20g tank - just starting

jbrownacu

New Member
I have a 20g aquarium im starting in the next week and this is the tanks main equipment I have so far:
Hagen AquaClear Powerhead Multifunctional Water Pump 70 - 400gph
Marineland Stealth 200 Visi-Therm Submersible Aquarium Heater - 200w
Berlin Air-Lift 60 Internal Protein Skimmer
Hagen AquaClear 50 Aquarium Power Filter
That is the main equipment. How does it looks? Anything big I'm missing? Also if anybody has suggestions for lighting, right now I can hold 1 x 18" Fluorescent tube. I would like to be able to do soft corals, but I am sort of clueless about the type of bulb I need. I can upgrade cheaply to 2 x 18" bulbs if needed. That would give me 30w for a 15" deep tank. I don't have the money to upgrade the lighting system to MH.
I will be doing LS and LR as well.
Thanks for the help!
 

catawaba

Active Member
You wont have enough light for any photosynthetic animals. You will need to do fish with live rock only. Be sure to get some books and read up on the hobby. You're going to need a lot more equipment--test kits, thermometer, refractometer, salt, buckets, etc etc etc.
 

jacksonpt

Active Member
As was said above... you'll need a bit more light to keep most corals. Look at 3watts per gallon as a minimum, but it really depends on what you want to keep.
Sounds like you've got all the basic equipment down. Test kits are the only other thing I'd add to the list. An RO/DI unit is very nice, but they aren't cheap.
 
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