20 Gallon Nano reef update

           So it’s been a little while since I posted my last blog and there have been some pretty big changes to my tank that we will get into here. Its been a few months now that the tank have been up and running and for anyone in the Reef hobby you know that’s a pretty young set up, and for those looking into the hobby, know its all about patience. This is a lesson I’m still learning as I watch my tank grow. First let’s look at some quick updates about the tank before we jump into the new additions.

20 gallon nano reef a few months after being set up

            I just recently noticed a large increase in the amount and coralline algae growing in the tank. You might be able to notice it in the picture above, it’s all over the power filter inlet as well as the power heads and its really taking hold on the rocks. This is an encouraging sign for me, lets me know I’m, doing something right so far anyway. I also changed up the light cycle so there is 4 hours of total darkness at night; I use to have the lunar lights on all night. I think my candy cane coral is responding nicely to this change.  Another set up change I’ve started to employ is I don’t use quiet as much active carbon as I did when I first started, I only have one cartridge in for now.  I’m hoping this will reduce the amount of beneficial elements that may be getting filtered out by the active carbon.

            Now let’s talk about the new livestock additions for the tank. A couple weeks ago I added my second Coral to the tank, a Hammer coral. Scientifically called Euphyllia Ancora, this coral can be seen in the picture below. I really wanted to stick with the LPS corals for now, and I wanted to add some movement to the tank so I did some research and found these corals to be pretty fascinating. My set up should cater to this corals requirements nicely, although I am a little concerned about its size. It have the ability to grow very large, but hopefully I can frag some pieces of the coral if it grows to large and make some money or save it for a larger set up.



New Hammer Coral and Percula Clown Fish in my 20 Gallon Nano reef Tank



            My most recent addition to this tank can also be seen in the picture above, my new percula clownfish. That’s right; I finally added some fish to the set up. These guys have really made the tank come alive as they are very active all over the place. I really made up my mind about these guys long before I started building the tank, regardless of the size and setup I knew I wanted clownfish. These are tank breed clownfish which is what I wanted, and they seem to be getting along well which is great because clownfish can be temperamental toward one along from what I understand. I also have been considering an anemone to see if the clownfish will host in my set up, but as of right now I haven’t even begun to research the requirements or types of amemones so I wont be getting anything like that any time soon.

            So those are my tank updates and new livestock additions summed up pretty quickly. I do have some pretty big updates coming up to the tank but they will all be discussed later, very soon, but later. So thanks for reading and don’t forget to check out my youtube channel Here, AquariumsByZero. As always let me know whatr you think, comments, suggestions, advice, and support are always welcome.

Thanks again,

Zero