Newbie With 20 gallon tank

dcel22

dcel22

Member
Hey there everyone, I am new to this site and so far feel I have learned quite a bit but still know next to nothing about salt water tanks I am sure. Anyways this is the situation. My brother has a 20 gallon tank that he used to use for freshwater and will let me have it. So in hopes of that keeping just one more cost down(next to having a smaller tank) I am taking it. I was thinking about getting 2 clowns and heard from the pet store that if I got 3 then they would die and there would not be enough room, is this true? Also I was thinking about some live rock and a star fish in there as well, would this be ok? I know you need really good lighting for live rock so how much would that cost me ballpark and would i be able to just replace the bulb or no. Also any links to good beginning info out there would be greatly appreciated. Any advice at all would be greatly appeciated. Thanks, Joe.
 
karajay

karajay

Active Member

Originally posted by dcel22
I was thinking about getting 2 clowns and heard from the pet store that if I got 3 then they would die and there would not be enough room, is this true?
Two clowns would pair up and pick on the third until it died, so two is a good number to have.
LR is always a good idea and does not need any special lighting by itself. If you were to have corals, then you'd need upgraded lights.
:)
 
dcel22

dcel22

Member
How much would the light upgrade cost approximately? Would I be able to just replace the bulb?
 
karajay

karajay

Active Member
I'm not a lighting guru, but IMO, it would depend largely on what you intend to keep. What are your future plans for this tank?
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
I'd recomend coralifes aqualights fixtures as a good cheap solution to lighting. I have a 2x65 watt power compact fixture over my 20 gallon and it works wonders. It cost me 120 to my door....It can handle just about anything you want to do with the tank short of sps and clams which are a very advanced coral anyways.
 
dcel22

dcel22

Member
well I don't know really to tell you the truth. I think that I would probably just end up sticking to only live rock and no corals just because of the price. I am really trying to keep the price as low as possible but would still want a nice and cool looking tank. Any suggestions??? I was thinking just 2 clows...some live rock...and a star fish if i could have one...and if it is still not overcrowding maybe a yellow tang. Any problems with the setup so far???
 
dcel22

dcel22

Member
Could someone possibly give me a list of things that I would need for a 20 gallon tank. So far this is what I know of (or think i know of)
tank
filter
heater (is this necessary, i thought i read that some people's lighting gives adequate heat)
Live sand
Live Rock
Protein Skimmer (is this needed??)
......???
 
Y

yae4volcom

Guest
You can defiantly fit a pair of clowns in a 20 but I wouldn't go for the yellow tang. Theres a bunch of varities of fish that will fit in a 20 but I would skip angels and tangs. If you want to set up a pretty basic tank get some adequate lighting. You don't need a protien skimmer if you have enough LR and because it is a smaller sized tank. The LR will probably cost you the most and If you want to stay under a budget I would skip the LS.
 
dcel22

dcel22

Member
Ok....so it looks like the more live rock i have the less i need a protein skimmer also??? Is the live sand really that expensive??? I just think the sand looks a lot cooler than crushed coral or whatever you call it.
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
You need at least one power head that does 100+ gph. I'd recommend definitely getting 2 at 100+ gph. The skimmer isn't entirely necessary and i would hold off on that. It can only help though.
You do need a heater because you need to keep the temperature at 78+ degrees. The tank is fine dipping down to 72 but much more below that and you'll start loosing things.
Hmm. NO YELLOW TANGS or any tangs for that matter. Look into gobies, blennies, pseudos, basslets, and the smaller wrasses for another fish. I'd say you could place one more in there comfortably with the clowns. As for the pseudos though, keep in mind they are very territorial and in a 20 that can only be amplified. You can minimize the problem by buying the pseudo last.
For lighting if you don't plan on keeping corals look for a power compact fixture. I'd get a 65 watt power compact bulb with a 50/50 spectrum on it. Youll understand when you start looking what those mean. It should nicely light your tank and be your cheapest option. A regular flourescent will work but i garauntee you'll be disappointed with the lighting of your tank, i used to have :)
 
bdhough

bdhough

Active Member
Live sand is not necessary as the live rock will provide the "life" to transfer down into the sand over time. I would buy 20lbs of live rock right off the bat. Live rock is your filtration. It harbors all the beneficial bacteria a tank needs to handle ammonia, nitrites, and even nitrates all to a reasonable extent. The more rock the better the handleing of wastes in your system. More rock means more waste can be handle in any one time. With everything wastes can overwhelm things but unless you aren't paying attention to what you are doing that shouldn't happen. I would buy about 30lbs of aragonite dry sand which is about 20-30 dollars depending on where you get it. DO NOT BUY CRUSHED CORAL. Asking for trouble with that.
 
dcel22

dcel22

Member
karajay...that is exactly what I want to do. Would you please list what you have bought with prices or maybe just an estimated total???
 
