20g long with 10g refugium equipment questions:

[0812946]

I have had my 20g long up and running for about 3 months. I currently have a couple small RBTA's, a few leathers, zoanthids, and a derasa clam. As for fish I have a pair of tank raised clowns and a tailspot blenny.

In my setup I am running a 4x39w aquatic life 36" light, CS-90 overflow, Koralia 3, 100w heater, Quiet One 1200 return, 10g refugium, and probably 30+ pounds of live rock.

As of right now I do not have any major issues. My plan of attack is water changes every 10-14 days, and after the tank matures further I will do weekly changes.

I am trying to figure out whether or not I should run a small skimmer and or a phosban reactor? What are your thoughts or experiences? I do not have any aglae or cyano issues, but I realize that if my phosphates do go up then I most likely will have issues. What are the best products for nano skimmers and phosban reactors?

[0812946]

I have the 10g refugium mainly to breed copepods btw. My future plan for a last fish is to do a mandrin goby. Does that sound like a bad idea? I do realize that mandrins need a well established tank with plenty of copepod life and usually it is best to have them in large tanks. Is a 10 gallon refugium going to provide sufficient food for a mandrin down the road?

[cody6766]

Unless the mandarin eats prepared food, it's probably a bad idea to add one to a 20g tank. They constantly eat and will likely pick it clean in a short period of time. The fuge will help, but I don't think it will be enough to sustain a mandarin's appetite.

As for skimmers, I've been eyeballing one of the SWC cone skimmers. I've heard solid reviews from reliable sources and the pricing is pretty good. Don't get caught up in tank volume rating. Just get a good skimmer that fits your size and budget needs.

[0812946]

Unless the mandarin eats prepared food, it's probably a bad idea to add one to a 20g tank. They constantly eat and will likely pick it clean in a short period of time. The fuge will help, but I don't think it will be enough to sustain a mandarin's appetite.

As for skimmers, I've been eyeballing one of the SWC cone skimmers. I've heard solid reviews from reliable sources and the pricing is pretty good. Don't get caught up in tank volume rating. Just get a good skimmer that fits your size and budget needs.

Thanks, and good advice. I just found my tailspot blenny eats copepods as well so Im thinking about doing a wrasse of some kind.

I have kind of rules the skimmer out to.

[0812946]

Here are a couple of photos:

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff171/zrs6v4/20glongnanosetup001.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff171/zrs6v4/20glongnanosetup002.jpg