20 gal and fish?

[blownpony]

As I look to see what kind of fish and stuff I want in my tank I see that most will not do good in such a small tank. So what fish can I get for a 20 gal? I want a watcher goby and a pistol shrimp for sure. Just can't seem to find anything else that will like a 20 gal. Thanks for any help.

 

[jerseysaltwater]

I'm similarly limited; I have a 26 - I wish I had found this message board first and I would have gotten a 48 inch wide 55 gallon tank. The Rule of thumb is one inch of fish for every 5 gallons of tankwater, so theoretically you could have "4 inches" of fish, which could just be a single fish (you need to take into account mature size of the fish, not current size). However, if you use live sand and live rock in your tank, that doubles your bioload carrying capacity, so that would put you at "8 inches" of fish, which would be 2 or 3 of the smaller species. Get Michael Paletta's book "The New Marine Aquarium" - it is "the bible" of this message board, improved upon only by the experience of long-time hobbyists here. He lists good livestock choices for a small starter aquarium, but his smallest tank size consideration is a 40 gallon, so just halve the amounts he has.

 

[justinx]

I am not too sure what to think of the previous post. It has some good points, but some bad ones as well. The addition of LR and LS does not double the bio-load capacity of a fish by any means, if anything it reduces it because it decreases water volume. Anyway . . . I have a 20H tank with LR, and LS and I have successfully maintained it as a reef tank with two false percula clowns in it. At one point for about 6 months I had a lawnmower blenny in there as well, but it was not feeding well, and added too much to the bioload.
I think that two small fish is the limit. I think that if you wanted to have a pistol and watchman goby, maybe you could also add a royal gramma, or a dottyback. Even another pistol/watchman combo (although I am not sure about this last one as I dont know a whole lot about the combo)
HTH
Justin

 

[crazy4reefs]

i have a watchman goby and a firefish in my 20L tank.. i think firefish would be a good addition and they do not get to big

 

[blownpony]

Thanks for the input guys. Want to find out what I can do with a 20 before I start. Everybody seems to have a diff idea of what works thats the big thing I've learned so far. Figure I will try the 20 first if that works out then I can step up to something bigger.

 

[ff/pm]

The suggestion of a royal gramma is good they don't get to big and are beautiful fish. Also I have learned the rule of thumb is not to trust a rule of thumb. You have to find what works for your system. Good luck let us know how you do

 

[lesleybird]

A six line wrasse gets my vote. Lesley