i have a 20 gallon i plan on maybe making saltwater any advice?

[allaboutfish]

Should I do live sand or PFS or dry aragonite? And would y'all do
A clownfish and goby
2 clownfish
Or a clownfish and a cardinal fish?
Also do I need a powerhead?

 

[huma-huma]

I'd watch what goby you get, I have an engineer goby in my 125 that's a good 7 inches long. In terms of the cardinals, I heard they can be aggressive (not 100 percent sure) I'd personally go with a clown pair, just make sure they are 2 different sizes if possible, this will cut down on the fighting to establish dominance. Oh and watch out for the maroon and yellow, they tend to be territorial. In terms of a ph, I'd get one just for good measure, if you're running a slightly oversized hob filter it'll prob do the job, but it wouldn't hurt to have a small ph.

 

[allaboutfish]

It would be a smaller goby and the cardinalfish would be a smaller one of them too.

 

[huma-huma]

I'm a big fan of the admiral cardinal fish, just got my 125 going so ill be buying 2 here within a month, itd look amazing if you upgraded your lighting enough to be able to sustain an anemone for the clowns to play in

 

[allaboutfish]

I will eventually is 2 24 watt t5ho's support an anemone?

 

[thominil]

No, it wouldn't. I strongly advise against getting an anemone anyway. Your tank is too small for one should it decide to move around to find a suitable spot. During that time, it will be stinging whatever coral and/or inverts that are in the way. Not to mention the vast majority of anemones in aquaria parish due to improper conditions. I would recommend a pair of clowns and a yellow watchman goby, and stop there until you get the hang of SW. Two powerheads is best once you get coral to get the desired chaotic flow you would find in an actual reef system. Until then, one powerhead and your filter will be fine to help avoid any deadspots which create a great invironment for cyanobacteria.

 

[allaboutfish]

Would like a firefish or similar sized goby work if my LFS doesnt have a yellow whatchman goby?

 

[thominil]

Yes, just watch what you get. Some gobies get territorial/aggressive when there are fish with a similar body shape in the same tank. also view the previous post. I edited to include info on powerheads.

 

[allaboutfish]

Once I'm ready to stock I'll get an ocelaris pair or does it matter? Are they aggressive with 2 males? And look at the gobies then go home and research the ones they have.

 

[thominil]

Clowns can change sex, so either way, you will end up with a male and female. As suggested earlier, grab one that is slightly smaller than the other.

 

[allaboutfish]

That's crazy!!!! How do thy do that?

 

[thominil]

It's beyond me, I never really got into researching the topic, nor did I really care.

 

[allaboutfish]

Oh well... It's still cool. I can probably get some stuff from my moms friend that has a 90 gallon SW and a 300> gallon tank SW