stocking

[Madmilkman]

I have a 20 gallon tank to set up as a nano reef with live rock and some basic corals(trying to find hardy ones). I have a penguin 350 filter on the tank. My question is can I put any kind of small fish(preferably a couple of brightly colored ones)in the tank without adding a skimmer?

 

[MJSerik]

Neon Goby's would be good. Maybe fire fish. You probably know you're relatively limited.

 

[Madmilkman]

Yeah. I have a 90 gallon I will eventually set up but I want to grow as much live rock as I can in the 20 in hopes of moving it to the 90. Probably going to take me a while but I am too cheap to pay 1200 dollars for 90 lbs of live rock lol

 

[MJSerik]

Got it Really, if you'd be willing to wait, you could skip the 20 and go to the 90. Buy a ton of base rock and one or two pieces of live. After a while the base rock will become live. No clue how long it would take, but it would work.

 

[Madmilkman]

Yeah I have thought about that

 

[MJSerik]

Would be much cheaper. You could also go on Craigslist and see what people have to offer. Good luck!

 

[Madmilkman]

Thanks for the advice

 

[MJSerik]

No problem. I wish I'd gone bigger, can't upgrade though as college is very close. Too bad they don't allow 90 gallons

 

[Mebbid]

2 occelaris clowns and a firefish is a pretty starndard stocking for a 20g. I had that for a long time without a skimmer and didn't have any trouble.

 

[Rmckoy]

Yeah. I have a 90 gallon I will eventually set up but I want to grow as much live rock as I can in the 20 in hopes of moving it to the 90. Probably going to take me a while but I am too cheap to pay 1200 dollars for 90 lbs of live rock lol

You don't have to make it live in the 20 .
When you start up the 90 use all dry base rock , cycle the tank and as the beneficial bacteria grows it will cover every surface of the rocks making them live .

 

[MJSerik]

You could, and probably should, set up a 20 as a QT tank. I didn't have space, and I'm sure I'm gonna regret it. A friend of mine used to QT live rock, and when he told me to I called him crazy. He then told me the story of the peacock mantis that waltzed out. Just a thought.

 

[Madmilkman]

OK. I appreciate everyone's advice

 

[MJSerik]

No problem, would hate to see anyone fail.

 

[Madmilkman]

I would definitely hate to fail. I have been planning and researching for months and so far all I have is 2 empty tanks lol

 

[Rmckoy]

I would definitely hate to fail. I have been planning and researching for months and so far all I have is 2 empty tanks lol

What size tanks do you have ?
I'm
Assuming you are planning on a tank and sump ,
Do you know what you planning on stocking in the future ?

 

[Madmilkman]

1 tank is a 20 and the other is a 90. I will have a sump on the 90 gallon but I have to drill it first. In the 20 I will just have 2 clowns and 1 firefish. Maybe some shrimp and snails if I can.