20 gallon marine tank

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Flower1982

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Sep 29, 2005
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Pennsylvania
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Jess
Is it possible to set up a 20 gallon marine tank?
I'd really like to try a marine tank but I don't have a lot of money to buy a very big tank. Right now I have an empty 20 gallon tank. I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I saw a pearly jawfish at work and he was fascinating. I've been keeping freshwater fish for about 2 and a half years now. So I do know about water changes, testing the water and the usual maintenance. I just wanted to know if it's possible to have a 20 gallon marine setup or not. Then I will start research the different fish that would do well in 20 gallon and I may start to get the things I need after Christmas.
 
of course it is!
what equiptment are you planning on getting besdies the tank? or was that part of the question?
 
What other equipment do I need? Other than the hood, filter, and heater I mean. Do I really need a protein filter? What kind of fish could I keep in a 20 gallon tank? I was hoping to keep a pearly jawfish but I don't know if they would do ok in a 20 gallon. Clown fish need a bigger tank than a 20 gallon right? I'd also like to get a starfish. I know I can't have many fish in a 20 gallon. So I was thinking maybe 2 fish at the most and then maybe a few shrimps and a starfish. What is a good filter to use? Would a whisper filter be ok to use?
 
a Pair of small clowns will do great in a small tank also a fire fish & a jaw fish are gobys will all do fine in a small tank.
but i`d stock it with a pair of clowns & 1 jawfish not sure if two would be happy together jawfish require lots of live rock with nuts n crannies to pop in & out of. No you will not need a protein skimmer even more so if you stock your tank lightly just a 10% water change each week.

If your old hood on your tank has a standard T8 T5 fitting just change the bulb to a marine white are day light white because no extreme lighting is needed for fish/live rock only tanks only worry about lighting if you want to start on/with corals but lots of soft corals do well under low lighting so lighting is not a must nor a worry..
 
I thought that you could only keep one clown fish or a mated pair in a tank?
I saw a beautiful six-lined wrasse at work tonight. Would he be ok in a 20 gallon? Could you recommend any shrimps? How much live rock would I need? What kind of fish would the the best starter fish to put in the tank first?
 
Last time i have been running on a 10 gallon tank with 2 clown fish with a small anemone, 1 purple green wrasse, one goby, 1 shrimp, and a damsell. If your tank is small and u desire to keep more fish u will need change ur water more instead of 10%. for that i always do water change of 20% every two weeks. For this small aquarium i have a mini protein skimmer which is powered with air pump. This skimmer will remove toxic substance excreted by anemone. For filter u can try using hang on filter because it is compact and save place.
 
You can have a pair of clowns no problem as long as they are bought from the same tank from your lfs are the same breed within 2weeks as long as there young they may nip & take charge abit over the 1st week are so but they soon settle down after that & within 2months they`l sex etc....

easy fish to my knowledge/experience
Common Clown
Firefish
Gobys
Scooter blennies(tank 6monthsrunning)
Damsels (nasty fish tho)

Shrimp you cant beat the cleaner shrimp just take your time acclimatising it to the tank min 1hour the longer the better tho

Live Rock wise for filtration without additional filters in your tank are with filter but just for carbon phos remover etc you will want 10kg are more & you want your tank volume turning 10times per hour at a min...

NOT to sure about the 6linner wrass..
 
Last edited:
sapgranth25 said:
You can have a pair of clowns no problem as long as they are bought from the same tank from your lfs
Click to expand...
it depends on the species. some of the mroe agressive ones like moroons require much more care while pairing them off. But this will work with ocellaris and percula clowns
 
I've heard that damsels are good fish to start with but I also heard that they are aggressive too. Would a single clown fish be ok? I don't know if I want a pair of clwon fish. Maybe one. I was thinking of either of these fish:
firefish
six line wrasse
pearly jawfish
clown fish.

Now I'm not going to have all of these in the same tank but these the the fish I'm interesed in. I definately want to get a pearly jawfish though.
How much live rock would I need? How long do I need to run the tank before I get fish? Do I need to have a quarentine tank? I've heard that it's a good idea to have one. But unfornately the only extra tank I have is a five gallon tank. I know I muat be getting ahead of myself but I'd like to know all this before I decided to set up a marine tank and before I start spending money on setting the tank up.
 
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