Tank build. Just starting. Freshwater convert 20 gall

[Evanbardiel]

equipment:
Forza 60-90 canister filter
Spk-75
2 aquatop 20’s

stock list
2 platinum percoli clownfish
1 starry blenny
1 pennant wrasse
1 green mandarin goby
1 cherub angel
1 halloween urchin
1 sally lightfoot crab
2 cleaner shrimp
15 varius snails and hermit crabs

i currently do water changes bases on nitrate and phos levels .

i feed my corals 6 ml’s of red sea reef energy plus every day, i add reef roids To my feeding concoction twice a week and dose phytoplankton once a week.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I just picked this up and plan to convert it to salt water. We have no fish stores here in my town. Closest is over 2 hours away so ill have to order everything. But here’s where we are starting out. I also have a heater as well. Thats it for right now

Can you post some pictures?

 

[Evanbardiel]

I did i thought, its still boxed im leaving it boxed until i get all the equipment i need.

 

[Evanbardiel]

 

[Evanbardiel]

Iv got some equipment in my cart to start working on getting her together. I have a dilema. Since there is no place to buy salt water im gonna have to make my own. Heres the hard part. Getting the right kind of water. Can i turn my tap water into usable water?

 

[Evanbardiel]

Man, i just dropped 300$ on some equipment. The led lights i have rn should be ok for starting the tank up with, i dont know what lights wil lwork best yet until i get iut the tank and start playing with it. Next paycheck im buying an over flow and ill build a sump i saw online. The lights maybe as well. I order 20 pounds of live rock, salt mix, conditioners, quick starts, and a salinity tester.

 

[Evanbardiel]

While i was out i stopped at a local pet store and found an upgrade to my current filter. The new filter is an aqueon quiet flow 20. I plan to creat a bio filter using activated carbon, live sand and marine pure biomedia high performance gems. Im buying some pods and ohotoplancton to cycle my tank and ill add more pods to the sump im going to eventually upgrade to.

 

[Evanbardiel]

I also picked up some super glue, setting spray, and some coral putty for when my rocks gets here

 

[Evanbardiel]

So i set it up today and got her cycling. For some reason i cant get my water to go below 81f. My heater is set to 77 and turns off when it hits 77. So lord only knows.

 

[Evanbardiel]

 

[Evanbardiel]

I believe we got her cycling

 

[Fink]

I believe we got her cycling

Looks like you're on your way. You should try and get the build thread badge while you're at it. What kind of light did you end up picking up?

Did you cycle it with bacteria in a bottle or are you going old school?

 

[Evanbardiel]

Iv ordered the lights which will get here weds and ill post what they are (i cant remember off the top of my head, my lfs store got them for me and i trust my fish guy 100%. I did it with a bottle and i kicked the process off by using copepods and plankton instead of a fish or a dead shrimp or liquid amonia.
i used fritz turbo start 900. 1 bottle of tiger pods which i split between my filter ( which is filled with live gems and live sand) and tank. 2 cap full of plankton the day i turned it on and 2 caps yesturday.

i am computer illiterate and cant figure out how toasd the badge for the build lol.

 

[Evanbardiel]

Oh and i retested just because it was my first try and got almost the same results. My ph came back perfect, and everything else came back exactly the same

 

[Evanbardiel]

I hooked up the white light leds that came with the kit just to see what they did. Theyre really bright. Good to see whats happening in the tank and read my thermometer when its late.

 

[Aqua Man]

20 tall is a great little tank. If your home is warm, then your tank will stay warm.
Do you have one of those pre set heaters? Or is it adjustable?

 

[Evanbardiel]

The room was without air conditioning, i put a new ac unit in and now my tank is good. Sitting between 77.9 and 78.1. The heater is adjustable and i have a digital thermometer in the tank so i know exactly what it reads. Now im just trying to get the tank at 78.5 and for it to stay there

 

[Evanbardiel]

Todays water testing.

 

[Evanbardiel]

So lol iv been using the ambient light in my tank room to cycle the tank but have decided to turn on the white light leds i have installed in my hood. Iv pulled the shrimp from my tank after 24 hours. Ill post tomorrows test results.

 

[Aqua Man]

I would suggest not running your lights yet. Or a very short photo period. Especially if they are bright white. Will help with the ugly stage that all tanks go through

Looking good! Let’s see some pics!!