My 20gal marine tank!

[HWY61]

Thank you ! yeah I’m not sure about more fish as I really love my shrimp and all inverts to be fair so maybe one or 2 more inverts I’m not sure but I want to focous on coral for a while after I’ve gotten my clean up crew as It can be tricky and I want to get it right as it’s my first time if anyone has any tips let me know !

I love the sound of I sea star so much I will have to do a bit more research though because I don’t like the brittle and serpent sea stars so what kind would you recommend that are reef safe?
I don’t really want Zoas because of the risk of palytoxin I would just rather not have the risk as I would stress out and likely never touch my tank again - bad
I like hammers so I will have a closer look into those and do GSP spread like Xenia’s ?

Hammers are great, I recommend. Maybe not as an absolute first but they’re a good second or third coral.

Only get xenia if you’re willing to have it everywhere. You can isolate it but it won’t last forever. The best starter corals are the ones you’ll still love in a year. Zoanthids, GSP, mushrooms, and euphyllia corals. Duncans are another semi under appreciated beginner coral.

For GSP, you could honestly attach a couple frags to your back glass and try to grow a background of it. I personally don’t like the way it looks (unnatural), but it is a big accomplishment and can be super cool.

Everybody goes coral crazy though. First you’ll be loving your xenia and $10 zoanthids and before you know it, you’re trying to figure out sun corals and gorgonians. The best advice for corals I can give is to futureproof. I’d argue the number one reason people get a second tank is to start over without their beginner mistakes.

 

[Emma_fish]

Your tank is coming along nicely. . Its funny how the common clown is always a pleasure to see even after centuries and all the new varieties that have appeared over the recent years.

I agree that a zoa garden would look very coolin a nano. As others have mentioned, the palytoxin issue is very rare, and most of the zoas that carry it are few and far between what normally see for sale., but if it would make your enjoy your tank less then I'd suggest leaving them out . Although I would always recommend keeping your hands out the tank as much as possible.

That pic got me for a second, I was, like dang that's a nice gobie, someone had been busy lol.

As for the GSP/Xenia yes they will spread, and fairly quickly. But if you can keep them contained they will add a nice bit of movement to the tank. I have both, the xenia has about 8x its size from 2" since Feb last year. (I'll add a pic) Plus the are bits popping up in 3 other places thanx to my urchin taking it for a walk .

My nano has since been converted back to a qt tank since it was just to much commitment managing 2 tanks. So this xenia is in the 180gtank thankfully.

Will I have to cut back the Xenia weekly / very often or just like every few weeks or few months ?

 

[Emma_fish]

The little brittle stars will eventually find there way into your tank if not already!


Do you see any little arms poking out of the holes in your rock? Harmless and beneficial hitchhiker.

Some serpent stars are known to hunt and eat fish.
Lol, I thought that crab and starfish looked pasted in!! Clown goby too? Neat fish!

They are all pasted in lol I started with live rock so that I didn’t have to worry about hitchhikers but I agree sometimes the hitchhikers are good

 

[Tcook]

I don’t have a fromia star ?

LOL. I didn't realize those were just pictures.

 

[Aqua Man]

Will I have to cut back the Xenia weekly / very often or just like every few weeks or few months ?

It really depends on how much light and nutrients the coral is getting. Those 2 things dictate how fast/slow any coral will grow.

 

[Emma_fish]

It really depends on how much light and nutrients the coral is getting. Those 2 things dictate how fast/slow any coral will grow.

Ah right ok thank you

 

[CrimsonTide]

Duncan corals are easy to care for and branch out and grow heads fairly quickly and look cool. They'll also eat clownfish pellets if you choose to feed them. They are also cheap compared to a hammer or something if you're just starting out. They need a little more light than say a zoa but not much. If you upgrade your lights to something a little stronger they would keep well in your tank

Pictures for reference

Also kenya trees are easy to care for but also have that weed stigma like a xenia and gsp.

 

[Emma_fish]

Duncan corals are easy to care for and branch out and grow heads fairly quickly and look cool. They'll also eat clownfish pellets if you choose to feed them. They are also cheap compared to a hammer or something if you're just starting out. They need a little more light than say a zoa but not much. If you upgrade your lights to something a little stronger they would keep well in your tank

Pictures for reference

Also kenya trees are easy to care for but also have that weed stigma like a xenia and gsp.

Ooo they’re pretty i will definitely be getting one of them

 

[CrimsonTide]

Ooo they’re pretty i will definitely be getting one of them

Theyll branch off into many heads and have that anemone look to them. But if you want to avoid zoas theyre a great start with the gsp xenia kenya tree and mushrooms are really easy to grow. Have you thought about what light you're going to upgrade to?

