thegrandpoohbah

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1. From what I've read of the Rio Nano Skimmer, I'd either skip it or save up for something better (like an AquaC Nano remora). Weekly 25% waterchanges should negate the need for a skimmer in a small tank. 2. The Hydor Koralia series of powerheads is pretty much the gold standard when it comes to SW tanks. A pair of Koralia Nano's would do nicely. 3. I like Stealth heaters because they are not made of glass. 100W should do the trick. You don't need anything special, just don't bother with the cheap ones. 4. Your live rock (plus powerheads for water movement) will be the bulk of your biological filtration. You can use a HOB filter for chemical and mechanical filtration as well but make sure to rinse any media with hot tap water every couple of days otherwise it will become a nitrate factory.

If your husband is an electrician then I'd have him build you a high output LED array fixture. There are lots of DIY plans online and the benefits will be way less heat (especially important for a nano tank), longer bulb life than any other lighting method and less energy consumption.

Sadly, the quality of Ebo Jager heaters has decreased since Eheim took over. I, like many others, had a newer one fail while all my older ones are still working great. I do find that they are almost never calibrated properly straight out of the box. Do NOT take it apart, they are not meant to be user serviceable.

Take the lid off the Aquaclear, that will eliminate most of the noise.

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/ps-acre/...in+Skimmer.html

If you want a good nano skimmer then look into an AquaC Nano Remora or a Tunze Nano DOC 9002. They cost quite a bit more but actually work.

Do you have some fresh SW mixed up? I'd start by doing an immediate waterchange.

Ah, I see. If the rock was already cured and you transported it in water then you may be OK. As for your lighting, it really depends. Are they regular T5s or T5HO (high output)? How many bulbs? I'd skip the anemone in a tank that small. Besides, there is no guarantee that your clowns would host in it anyways.

My first suggestion would be to take the fish back to the LFS right away. The only thing needed to cycle the tank is the live rock. There is no need to have the fish suffer through a cycle unnessisarily. And are you sure you want the damsel in there long term? They tend to be very aggressive and are difficult to remove in a tank with that much rock work. I'd give the tank at least another 2 weeks to cycle before adding a clean up crew of snails and hermit crabs. Then slowly start adding fish about two weeks after that. In the meantime, keep monitoring your ammonia and nitrite levels. Trust me, rushing into SW is a recipe for disaster. The brown algae you have is diatoms, very normal for a new set-up. It will go away on its own with time. What kind of corals do you plan to keep?

I'd cycle for at least 4 weeks before adding the clean up crew then give it another 2 weeks before adding fish. Just make sure your ammonia and nitrite levels are at 0 before adding the livestock. Your SG seems a little low, I'd aim for 1.023-1.026. If you can, invest in a refractometer. Hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate. For the lighting I would go with a 70W MH (either a JBJ K2 Viper or a DIY retro-fit). A 150W set-up would be easier to find bulbs for but will likely give you heat issues. I'd skip PC's altogether unless you only want low-light corals. T5HO is another option that produces good results but there are very few choices that will fit over a 10G tank.

Try Brite Lite in the NE: http://britelite.com/

Not to rain on your parade but 6 fish in a 20G!?!? I'd re-think that if I were you or you will have a lot of water quality issues.

Koralia's are the best powerhead around. Lots of water movement yet with a more gentle, dispersed flow. Also, less energy consumption (and therefore less heat output) compared to most other powerheads. You won't be disappointed.

Hydor Koralia powerheads move a lot of water but have a more dispersed flow pattern than regular powerheads like a Maxijet. It would help keep fish poo suspended so that your filter can get it. Most reefers I know use these and I have one in my turtle tank with a sand substrate and have no issues.

Are the tanks covered? If they are then there shouldn't be that much evaporation. If not, then it's time to invest in some glass tops.

The Coralife T5 strips won't cut it. I used two of those fixtures, each with one 6700K and one 10000K bulb, on a 33G and it wasn't enough to grow HC. Consider going to a 2 or 4 x 39W T5HO fixture instead.

Very nice, thanks for the link. Is that a US vendor? How much was shipping to Calgary? What method? They ship USPS and for my order it was $25.99. For orders under $100 it's $20.99. For the 3' fixture the total worked out to be $172 after shipping and currency conversion.

T5HO > PC. If price is an issue look into one of these: http://www.fishneedit.com/new-light.html. I just got the 3' version and am quite happy with it so far.

I know Pisces carries those Glo retrofit kits. Can't remember the price though...

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I just got this for my 50G: http://www.fishneedit.com/3ft4bulbs-with-l34.html. It is cheaply made but the online reviews are generally quite positive. My only real complaint is that the mounting legs suck so I have it sitting directly on my glass top. I ordered all 10,000K bulbs and it is nice and white and very bright. It worked out to $172 after shipping and currency conversion. Not too bad considering how much light you get. An equivalent brand name unit would be twice as much or more.

When the lights are on plants consume CO2 and produce oxygen via photosynthesis.

Pisces carries most of the Aquaclear parts.

He said 1.5 WPG so I'm assuming a standard 15W fluorescent tube. First thing I'd do is make sure the bulb is suitable for plant growth. A lot of bulbs have a very high Kelvin rating which is nice for fish but plants don't do as well under them. My 10G tanks all came with 18000K bulbs. Consider switching it out for one that has a 6700K rating which is more suitable for plants to photosynthesize. As for plants, stick to the ones with lower light requirements: java moss, java fern, anubias and cryptocorynes. As jvision pointed out, dosing ferts and Excel may help.