20g HEX : could it work?

[MrMashashin]

Well I joist bought a Geneva build aquarium and stand from Petco for about $75. Yes it's a hex and I already knw about the Light to depth thingy. I was planing on going to my LFS and getting the most powerfull light bulb I could fit into it. But anyway wcould it possable be made into a marine tank? I was thinking of doing a few damsels in there but if that wont work then a pair of clowns. The clean up crew woud consist of about 3 sand sifting snails, 1 or 2 hermits, and maybe a shrimp.

 

[3fsh]

Hmmm... the only problem I could see with a tank like that would be adequately circulating the water without creating a whirlpool! Other than that, I think It could work okay. I would suggest a single metal halide pendant to hang over it. Something in the 150-175 watt range would be good. That would provide about 7-8 watts per gallon which would allow you to put almost anything in there coral-wise. (You have to be careful about overheating a tank that small, though, so you might want to do compact flourescents instead.) I think damsels would fight amongst themselves in a tank that size, so the clowns would probably be a better choice. With plenty of research (see the pinned articles) I think the tank could do really well!

 

[Navarre]

A friend of mine has just upgraded from a 20 gallon hex to a 40 gallon tank recently. This hex was setup by me as he wanted it for a present for his wife whilst she was in hospital. The tank had been running for a year and the only losses were a pair of clowns at the start (but the lfs had an aweful batch that seemed to be sickly as i had a pair clown and they died too.. alongwith many of the clowns in the shops tank (so i dont blame the setup),

The tank was a stunner! Lots of macro algaes gave it a rather unique look as it was domniated by these moreso than corals. The tank did have corals though, a Tiny sarcophyton that came as a frag on some liverock, (its now growing in the new tnak and is the size of a 50p coin). A devils finger coral, again a tiny frag but this has grown really well and is now about the size of my palm. Lots of different zooanthids and some pulsing xenia. The tank has a set of T5s over the tank (Compacts) 1 white and 1 red (I wanted blue but the shop sold em red ) )

The tank had a pair of clowns that are now growing nicely in the new tank, 6 line wrasse, neon goby algae blenny (died during the transfer ) and a catalunya goby.
1 cleaner shrimp and 1 blood shrimp.

It had an external fluval 104 with just sponges inside and it provided extra circulation. It also had a tiny powerhead to create flow. Whilst the flow was not that great, the corals and fish did do exceptionally well in there. Wish ihad some photos to show you as it was a great looking tank

 

[MrMashashin]

ok so it could work if i set it up right i take it. This is my plan lol. I went to petco and got sand for my 55g tank. I figure I'll take out about 5-8 pounds of that nasty looking crushed shels/rocks/corals a day. I could get the hex cycling by tommarow if I wanted and have about 15? pounds of sand in there. But the filtering would be a problem though. I would have to get one and a heater. So a speed cycle would be take some water from the established/mature tank up stairs and put it in with the newly added and salted water. Live rock would tiher be bought from PetLand in Naperville or I'll order a 20-25lb box from saltwaterfish.com for $100 and no shipping. Does that sound like a good plan or what?

 

[Fishy411]

Hmmm... the only problem I could see with a tank like that would be adequately circulating the water without creating a whirlpool! Other than that, I think It could work okay. I would suggest a single metal halide pendant to hang over it. Something in the 150-175 watt range would be good. That would provide about 7-8 watts per gallon which would allow you to put almost anything in there coral-wise. (You have to be careful about overheating a tank that small, though, so you might want to do compact flourescents instead.) I think damsels would fight amongst themselves in a tank that size, so the clowns would probably be a better choice. With plenty of research (see the pinned articles) I think the tank could do really well!

Holy moly. That would be hilarious. It wouldnt create a funnel though.

 

[Great Lakes]

For a tank that size, I would just buck up and get your live rock directly from the lfs.

It may cost you a few bucks more, but will shorten your cycle time and not provide as many surprises as the mail order stuff.

And I too would go with the MH pendant. A bulb in the 13 to 14K range should look good.

GL

 

[MrMashashin]

yea but the thing is I cant afford to buy any of the good fixtures Would anyone happen to have a used one laying around?

 

[Great Lakes]

Here is a real good deal.

LINK

Don't know the size of the hex though.

GL

 

[MrMashashin]

ok like i said i done have 200 bucks to spend on just lights. my parents would get so mad at me. So i found this! http/www.aquatraders.com/aquatraders/pro...92eb56b50253fe3 that looks decent to me. If its too big then I'll simple rigg up a reflecter system so it will reflect the lightthat misses the tank.