 

[Emma_fish]

Theyll branch off into many heads and have that anemone look to them. But if you want to avoid zoas theyre a great start with the gsp xenia kenya tree and mushrooms are really easy to grow. Have you thought about what light you're going to upgrade to?

I think the viparspectra one it’s only £130 and looks pretty good my only concern I’d the size and how I will attach it to my tank as it has a lid

 

[CrimsonTide]

I think the viparspectra one it’s only £130 and looks pretty good my only concern I’d the size and how I will attach it to my tank as it has a lid

It is a great price for what it will do. Good light. Not sure there is a mount for them so you might have to hang it from the ceiling or install like a shelf over your tank so it can sit above the tank and you'll probably have to lose the lid to your tank. You can get a screen lid if you're worried about fish jumping. At this point its possible with the clowns but less likely they would jump out. Gobies and wrasse like to jump out though. I rarely see my clowns move at mach speed. A lot of people go screen lid or acrylic lid or nothing at all and chance it.

 

[Emma_fish]

It is a great price for what it will do. Good light. Not sure there is a mount for them so you might have to hang it from the ceiling or install like a shelf over your tank so it can sit above the tank and you'll probably have to lose the lid to your tank. You can get a screen lid if you're worried about fish jumping. At this point its possible with the clowns but less likely they would jump out. Gobies and wrasse like to jump out though. I rarely see my clowns move at mach speed. A lot of people go screen lid or acrylic lid or nothing at all and chance it.

My tank has a big black rim though so it might look a bit stupid but oh well and the roof above my tank is slanted in the picture robe lid is on but hopefully you can see

 

[CrimsonTide]

Most people have more rimmed tanks than rimless tanks in this hobby. For every giant rimless tank you see that person has a rimmed 40g breeder somewhere else in there house and a 20g with a rim somewhere else. And I probably won't look any more stupid than the lid. Lol

This light also works well for nano tanks



If you can find one. It would probably clip on and hang on the back.

 

[CrimsonTide]

Is your tank sitting on a mini fridgerator? Lol

 

[CrimsonTide]

The viparspectra is bigger and would translate to a bigger tank if you went bigger later on but the other would work for half the price for that tank I believe.

 

[Emma_fish]

Is your tank sitting on a mini fridgerator? Lol

Ahaha I thought that when I got the stand I’ve been meaning to get a new one though that is just what came with the tank

 

[Emma_fish]

Most people have more rimmed tanks than rimless tanks in this hobby. For every giant rimless tank you see that person has a rimmed 40g breeder somewhere else in there house and a 20g with a rim somewhere else. And I probably won't look any more stupid than the lid. Lol

This light also works well for nano tanks



If you can find one. It would probably clip on and hang on the back.

True well no lid it is then aha I will ask my lfs about a light tomorrow as well but they might say things to try sell be ones but idk I will have to see

 

[CrimsonTide]

If I was your fish store I would try to sell you an AI Prime 16hd which is like $209 in US dollars. And they are nice and great and have an app. BUT you don't really need one. You just need something with enough par output to grow corals that you can turn on and off. But programmable is a plus. I wouldn't pay more than $150 for anything that isn't programmable. Although.... you can buy one of those timers and attach lights to those and the timer come on and run your lights and turn them off. I dont mind waterchanges or feeding fish or coral but I'm not gonna wake up to turn on my lights or be home everyday to turn them off.

 

[Emma_fish]

If I was your fish store I would try to sell you an AI Prime 16hd which is like $209 in US dollars. And they are nice and great and have an app. BUT you don't really need one. You just need something with enough par output to grow corals that you can turn on and off. But programmable is a plus. I wouldn't pay more than $150 for anything that isn't programmable. Although.... you can buy one of those timers and attach lights to those and the timer come on and run your lights and turn them off. I dont mind waterchanges or feeding fish or coral but I'm not gonna wake up to turn on my lights or be home everyday to turn them off.

That’s what I’m doing now turning on and off every day that’s why I need at light with a timer ! But yeah I will probably end up getting the viparspectra anyway

 

[CrimsonTide]

Well let us know what they say at the store when you go. I will say i do enjoy knowing my lights will come whether I decide to wake up or not and go off if I'm not home by 10pm. And hopefully they'll have snail replacements for you. Get snails that don't have shells shaped like hermits like. That way they won't try to kill your snails. That's why I hate hermits. Theyre cheeky.