20 gallon nano stocking

[Midnighttang]

We just got a number of small aquariums for free, including 1-20 gallon long. I have wanted to start a salt water for a while and I'm close to convincing my husband to convert this 20 to a nano reef. I think his current hang up is that I told him we really couldn't have an anemone or starfish for such a small tank. What cool and interesting animals could I add to this tank? I need some suggestions, so I can get him excited about it. Thanks!

 

[Collatos]

Omg so many!!! You can make it an Anenome tank with out any corals, or you could do corals and all sorts of invertes and fish.

With a 20 g you could probs have at most 4-5 fish, if some were small. There are a multitude of fish you could get, gobbies, blennies, damsels, pipefish, seahorses, could do a stone fish w no coral, firefish/dartfish, there are tons!

Invertebrates- harlequin shrimp are soo cool bit they eat live starfish so that makes for a messy tank w more frequent water changes. There are fire shrimp, cleaner shrimp, sexy shrimp, Anenome shrimp, peppermint shrimp, pom pom crabs, emerald crabS, porcelain crabs, tons of diff colored hermits( including electric blue And Halloween hermits) you can also get a sea cucumber or sea hare though they are harder to keep. You could get arrow crabs or a pistol shrimp, which can pair with a goby to make a fun duo. I also have a coco worm and a Feather duster. And don't worry many of these inverts can live together.

Corals- lots and lots to choose from, I advice you do a bunch of research before you buy anythig so you don't waste your money, time and your tank gets a good first start. Easiest to start with are soft corals or large polyp Stoney corals.

Hope that helps, you can create some really cool tanks with a 20 g tank, do some research and youll find plenty of examples.

 

[Collatos]

This is my 14g Biocube (needs a hair algae cleaning bad!)

 

[Midnighttang]

I thought you couldn't keep anemone in a nano. Thanks for the help. It's nice to know that there is such a variety available to choose from. I need to figure out the a good combo for us that is unique (aka different from freshwater) and hardy enough to survive a beginner's tank.

 

[Schism]

I thought you couldn't keep anemone in a nano. Thanks for the help. It's nice to know that there is such a variety available to choose from. I need to figure out the a good combo for us that is unique (aka different from freshwater) and hardy enough to survive a beginner's tank.

No that is not true. Nems and starfish could be kept in a 20 long. The problem with nems as tanks get smaller is water quality and a nem could take up much of the tank since they move. Many people keep nems in 20g or less, its just more difficult.

 

[Midnighttang]

Okay, thanks. I must have gotten some bad info. I know I would definitely wait on the nem until the tank was older, anyway.

 

[Collatos]

There Is a lot of variety and great marine life available. You can host interesting symbiotic relationships even with hardy beginner creatures. Just when you buy a fish at your lfs make sure to choose a healthy one and a fish that is out and about, seems to have an appetite and doesn't look sickly. I recommend a goby and pistol shrimp pair or sexy shrimp with a slowly coral like a frogspawn coral or in an Anenome tank, with clowns which could look really nice as well. Upload pics as you go!

 

[Midnighttang]

I definitely will be posting pics and asking lots of questions. For instance, another stocking question, can you put any starfish in with coral. My hubby said he'd rather have a starfish than an anemone, but I would also like to do corals. I know that chocolate chip stars eat coals and nems from my little bit of research, but I haven't found any good information about any other varieties.

 

[Schism]

I definitely will be posting pics and asking lots of questions. For instance, another stocking question, can you put any starfish in with coral. My hubby said he'd rather have a starfish than an anemone, but I would also like to do corals. I know that chocolate chip stars eat coals and nems from my little bit of research, but I haven't found any good information about any other varieties.

There are reef safe star fish. Sand sifting star, red thorny star, linkia (spelling) just off the top of my head. Im sure others im not thinking of.

I myself have a sand sifting star in my reef tank. You dont see him too often tho because he buries himself also not brightly colored if thats what your looking for also.

 

[Midnighttang]

Well, I would want something bright or at least one that doesn't hide all day, because I think my toddler, who is obsessed with our freshwater fish tanks, is a big fan of starfish. A little more research has lead me to believe that I need to wait to establish my tank for quite a while before adding one, so I'll stick with the basics to start and put the starfish on the back burner. Now, more questions...
I have the tank and hood, 20 long. It's being tested for water tightness right now. I'm willing to put the necessary money into this project, but I want to stay frugal. Here's what I think I need as far as equipment:
Filter-what type? How big?
Power head- any recs?
New lights- what kind?
I know I need live rock, live sand, base rock and base sand, too. I plan to buy equipment and start cycling this week/weekend. Let me know if I'm missing anything. I've never actually cycled a tank before, even freshwater, so I think I'll likely start a build thread, because I'm going to have a ton of questions

 

[Collatos]

You only need live rock and live sand, you don't need base rock or base sand and that will save you money. Live rock is expensive be wArned. Also by usingthis your cycle time will be as little as possible. Make sure to get one lb per gallon. You can use LEDs or other lighting, lighting is pretty controversial in terms of what works best. Do as much research as possible you don't want to waste your money and time starting a tank, so to insure the best possible outcome do as much research as possible, it really can help prepare you.

 

[Midnighttang]

So, 20 lbs of live rock for a 20 gallon. How much live sand? And, do I need both the power head and the filter?

 

[Luckysfrags]

The sand is really up to you. Most people I think just about match what they have in rock weight. I myself have a biocube 29 with 35 lbs of live rock and 30 lbs of live sand. It mainly depends on how deep of a sand bed you want.

 

[Luckysfrags]

And! If you don't want to spend $200+ dollars on all RBI live sand and rock you can buy dry rock for much much cheaper and seed it with live sand. You will need to boil and cycle the rock before anything will live with it, but once that is done and you add it to a tank with live sand the life in the sand will start to make the dry rock become live rock. Now yes this takes time and you could do half live Rock half dry and that would be just fine. I used about 8-10 lbs of live rock and the rest was just dry rock. Just a little tip to save some money.

 

[Luckysfrags]

Frequent Craigslist in your area for live rock or dried live rock. I bought 120 lbs of dried rock for $50. He had no clue how much it was worth.

 

[Midnighttang]

Well, my hubby had a change of heart and decided we would convert his 27 gallon cube to salt instead of the 20. We ran out and got some basics to get it started before he could change his mind. I'm going to start a build thread, so I can document this project and so everyone can let me know when I screw up . Off we go!