I recently upgraded my FW fish to a bigger tank. Now I have a spare 20 gallon sitting around. I have kept it up and running, waiting for the right time. I want to get into saltwater tanks as well, so can I start in this 20 or will it be too small for the fish? Any ideas of unigue fish to keep in this size tank. They have to be able to live in the 20 hopefully for life, cause my wife wasn't happy about this upgrade.
tank size
- Thread starter Hez Yeux
- Start date
Hello there..nice to see your making a jump in to saltwater...welcome to the marine side of the boards..
In answer to your question, yes, you can start off with a 20Gal tank. It will require a strict maintenance routine though because, with marine keeping, the smaller the tank, the more quickly a problem shows when something is not right..Certainly do-able though...
Review a post i made in this thread. Its a big list of fish suitable for a 30Gal tank. How-ever, if you look at the list, you will alaso see that would be suitable for your 20Gal..Have a look through and post any questions you may have. The only thing to note is that when you are looking at fish, you have to think about the adult size of the fish, not the size you buy them at..This is different from freshwater in that way.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99989
For your 20Gal tank, i would imagine 3 fish to be your limit. Create a wish list and post it on here and get peoples comments for compatibility...
I shall look forward to seeing another new marine tank sprout into life with this potential project...
Good luck, remember, we are here to help you along the way...
Niko
In answer to your question, yes, you can start off with a 20Gal tank. It will require a strict maintenance routine though because, with marine keeping, the smaller the tank, the more quickly a problem shows when something is not right..Certainly do-able though...
Review a post i made in this thread. Its a big list of fish suitable for a 30Gal tank. How-ever, if you look at the list, you will alaso see that would be suitable for your 20Gal..Have a look through and post any questions you may have. The only thing to note is that when you are looking at fish, you have to think about the adult size of the fish, not the size you buy them at..This is different from freshwater in that way.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99989
For your 20Gal tank, i would imagine 3 fish to be your limit. Create a wish list and post it on here and get peoples comments for compatibility...
I shall look forward to seeing another new marine tank sprout into life with this potential project...
Good luck, remember, we are here to help you along the way...
Niko
Thnaks for the link. I'll do a bit of research to see what ones I want. Meantime a few ?s for everyone.
Can saltwater tanks easily be upgraded in size like FW ones can? (just in case my wife lets me down the road)
I have the filters and heater for FW, but what will I need to buy to make this tank a well balanced saltwater system?
What kind of food do you feed saltwater fish?
Can saltwater tanks easily be upgraded in size like FW ones can? (just in case my wife lets me down the road)
I have the filters and heater for FW, but what will I need to buy to make this tank a well balanced saltwater system?
What kind of food do you feed saltwater fish?
Thnaks for the link. I'll do a bit of research to see what ones I want. Meantime a few ?s for everyone.
Can saltwater tanks easily be upgraded in size like FW ones can? (just in case my wife lets me down the road)
Don't know about easily, but it's commonly done.
I have the filters and heater for FW, but what will I need to buy to make this tank a well balanced saltwater system?
Depends, first you have to figure out if you want to do fish only or have corals as well. Myself as well as most of the people on this board are fans of the berlin filtration method that does not use mechanical filtration but instead relies on a protein skimmer and live rock to supply all the filtration needed. A protein skimmer skims dead organics off the water before they have a chance to turn into ammonia and live rock is extremely porous and full of bacteria and life. The rock naturally filters out nitrates and other harmful wastes (and you never have to clean the filter). A general rule of thumb for minimum amount of rock necessary for proper filtration of a tank is 1-1.5 lbs. per gallon. If you don't have any powerheads to move the water around you should probably get some, having a good flow is important for saltwater tanks, even more so if you are using live rock and most of all if you plan on having corals. General rule of thumb here is 10-15x turnover ratio for fish only tank and 20-30x turnover for reef tanks. Turnover is calculated by adding up gph (gallon per hour) ratings of all water movement devices (i.e. return pump, power heads, canister filter, etc.) that are pushing water in your tank and dividing by how many gallons your tank holds.
If you plan to add corals at some point, you will almost certainly have to upgrade your lighting system. You probably should be looking at laying a new sand bed (argonite sand) as well. 2-3" works well for most. ...hmmm, Salt of course :dance2: oh, and a saltwater test kit and hydrometer.
That about covers the essentials, however there's lots of other things that you could get to make your system run more smoothly. I'll put a vote in for an often overlooked piece of equipment that saves a lot of hassle (especially in your case with a small tank) is an auto top off system. Mine works brilliantly and without it, topping off evaporated water to keep a consistent salinity and stop my return pump from running dry would be a daily activity.
What kind of food do you feed saltwater fish?
Depends on what fish you have and there are all kinds of options out there. Flake food is on the market for herbivore and carnivores as well as pellet food for both. Frozen food such as mysis or brine shrimp seem to provide the most nutrients for carnivores and nori (dried seaweed) is great for herbivores.
mysis shrimp is nutritional
frozen brine is not. at all
also: what happened to that entire post that drobes quoted?
It is all there fishieness...its just that drobes added his/her text into the quote rather than outside it mate...Red for Drobes, black for Hez...
Niko
Niko
Germanman
My fish are my babies
i agree u can enrich the brine as a treat with some suppliments but it really doesnt provide what the fish will need. Haikari has some of the "best" "enriched brine" and the speralina brine they make is the best bet. i usually just use brine as a filler for the fish and i heavly soak it in suppliments. my staple food although is mysis
I would have to agree with the previous two posts. Brine is just like candy for the fish. Absolutely no nutritional value. For a treat every now and again, soaked in a vitamin supplement is good. I feed all my fish frozen mysis and krill, occasionally brine. Formula 1 and Formula 2 by Ocean Nutrition. All of this is soaked in garlic extract and vitamin supplement before feeding.