Hello!

[clownfishfanatic]

Hi there! I plan on setting up my first aquarium since I was 10 years old very soon. A small saltwater for some clownfish. If you couldn’t tell by my name I like clownfish

My first fish tank was lowkey horrible. I had 3 fair goldfish in a 5 gallon with my wonderful choice of bright blue gravel and the cherry on top, my dead moss ball.

Anyways I’m ready to do better and get back into the hobby the right way this time!

I’d also like to setup a few betta tanks eventually and a larger reef tank but first clownfish!

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi and welcome to the site.

I've been keeping marine fish since the early 1970s so this is just an FYI, despite what you read online, most clownfish species will not do well in a small tank. Clownfish are also very territorial so if you mix more than 1 specie, you are asking for trouble. These fish are not like freshwater fish. If you crowd them, they will fight and kill each other off. So you are looking at a 20 gallon long ( not a 20 high or double high) at the minimum for just 2 Ocellaris clowns and not any other fish that swims around. You'd be limited to only 1 or 2 bottom dwelling fish and invertebrates in a tank that small. Any specie that grows larger than the Ocellaris will need at least a 36" long tank or larger.
Hope this helps.

 

[clownfishfanatic]

Hi and welcome to the site.

I've been keeping marine fish since the early 1970s so this is just an FYI, despite what you read online, most clownfish species will not do well in a small tank. Clownfish are also very territorial so if you mix more than 1 specie, you are asking for trouble. These fish are not like freshwater fish. If you crowd them, they will fight and kill each other off. So you are looking at a 20 gallon long ( not a 20 high or double high) at the minimum for just 2 Ocellaris clowns and not any other fish that swims around. You'd be limited to only 1 or 2 bottom dwelling fish and invertebrates in a tank that small. Any specie that grows larger than the Ocellaris will need at least a 36" long tank or larger.
Hope this helps.

Thank you! It’s a good thing I waited to buy my tank lol

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you! It’s a good thing I waited to buy my tank lol

As the old carpenter's saying goes, " Measure twice, cut once. " You need to do a lot of research and talk with other fellow saltwater hobbyists if you want to get the real news. Salespeople at stores are not always the best sources for info anymore. Their job is to sell. I have no skin in the game so I neither win or lose if you follow my advice. We have a forum here for saltwater keeping that is not just reefs so I suggest you read through the threads and get a good understanding of what is involved with keeping saltwater tanks. And FYI, smaller marine tanks are actually harder to keep than large ones. When things go bad in saltwater, they go bad quickly which is how they are harder than smaller freshwater tanks. It's a whole different world under the sea. Knowledge is key to success.

 

[clownfishfanatic]

As the old carpenter's saying goes, " Measure twice, cut once. " You need to do a lot of research and talk with other fellow saltwater hobbyists if you want to get the real news. Salespeople at stores are not always the best sources for info anymore. Their job is to sell. I have no skin in the game so I neither win or lose if you follow my advice. We have a forum here for saltwater keeping that is not just reefs so I suggest you read through the threads and get a good understanding of what is involved with keeping saltwater tanks. And FYI, smaller marine tanks are actually harder to keep than large ones. When things go bad in saltwater, they go bad quickly which is how they are harder than smaller freshwater tanks. It's a whole different world under the sea. Knowledge is key to success.

Thank you! I’ll definately be asking a lot of questions so hopefully I don’t annoy anybody lol. In your opinion, do you think a pair of clownfish, a fire shrimp, and a tail spot blenny would work well in a 20 gallon long? Even though they’re easier to maintain big tanks sorta scare me lol. Constant overthinking has made me worry it will break

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you! I’ll definately be asking a lot of questions so hopefully I don’t annoy anybody lol. In your opinion, do you think a pair of clownfish, a fire shrimp, and a tail spot blenny would work well in a 20 gallon long? Even though they’re easier to maintain big tanks sorta scare me lol. Constant overthinking has made me worry it will break

In a 20 gallon long, you are limited to only Percula or Ocellaris clowns. You'll need to have a good amount of decoration with holes in them for the blenny and shrimp to have places to escape the clowns and for the shrimp, they need to hide after molting until their new shell hardens so don't skimp on the decorations. I kept the Firetail blennies more than any other and they loved hanging in Barnacles. This is a picture of my old 75 gallon tank: 75 Gal Tank Even with all that space, the blennies liked the barnacle in the bottom right corner of the pic. You can only see one but this is what the whole piece looks like: So yes, the smaller clown species, blenny and shrimp can fit in a properly set up 20 but the clowns go in last, not first. In almost any size tank, clownfish and or damsels go in later, not at the beginning.