My first aquarium (Nano)

[actik]

Hi everyone, ive never done this before or even created a threat with build progress but im going to do my best lol. I fell in love with how beautiful corals were and decided i would give it a try in a nano sized tank and if all goes well perhaps go bigger ofcourse, this may be my new hobbie

Would like to give a thank you to everyone who used their experience to guide me, Especially @dantimdad my aquarium Guru


Equipment

Aquarium - IM nuvo 20g AIO (Upgraded stock pump to sicce 1.5)
Lighting - Wattshine Dimmable LED aquarium light 165w Full spectrum for coral reef
Heater - Basic 100w
stand - Made my own, still a work in progress will be adding a canopy
Rock - Marco Rock premium dry
Substrate - CaribSea Arag alive special grade reef sand 20 lbs (Live Sand)

I heard everyone loves pictures so here what I have so far Cycling took me maybe just over 3 weeks, it had just finished 2 days ago.

CYCLE COMPLETE !!!!

 

[actik]

Fish !!!!

I'm totally open to suggestions and criticism but as far as fish go i was thinking something like...

1x Darwin clown or picaso
1x Clown Goby, Citrinis
1x Cleaner shrimp
1x Blenny ?? unsure between these options... lawnmower (favorite) TailSpot (pretty) or a Bicolor...but the story of them picking corals kinda worries me.

CuC

4x Nass snails
2x Turbo's maybe ? id appreciate suggestions here
1x some type of urchin if possible would be awsome.

Corals

Trying to play it real safe in this area, being a beginner and all i plan to go All Softies beginner friendly ( totally open to suggestions here as well)

 

[dantimdad]

AWESOME!

And thanks for the kudos. It has been really enjoyable helping out.

 

[kichimark]

Very nice setup. The stand looks very sturdy and can hold tons of more weight than what you got on.

If you are going to get turbos for clean up crew, make sure you glue/epoxy your frags down since they are bulldozers. If you also get them, I would recommend the tail spot blenny since it will add some nice color (for a blenny).

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks like a great start!

 

[actik]

Thanks alot everyone that is probably something i am missing is color for fish, i went for personalities from reviews and videos...lol

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Beautiful start!

 

[actik]

Yes currently trying to get fish from a little Shop called Derek's reef, in Moncton. Seems like a very nice guy busy though, wants to do bus shipping for me to the next town roughly 10-15$ 45 min drive shipping, my hero. Everyone else seems to want 50-70$ imagine for like a 25$ fish. Can't even do a bundle deal because of the whole 1 fish per month rule haha.

 

[dmoore12341920]

The build turned out beautifully. Welcome to the hobby. Good luck with your tank and staying on top of your parameters.

 

[actik]

The build turned out beautifully. Welcome to the hobby. Good luck with your tank and staying on top of your parameters.

Thanks you

 

[actik]

Very nice setup. The stand looks very sturdy and can hold tons of more weight than what you got on.

If you are going to get turbos for clean up crew, make sure you glue/epoxy your frags down since they are bulldozers. If you also get them, I would recommend the tail spot blenny since it will add some nice color (for a blenny).

Thanks I didn't know turbos were so strong

 

[nguye829]

Very nice setup, I can't wait to see more updates of this tank. By the way, the stand looks great and very well made.

 

[actik]

Very nice setup, I can't wait to see more updates of this tank. By the way, the stand looks great and very well made.

Thanks I'm no carpenter I just tried my best. Working on a canopy atm. I'll post some pics today hopefully it turns out better then the first lol

 

[count krunk]

i love the orange spot prawn goby. They will pair with pistol shrimps as well.

Since you are new, you may find this google sheet I created very helpful. It started for a my 40 breeder build, but since I have used it as a catchall for all reef keeping knowledge I want to reference again I have gleaned since joining R2R in 2017.

There are 4 total tabs on the sheet.

• build specs
• feeding
• livestock
• misc ideas

livestock and misc ideas has TONS of info in it. everything is hyperlinked if it should be. give it a peep you may find something very useful in it.

 

[ks2509]

Fish !!!!

I'm totally open to suggestions and criticism but as far as fish go i was thinking something like...

1x Darwin clown or picaso
1x Clown Goby, Citrinis
1x Cleaner shrimp
1x Blenny ?? unsure between these options... lawnmower (favorite) TailSpot (pretty) or a Bicolor...but the story of them picking corals kinda worries me.

CuC

4x Nass snails
2x Turbo's maybe ? id appreciate suggestions here
1x some type of urchin if possible would be awsome.

Corals

Trying to play it real safe in this area, being a beginner and all i plan to go All Softies beginner friendly ( totally open to suggestions here as well)

I have a IM 20 myself I have 2 black ice clowns, watchman, yellow clown goby, cleaner shrimp, and a tuxedo urchin. Definitely recommend the urchin after a while once the rocks are good and covered in algae because all mine does is roam the rocks all day marking them look new. For snails I have 2 turbo (will be getting more soon) and a mix of nassarus and some other snail I forgot the name of for a total of 15or so snails.

 

[Gonebad395]

Hey welcome to R2R that tank looks great and the stand is really really cool. A big high five to you for doing your research and question asking. I like how you are taking it nice and slow man definitely following along.

 

[actik]

I have a IM 20 myself I have 2 black ice clowns, watchman, yellow clown goby, cleaner shrimp, and a tuxedo urchin. Definitely recommend the urchin after a while once the rocks are good and covered in algae because all mine does is roam the rocks all day marking them look new. For snails I have 2 turbo (will be getting more soon) and a mix of nassarus and some other snail I forgot the name of for a total of 15or so snails.

You should dm, me with pics or just throw it in my post. I'd love to see it

 

[actik]

i love the orange spot prawn goby. They will pair with pistol shrimps as well.

Since you are new, you may find this google sheet I created very helpful. It started for a my 40 breeder build, but since I have used it as a catchall for all reef keeping knowledge I want to reference again I have gleaned since joining R2R in 2017.

There are 4 total tabs on the sheet.

• build specs
• feeding
• livestock
• misc ideas

livestock and misc ideas has TONS of info in it. everything is hyperlinked if it should be. give it a peep you may find something very useful in it.

Thanks you very much, I'll check as soon as I'm home

 

[ks2509]

You should dm, me with pics or just throw it in my post. I'd love to see it

Excuse the algae over fed corals a week ago and had a big green hair break out... but luckily my LFS had a sea hare they loan out and he is mowing it down.

 

[actik]

Excuse the algae over fed corals a week ago and had a big green hair break out... but luckily my LFS had a sea hare they loan out and he is mowing it down.

It looks great to me dude, nice looking clowns. Sometimes I think maybe I did someshing wrong, all my tests are good and salt level but my whole cycle I never came across any sort of hairs or algea. I had some fine dust like residue at one point, maybe it's because my sand is alive and rocks dead dry ?