like a burrow but that's where he put a lot of the sand he dug out, that used to create a overhang the clowns could swim through, but it's almost completely filled with sand.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Well I'm sorry to hear that you're selling it, it was a nice tank. Good luck with the sale though

 

[Corey Shelk]

Yeah I was excited to see where it would go, I've definitely learned a lot and I'll still be watching your thread and others for sure. And now I have more experience for the future when I'm less mobile and can afford a bigger tank, I'm thinking dwarf lions haha

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Has it sold yet?

 

[Corey Shelk]

It's sold but I still have it, I've just been extremely busy this week. The lady who bought it is actually moving so their lovers are going to stop by to pick it all up. Anyone have any advice on how get the best chances of success when moving the set up? I don't know how far they are going

 

[Corey Shelk]

Also Langston started his molt about 4 days ago, he holed himself up in his main burrow and covered all the entrances

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Hmm I’ve sold a lot of tanks in the past. Make sure they are paying cash and that they don’t meet you at your house. That’s a really popular scam on Craigslist; they send some guys down to pick it up (because of some weird reason they can’t) and then the guys come to your house and just take it. When you email them back they don’t reply or they say they never sent anyone. Only let them pay cash because their checks will ALWAYS bounce.

 

[Corey Shelk]

Yeah they tried to use Money Gram but I knew it needed a reference code which they never gave. So I said unless I have a valid check the deal is off and they haven't responded. I guess this means I get to keep the tank a little while longer though

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

That’s what it means ha ha ha, but the same person will usually try again (always check the area code of the phone number). Change your ad to say Cash Only, it’ll totally eliminate the scammers. Aquariums are hard to sell.