new guy starting a 20gal salt tank

[94 sentra_xe]

hello im a new member here and well, im going to be starting a 20 gallon salt water tank, i would like some clown fish (male and female) a angle fish and some tang fish (also male and female)

what do you guys suggest doing as a beginner?

how many of these fish can i fit?

how many and what kind of plants should i put in there (obv anenomies)

ill be asking more questions along the way, thursday i will be buying all of my supplies (sand, salt add., conditioner and a salt water filter cartrige)

what are those fish i use to cycle the water ( the lady at the pet store told my cousin he needed to get these little neon blue looking fish to cycle the water)

[labnjab]

Welcome to the AC. I would suggest doing a lot of research before buying the first thing. Saltwater isn't as simple as adding salt to the water

Saltwater isn't like freshwater. With a 20 gallon the only fish you have listed that would work is a pair of clowns and an anenome needs a tank that is at least 6 months old and they need intense lighting (t-5's or metal halides), and I wouldn't put them in anything less then a 55 gallon as they can get large

You don't need any fish to cycle the tank and you don't need a mechanical manmade filter. You do need 1 to 1 1/2 lbs of live rock per gallon of water (you can also do a combo of live and dead rock), and this will be your filter along with a powerhead or 2 for flow (I recommend a korilia 2 to start with) and the life on the rock will cycle your tank.

For salt I would use a marine salt and Reverse osmosis water and a hydrometer or refractometer. Mix your salt in a separate container to a Specific gravity of between 1.022 and 1.026 A skimmer is also highly recommended.

I wouldn't go cheap on anything but the lighting (unless you plan on making it a reef). Cheap will cost you more money in the long run in lost livestock. We have a 29 gallon reef with a 20 gallon sump and have close to $1000 invested in it. I think I covered the basics and others will also post tips and some good books to read. Good luck and have fun

[cocoa_pleco]

welcome to ac!

theres not any tangs i would recommend for a 20g, most need at least 90g. i would go with a pair of clowns and a yellow watchman goby

i wouldnt get a anemone in that small of a tank either, smaller ones like bubble tips are generally 55g+ nems and larger ones like condys are recommended for 125g+

[AABatteries]

Here's ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.]) my thread from when I was planning on doing a 20g SW tank. You should read through it.

Also... research, research, and research! Oh yeah, and(you guessed it), more research!

[94 sentra_xe]

thanks man, is there anything else you guys suggest? im picking up a 55gallon and a 20gallon tomorrow and building the stand and starting water cycles

what water do i use? i know not tap water but idk what else there is other than drinking water and distilled water

[labnjab]

Do you have any live rock, powerheads, or anything else? As far a water I would either get a R/O filter like this one [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

or you can buy it by the bottle at walmart. Its green capped walmart brand and should say Reverse Osmosis/De Ionized on it

[coachfraley]

A lot of LFS's sell R/O water as well. It might be cheaper than buying bottled.

Your first batch of SW, you can mix in the tank. After that, you will need to set up a "mixing station" to prepare your SW for water changes. Of course, another option is to buy pre-mixed SW at your LFS. If you are going to set up a 20g, buying pre-mixed might work out economically, but if you are getting a larger tank, you will want to mix your own SW for sure.

Once your SW is at the right Spec. Gravity and temp, you can add your live rock and powerheads, and let it cycle for about 3-4 weeks. You can use that 3-4 weeks to study up, and configure the rest of your equipment.

BUT, before you do anything, I would make sure that you have enough $ set aside for everything. Even a 20g SW tank will end up costing you around $1000, if you buy everything new.

[94 sentra_xe]

Do you have any live rock, powerheads, or anything else? As far a water I would either get a R/O filter like this one [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

or you can buy it by the bottle at walmart. Its green capped walmart brand and should say Reverse Osmosis/De Ionized on it


is RO water the same as distilled? i have never seen RO water around here haha, when i got on here im like WTF are they talking about haha

[coachfraley]

no, distilled is different. Distilled water has the impurities "boiled" off. R/O water goes through a filtering process. R/O is usually sold as purified water, or drinking water, but it can be difficult to determine what process (if any) a company uses to process their water.

