jaymes785
New Member
Hey - I'm new here, so I hope this is an appropriate place to post this thread. I've been keeping freshwater aquariums for quite some time, and I've planned to start a saltwater for about a year now. Last year I took a marine bio course (still in high school), and I've been doing research on starting a salt tank ever since. Here's my current list of things I think I'll need to start. Is there anything I'm missing?
20 gallon H tank & stand, Sundial T5HO or Nova Extreme T5HO (I want the sundial, but money is an issue), skimmer or filter (not both, to start with), heater, timer, hydrometer and thermometer, test kit and salt mix. Plus live rock and aragonite sand.
Here's a couple questions:
1) I was thinking that I would start with a hob or canister filter and save up for a skimmer, but when I look at skimmer prices, they're lower than I thought. Should I just forget the filter all together, and use just a skimmer and LR for filtration? I don't want to do a sump right now.
2) What's a good skimmer for that size tank? Many people have told me that they're aren't any good skimmers for tanks this small. Are any hob skimmers worth the money?
3) How many pounds of aragonite should I buy?
As for livestock I'm going to start with fish and inverts only. I was thinking one pair of clowns (percs or ocellaris?) and possible one or two other small fish. I'd like to throw in some hermits, snails, and a pom-pom crab also, but I'm not sure about which inverts yet. I'm still reading up on that.
After I've got this all up and running well I'd like to add some easy corals. Maybe an anemone eventually. Could I keep an anemone under T5 if it sat high in the tank? What do you guys recommend for that lighting? Both fixtures are 4x24 watt, but the sundial has individual reflectors while the nova extreme does not. Could I keep an anemone under T5 if it sat high in the tank?
Thanks
20 gallon H tank & stand, Sundial T5HO or Nova Extreme T5HO (I want the sundial, but money is an issue), skimmer or filter (not both, to start with), heater, timer, hydrometer and thermometer, test kit and salt mix. Plus live rock and aragonite sand.
Here's a couple questions:
1) I was thinking that I would start with a hob or canister filter and save up for a skimmer, but when I look at skimmer prices, they're lower than I thought. Should I just forget the filter all together, and use just a skimmer and LR for filtration? I don't want to do a sump right now.
2) What's a good skimmer for that size tank? Many people have told me that they're aren't any good skimmers for tanks this small. Are any hob skimmers worth the money?
3) How many pounds of aragonite should I buy?
As for livestock I'm going to start with fish and inverts only. I was thinking one pair of clowns (percs or ocellaris?) and possible one or two other small fish. I'd like to throw in some hermits, snails, and a pom-pom crab also, but I'm not sure about which inverts yet. I'm still reading up on that.
After I've got this all up and running well I'd like to add some easy corals. Maybe an anemone eventually. Could I keep an anemone under T5 if it sat high in the tank? What do you guys recommend for that lighting? Both fixtures are 4x24 watt, but the sundial has individual reflectors while the nova extreme does not. Could I keep an anemone under T5 if it sat high in the tank?
Thanks