my 20 gallon long question's

Looking to start up my 20 gallon long again right this time. My other attempt I could never fight off the red slime.

I am not looking to hold anything superb, just simple. Some polyps, maybe a pulsating xenia, and a clam, and if I can find one again, I believe the coral was called a whisker coral or a grape vine coral? (Whisker coral image by jordanibarra on Photobucket one of these, but purple "whiskers")

So any way,

I have one of those cheapo protein skimmers from petco that are around 110 bucks, a bio wheel filter, koraline powerhead. My light is a coralife dual compact. a 10k and a 50/50 i believe. (one light is white, the other actinic) both lights are 55 watts.

I have roughly 20 pounds of LR, and about 30-40 pounds of a live sand/aragonite mix. (I have both of these sitting in a tupper ware bin with water and water flow at the moment)

Will all of this be ok so long as I properly cycle my tank and take my time with it?

I have been researching refugiums but do not think I will need one, but what about a sump? I have read that a sump is not really needed for a 20 gallon. I am sure there are some people on here that use 20 gallon longs, so I am hoping to get some advice from them, and anyone else.

 

There won't be any clams that stay small enough for that tank, which will do well under PC's. Deresa is the only I can think of that does well under pc's but they get to be quite large (12-18inches)

Yes your setup will work, but nothing good goes fast in this hobby. Take your time with everything and do water changes, two large reasons many people have success (not saying you cannot be successful without patience and water changes because with enough money to buy the correct equipment you could)

 

ah well thats good info on the clam. Ill have to find something else in place of it eventually. I figure Ill be able to do this tank right this time since I am setting it up in my new house, and wont be moving in until the end of august. Since I wont be seeing it everyday, I wont feel a rush to do things.

 

That sort of a setup is probably OK for what you're thinking about (minus the clam as already stated).

BUT adding a sump will make things a lot easier I think, and will make your display tank a lot more attractive (you won't have a bunch of equipment hanging in it). If you fit it under the stand where the tank is it will not take up any more floor space and can provide a lot of extra benefits.

Not necessary, but could be very nice to have, especially increasing your water volume which is very helpful on such a small tank. I would research it a little and decide if you personally feel it would be worth your time/money/effort.

More info on sumps.
Melevsreef.com - What is a Sump?

Also, the "whisker" coral is a duncanopsammia, commonly called a "duncan".

 

Screwtape got it with the sump. Sumps are great for hiding equipment and on smaller tanks you save a lot of space. I would just use another 20 gal. long as a sump. You can add some dividers or a bubble trap if you want too. Your DT will look much better and neater, and you will have more room inside the tank.

A refugium would actually be good on smaller aquariums. You mentioned you had problems with red slime before, that means that you had excess nutrients in the tank. Refugiums help solve that problem. You could just have a small section in your sump as a refugium.

 

Good info. I have thought of a sump, and have been reading into it. I bought a home made 20 gallon one from some lady (just some plastic sheets that form the bubble traps and whatnot, put in place by silicon), and I have a spare 10 gallon I was thinking of making one out of as well. I made my stand myself, so I need to put in a shelf for the sump to sit on, and zip out some holes for the pipes to run through eventually. you can add a sump later on to the aquarium if you choose right?

 

Adding it after the fact is possible however it may be much easier to do up front if you want to drill out your display tank. If you don't drill your tank first for the plumbing you'll probably have to do a U-tube overflow which I personally don't trust but some people swear by them.

Here's one example of the siphon overflow, some people like the Eshopps brand as well.
prefilter box, siphon box, overflow box, siphon overflow, Eurobrace, Euro-brace, Euro-tank

Also FYI most people don't drill their sump for plumbing, they just have the pipes come over the top of the tank.

 

So I am probably going to do a sump. The 20-25 gallon sump I bought that was home made, is just a hair to big to fit into the bottom of my stand, So I am going to make a 10 gallon sump. Got my idea from this, Phase II - Aquarium Adventures

and it looks a little easier than I had thought. I really want to avoid drilling, and try the straight tube method this guy is using. So looks like all I will need to buy is a submersible pump, some sort of clamp deal for the tubes to dump into the aquariums and out of, and the pipes for it. I take it the supply line into the sump is all gravity.

Only question I am seeing is how many HP of a pump should I buy? I am worried about over flowing the sump with the line that drops into the sump from the aquarium.

 

so my skimmer question. I have a seaclone 150, and could use it in my sump. But I have read other threads around the web of people that have used a biocube's skimmer in their sump and worked. I always thought a biocubes filter could only work in a biocube, but I guess not. Anybody know anything about this?

 

i also have a 20l with a 10gal sump i have a overflow that handles 600 gph and a return that pumps 500gph but it will lose some gph traveling back up to the tank you want your return pump to be less gph than your overflow can do and your sump will not overflow