A 9 year olds X-mass

So she wanted a fresh water tank, just for the light up harry potter set. Thank God she changed her mind, and went back to wanting a reef tank. Only now I'm trying to put a nice nano tank together, for her. I have my old 20 long I was thinking to use, and I posted on a local forum that I needed lights. Now I have to deiced on how to light it, and what lights. I have 1 150watt halide, but I'm thinking I would need actinic too, so I should also get the 2bulb 96watt pc fixture. That would mean my kid has more light over her tank than I do. what other light could I use w/ the halide?

Oh and I need a little help planing this tank out so all Ideas welcome, I'll be introducing her her on the forum about the time she gets her tank.

You dont have to have secondary lights if you dont want. They do add a cool sun up/down effect and can add some pop to the coral color but they are not a necessity. If you are going to go out and buy something just for this i would look at something other than PC lights. PC bulbs are pretty out dated now and the way they are made traps heat around the bulb which shortens the bulb life to about 6 months or less meaning you will need to change them very often. I also think that they will not be making them too much longer because of this so you might not be able to buy replacement bulbs before too long. I would look into T5 actinics and royal blue/blue LED strip lights. You will spend a little more money up front but be better off in the long run.

Thx, that is the first thing I needed to get decided and out of the way. They want 50$ for the 1 fixture add an led strip shouldn't cost to much. It's still cheaper than the Harry Potter set she wanted originally.

Do you guys think I could get away w/ a canister filter. I know it is a little maintenance keeping it clean and the carbon changed, but the price the guy is asking is right for right now.

A canister filter can work but with only 20g water volume i would skip that and do 25% to 50% water changes every week and rely on that for water quality. After a few months, if you find water changes arent working for you you can always add a canister or HOB filter.

Great now I know when I ran the tank I probably didn't need the over size skimmer I had running it. I like big water changes they put everything right.

+1 on the LED strip

those ecoxotic LED stunner strips will add just that little bit of blue, and can work as a great sun down/sun up supplement for very little wattage - and very little heat... Stunner LED Strips - Aquarium LED Lights

with the 20 gallon heat is gonna be your enemy! I was using a 70W MH on my 20 gallon, and the temp was fine, but once I added a MAG7 (which yeah, puts off a lot of heat) for a closed loop system on the tank my tank temp was out of control!!!

Originally Posted by estanoche

+1 on the LED strip

those ecoxotic LED stunner strips will add just that little bit of blue, and can work as a great sun down/sun up supplement for very little wattage - and very little heat... Stunner LED Strips - Aquarium LED Lights

with the 20 gallon heat is gonna be your enemy! I was using a 70W MH on my 20 gallon, and the temp was fine, but once I added a MAG7 (which yeah, puts off a lot of heat) for a closed loop system on the tank my tank temp was out of control!!!

Thx, for the heads up and the link. Lights are deiced

I've used the canister filters on my reef tank before. My advice is to not use one. There was about an inch of crud in the bottom of it every week. If you can't clean it out weekly you'll run into nitrate, ammonia, po4 problems. Just a heads up. A HOB filter is way better. Easier to change the cartridges. You can even just rinse them out easily.

Originally Posted by rgrking

I've used the canister filters on my reef tank before. My advice is to not use one. There was about an inch of crud in the bottom of it every week. If you can't clean it out weekly you'll run into nitrate, ammonia, po4 problems. Just a heads up. A HOB filter is way better. Easier to change the cartridges. You can even just rinse them out easily.

Good point and I've thought about that. It is going to be a 9 year old's tank though, so I was thinking it would be mostly soft corals and 1 or 2 hardy LPS corals. Nothing hard, but maintaining a canister filter weekly would be good practice for a more complicated set up latter.

Any one have any good idea specifically for a kids tank?

a HOB skilter filter for flow?? just put a piece of felt in there for a micron filter, and maybe a bit of carbon and call it good

Originally Posted by estanoche

a HOB skilter filter for flow?? just put a piece of felt in there for a micron filter, and maybe a bit of carbon and call it good

I like the simpler the better

I use a hob filter for flow in my brood stock setups sump. It helps to keep the crude suspended and be able to pull it out. Its one of this big ones tho that have two overflows

Any one have any good idea specifically for a kids tank?

Softies with a lot of movement and some colorful mushrooms. I would also add shrimp and hermits to keep their interest. Some LPS would be cool but for a 9 year old movement is going to keep their interest way more then something colorful.

Oh you don't know my 9 year old. almost 10 though, and completely into my tank. Not just the movement, she likes the sps that don't move. How they eat, the clam. basically anything from the ocean. Very mature, but she does like the movement as well

Surprised she is into colored sticks. Have her look around some of the sponsor pages and see what she likes then

Originally Posted by chris&barb

Surprised she is into colored sticks. Have her look around some of the sponsor pages and see what she likes then

She is a advanced kid and loves this hobby. Talks about being a marine biologist. I want her to get the hang of the basics before she takes on sps first though. I'm probably holding her back.

So here is the tank to be used, and to go along w/ it I'm getting her the 150 watt pendant halide light and a 12 1/2" LED strip. The Hob filter, the duel 1, but I'm going to get a canister filter as well for both tanks, just so I can run it when need be. I have the person who built my stand and hood, building her's (nice guy). Out side of a heater I think I have it covered. She is already bugging me for a frag of my birds nest, so I'm sure she will out grow this simple set up soon. I even put in an order for 10lbs of rock, so I've got that half covered as well. Bare bottom or sand is the question now.

Sorry not taking the best pics lately

WOW...this is so exciting Kimberlee! what's your daughter's name? ....I'm a +3 on the lights you've decided on too! especially since she's into sps and clammies too!!! ......what to put in there then eh? clammie; birds nest; a few zoas - the way they multiply is very cool; bright red monti cap; hammer........just to name a few that would be fun to watch grow

Originally Posted by estanoche

a HOB skilter filter for flow?? just put a piece of felt in there for a micron filter, and maybe a bit of carbon and call it good

Originally Posted by Kimberlee

She is a advanced kid and loves this hobby. Talks about being a marine biologist. I want her to get the hang of the basics before she takes on sps first though. I'm probably holding her back.

AWESOME!!!! can't wait to meet her!

Her name is Donna, after her great grandma, and I know you all will be real sweet to her. This is the only forum I'm letting her join, but I feel it is important for her to learn on her own as well as from me. After all when you've learned how to learn, you've learned everything.