007

007

Active Member
Ok . . . so heres the deal. I have a 22 gallon (same footprint as a 20, only 2 inches taller) and I run:
2x maxi-jet 400
1x ebo jager 150w
2x 75w VHO
Bak Pak 2R Skimmer
~50lbs LS (enough for 3-4" sand bed)
~25lbs LR
I have lots of hermits, some snails, and two percula clowns (mated pair), several corals, and a serpent starfish. The tank has been up for over a year now and is a great setup. I have very minimal maintenance and things are quite stable for me. Fantastic coral growth and its a very clean set up.
You could definitely get by without expensive lighting, but rest assured if you stay with the hobby you will upgrade. But get your feet wet (poor choice of words, i know :rolleyes: ) and start off with some fish, a reef safe starfish, and a clean up crew . . . you could even put a shrimp or two in there. You could also put in some feather dusters and what not as well and maybe some of the non-photosynthetic animals. Run it like that for as long as you like until you decide if you want to go further and get the lighting. If not, you got a nice little fish tank instead of a reef tank.
Total cost ~ about 200 bucks if you really search around.
P.S. Buy ALL your hardware on-line. Price difference is about 50% less in many cases.
 
karajay

karajay

Active Member
Tank, stand, Eclipse II hood, 100 watt heater, 20lb. dry arragonite sand came together as a package for about $150 from my LFS.
LR was about another $100-120. I had to get cured rock from my LFS because I couldn't find anyplace that sold it online in small enough quantity. Maybe you'd have better luck.
I added a mini-jet powerhead $15.
And the 50/50 bulbs were about $25 I think.
You can save ALOT by shopping around online, as mentioned. Keep reading here, and find a good book on the subject. Alot of people here recommend The Conscientious Marine Aquarist. Or check out the local library. Research and patience are priceless.
:)
 
Y

yae4volcom

Guest
Specific things are probably somewhat hard to find on ----.
If you search on google you can probably find some online salt water stores.
Even though you do not need Live sand you can get cheap argonite playsand at local hardware stores which looks the same but does not have things living in it. I would spend your money on alot of LR and just get cheap, play sand. I also reccomend buying the rock online. They sell it off this site I hear that its really good stuff.
 
overanalyzer

overanalyzer

Active Member

Originally posted by dcel22
Could someone possibly give me a list of things that I would need for a 20 gallon tank. So far this is what I know of (or think i know of)
tank
filter
heater (is this necessary, i thought i read that some people's lighting gives adequate heat)
Live sand
Live Rock
Protein Skimmer (is this needed??)
......???
dcel22 - welcome to the board!
OK I have a 20 Tall but I keep it as a reef. so I will tell you what you need for a 20 FOWLR (Fish Only With Live Rock)
* Tank - you have it - I would clean it with some water and then do a water test - a lot of time a tank will be drained and the silicon will shrink and then when it is re-filled there will be links. I always re-seal used tanks with a small bead of silicon (you can also take a razor blade and remove the old stuff and re-seal it)
* Filter - I would have one - a HOB (Hang on Back) filter would be nice- you can run filter floss and/or carbon when you need to. I use the tetratec filter (the smaller one). This is a bit more expensive but it is nice because you can drop in a heater and not have a heater in the tank.
* Would not go without a heater. Especially with winter coming up.
* Live Sand - I would just use some southdown or yardright play sand. If you buy good quality LR the sand will evnetually become live. I would ALSO - get a cup of gunk from your LFS's rock tank to help seed you sand bed.
* LR - I would hand pick indiviudal pieces that you like with nice color. Your choice should be based on nice porous rock with a lot of purple corallin algea.
* Protien Skimmer - not needed. I use the HOB, LR and regular monthly water changes to control my water quality.
2 clowns sound great. I would suggest maybe a serpent star and not a linkia for your tank. We just added a tiger stripped star and he is a great addition.
I also have the following critters in my tank:
* 3 margarita snails
* Cerith/strombus/stomatella snails
* Nassarius Snails
* 2 Peppermint shrimp
* 1 Scarlet Cleaner
* 1 clown - Percula
* 1 Clown Goby (red and green barred goby)
For lighting you can buy some Power compacts pretty cheaply or you can really beef up the lighting to VHO lighting and build yourself a nice canopy.
HTH.... sorry this is a bit long winded....
 
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