Rebecca's Simple Garden Reef

[BluewaterBoof]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GJ...IKXHAYVX&psc=1

Yes, that is sufficient for a 20long tank. I have one of similar GPH rating (different brand, though) and it has served me well for the last two years. Usually takes around 75-80mins to fill up an orange 5gal Home Depot bucket up to the 4gal mark. In my 20long reef with sand and rockwork a 4gal water change usually worked out to be around a 40% water change. Your mileage may vary depending on what % you want to change in your particular setup and what size buckets you have.

[showmebutterfly]

Yes, that is sufficient for a 20long tank. I have one of similar GPH rating (different brand, though) and it has served me well for the last two years. Usually takes around 75-80mins to fill up an orange 5gal Home Depot bucket up to the 4gal mark. In my 20long reef with sand and rockwork a 4gal water change usually worked out to be around a 40% water change. Your mileage may vary depending on what % you want to change in your particular setup and what size buckets you have.

Thank you, Andre!

[Kirstin_orion113]

I'm not sure. I don't have an RODI unit yet. @Slaphppy7 you have a unit, correct? What do you think?

You can have a saltwater tank without an RO/DI filter system?

[Kirstin_orion113]

Yes, that is sufficient for a 20long tank. I have one of similar GPH rating (different brand, though) and it has served me well for the last two years. Usually takes around 75-80mins to fill up an orange 5gal Home Depot bucket up to the 4gal mark. In my 20long reef with sand and rockwork a 4gal water change usually worked out to be around a 40% water change. Your mileage may vary depending on what % you want to change in your particular setup and what size buckets you have.

Awesome and wow 1 hour to fill a 5 gal bucket? That takes a lot longer than I expected! Do you age your water also or is that not necessary for sw? And it will be a 20 long with sand and live rock (already established from lfs) got a deal on it for $3.99 a lb. I haven’t even started the tank yet however I am making sure I will have everything I need to get it started. And I will also be using a 5 gal bucket.

[showmebutterfly]

I posted a reply earlier, but don't know where it went. But, yes, you can have a SW tank without an RO/DI filter system. It's not recommended and may contribute to algae issues, but it can be done. I've been using our well water for almost 4 years. I am currently battling red bubble algae and green hair algae. Part of that is new tank issues, since I just set this current tank up a few months ago, part of it is probably from my well water and some of it might be caused by my lighting.

You can have a saltwater tank without an RO/DI filter system?

[BluewaterBoof]

Awesome and wow 1 hour to fill a 5 gal bucket? That takes a lot longer than I expected! Do you age your water also or is that not necessary for sw?

Closer to an hour and a half, and that's even faster than the gallon-per-day rating (only 50) listed on my RODI unit. If you spend more and get a 100+ GPD rated system it will make the water faster. It all depends on what your budget is.

I age my water but I'm not really consistent with it. Sometimes I just let it churn in the bucket with a pump and heater until it is up to temperature, other times I will let it churn for a day or two but that's more out of sheer laziness than anything else. I have never noticed a difference between letting the water age or not. I just make sure the salt is completely mixed and the temp matches the display tank and I'm good to go.

[showmebutterfly]

I usually mix up my saltwater a few hours before I'm going to use it. Sometimes, if I'm more organized than usual, I'll mix it up the day before. I always test the salinity in both the tank and the bucket(s) of new saltwater to make sure they match before doing a water change.

[showmebutterfly]

Having just upgraded from the 40 breeder to the 65 gallon, I have already been giving serious thought to downsizing. I like all the open swimming space of the larger tank, but I hate being up to my armpit in water whenever I need to do something with the rocks or coral and, for whatever reason, I'm finding the size of the tank intimidating. I don't know if it's the height alone or something else. The 65 gallon is a lot more scratched up than I realized too. Mostly that doesn't bother me, except for when light hits it in a way that makes all the scratches more noticeable, but they are another strike against it.
I love the look of 75 gallon tanks and always thought I'd aspire to have one of those, but now I'm not so sure. I would likely find that size overwhelming too, even though they are a more manageable height.
I'll muddle along with this tank for a while, but I am thinking about other options. I don't think I want to go back to a 40 breeder. I'm researching cubes, all in one tanks, Red Sea Reefer set ups, etc. My mind keeps veering toward 29 gallons, but I'm not sure if I want to go that small. There's a 37 gallon tank for sale locally, same footprint as 29, but taller. I like the gallon size, but know I won't like the height. Maybe it's because I'm vertically challenged? Maybe my arms are too short. Maybe I'm just too picky. Maybe I'm too demanding. Maybe I'm never satisfied. Maybe we all need a little purple rain?
I've got time to think and plan and change my mind a thousand times. I may grow to love the 65 gallon tank, scratches and all, but I don't see it as being my grow old with me tank.
Anyway. That's today's ramble.

[showmebutterfly]

I'm back again. Our home addition passed final inspection on 2nd attempt New Year's eve. We are mostly through with contractors, but have quite a long to-do list for ourselves. One of them, for me, is tearing down the 65g reef and downsizing to a 29g. I bought a used stand back in the fall. It's since been reinforced and painted black. This is before painting.

unpainted stand.jpeg

Over Thanksgiving weekend we went out of town and came home to a cold tank. I had 2 heaters. One had broken and the other apparently couldn't keep up. I've since lost most of my corals and quite a few fish. The 65 was already being horribly neglected during the time our kitchen and laundry room were being remodeled, then I had stomach surgery November 11th and broke my ankle December 1st. On December 15th, I managed to do some much needed tank maintenance and a large water change. This is after 2 days of pulling out green hair algae and cleaning the best I could while hobbling around.

12-15-16 65g.jpeg

After finding out Petco was having a $1 per gallon sale and that we'd passed final inspection, I bought a celebratory 29 gallon tank for our new master bathroom. Over the weekend I got the tank set up in its new home and DIY'd a whateveryouwanttocallit for hanging my T5 light fixture above the tank. Leak testing has commenced.

light hanger.jpeg

[Boundava]

Sorry to hear that you hurt yourself but I'm glad surgery went well. Lots of stuff done your house huh, glad the inspection passed and you can move on with finishing up the house. Thank you so much for the update don't be a stranger.