new 20 g reef tank

[steve88_55]

i just started my first sw tank i have 20 bounds of live sand and 23 pounds of live rock and i was just wondering how many fish crabs shrip and coral ill be able to fit in it.

[Amphiprion]

Unfortunately, there is not set answer because it depends upon the tank's capacity. You would benefit from a smaller fish population in a small tank, so don't expect too many (I would say 3 small fish, max., maybe 4, though that may be pushing it). As far as crabs, I wouldn't get too many. Many are territorial and if you have hermits, they will fight each other if the population is too high, as well as relentlessly attacking any snails. If the shrimp are small, then a couple would work--if they are larger, stick with one. As far as corals go, you aren't as limited. The only factor there is space. Use common sense here in that you want to allow the corals room to grow without contacting each other. If you pack it full immediately, you will have problems later on as well as impacting growth. Hope that helps without being too vague.

[Grins]

I completely agree with Amp's advice. It is very hard to give any set rule. Is there a particular species you were wanting to stock and we could give advice based on that?

[steve88_55]

im thinking of keeping 2 clown fish 1 blood shrimp 1 cleaner shrimp 1 small snail and 2 blue leged hermit crabs. alos i want to get some kind of anemone for the clown fish. do i need to add the 2 clown fish at the same time??

[Grins]

im thinking of keeping 2 clown fish
OK

1 blood shrimp 1 cleaner shrimp
I'd stick to just one or the other but 2 is still possible I'd think.

1 small snail
I'd get more. Nassarius, Cerith, Turbos are some of my favorites

and 2 blue leged hermit crabs.
OK, although I'd probably get the dwarf scarletts instead for the sake of your snails.

alos i want to get some kind of anemone for the clown fish.
I'd not add an anemone to a 20g. Your clowns don't need them and if they are tank raised (which I advise) they probably don't even know what one is. Clowns will sometimes even get powerheads, heaters or a patch of sand as their host.

do i need to add the 2 clown fish at the same time
I'd add 2 small ones at once, yes.

[aaronuflaw]

I have had my 20g up since January, and everything is working perfectly. My livestock is as follows:

2 clowns
1 goby
1 cleaner shrimp
1 emerald crab
10 astrea snails
10 blue legged hermits.

Everyone gets along and my nitrates are basically at zero. I consider this the max for a 20g and am not considering getting anymore livestock. (except maybe snails and hermits as any algea I have dictates.

As for corals:

1 softball sized branch torch coral
1 baseball sized brain
1 small rock with zoas

I also go red macro algae of some species that I got from Dr. F & S.