Labnjab's suggested to use the green cap version of walmart's water because he knows that they actually use a Reverse Osmosis system to filter that water.

[94 sentra_xe]

ok cool thats alot of bottles of RO water haha

[labnjab]

Yeah, lol, I bought 30 when I started my tank and I buy 10 every week for topoffs and water changes, buy without it your going to have algae problems, just ask cocoa_pleco

[94 sentra_xe]

Yeah, lol, I bought 30 when I started my tank and I buy 10 every week for topoffs and water changes, buy without it your going to have algae problems, just ask cocoa_pleco


rofl i heard about that hahahaha thumbs2:

i know its a n@@b questions but how would i go about doing water changes? i know your not supposed to do all of it but what do i do with the fish, just a general procedure so i know

[labnjab]

I usualy keep 15-20 gallons of saltwater mixing and up to temp all the time in a seperate container, incase of emergency. Most people change 10-20% a week, I do 10%. A general rule is to let it mix atleast 24 hrs ahead of time. If you don't have a sump, just do it like you would a freshwater water change, and siphon it out and leave the fish in.

Also, when you top off due to evaporation, only add fresh ro water, salt doesn't evaporate.

[94 sentra_xe]

what do u use to mix your SW? another tank?

[labnjab]

I use a 22 gallon tub with a small powerhead and a cheap heater. you don't want to mix it in your main tank, it could be detrimental for your stock

[coachfraley]

I do 5g changes, so I use an old 6g salt bucket, 25 watt heater, and an extra powerhead.

I siphon out 5 gallons, then use the powerhead to pump the clean SW into the back of my tank.

[94 sentra_xe]

allright, im no expert, and i am a NOOB so, what are the detailed steps on cycling?

[coachfraley]

SW cycling is way easy. Get your SW right, add a powerhead and heater, drop in your live rock, and wait (no water changes). It could take anywhere from 1 to 4 weeks depending on the kind of Live Rock you get a hold of. You can monitor your levels to watch the cycle progress. When your ammonia and nitrites zero out, you can add your cleanup crew.

[oldhead]

Welcome to the world of SW! Sounds as if you have a ways to go. I highly recommend that you set nothing up until you have at least a basic understanding of how things work on our side. Also, that you at least have the basic equipment on hand to get going. You will find a ton of helpful and great answers to your questions on here. However, the burden of researching and reading belongs to you. Pick up some books and read all that you can on the web. The first thing that you'll most likely find is a contradiction in answers to some things. That's because there are few set universal ways in this hobby. What works for labnjab, coachfraley or ilovemygoldbarb may not work for me or vice versa. But the fundamentals that is the basic rules, apply to us all. Be sure that you understand THE BASICS before you proceed into this hobby. Small mistakes can lead to BIG expenditures and possile deaths of your animals later.

I would suggest writing out a plan before you go to cycling any tanks. Make a list of things you need to get started and cross them off as you acquire them. These items will be entirely dependent upon whether you're wanting to set up a reef or fish only tank. I can't stress enough that you familiarize yourself on SW keeping before putting a drop of water in your tank. Oh yeah and be prepared to spend some cash.

As far as the water thing goes, I bought 70 gallons in one shot from WalMart,lol. That was alot of fun getting up the isles and out the door!

[coachfraley]

Oldhead is right, there are plenty things you will find a great deal of debate about, so it is best to read around until you find a plan that works well for you. Just so you know, here are a couple of other decisions you will need to make:

1. what are you going to keep in the tank, if you want corals, what kind?
2. what kind of lighting are you going to use?
3. if you choose metal halides (or live somewhere hot), how will you control your high temperatures?
4. are you going to set up a refugium, if so, what will be in it?
5. are you going to set up a skimmer?
6. what, if anything, will you use as substrate?
7. what kind of live rock are you going to use?
8. where can I find a second job to pay for all this #$%@?

Like I said above, the process of cycling your live rock is pretty simple, answering some of these questions, setting up the system, and maintaining it, is the difficult part.

[cocoa_pleco]

Yeah, lol, I bought 30 when I started my tank and I buy 10 every week for topoffs and water changes, buy without it your going to have algae problems, just ask cocoa_pleco

my old 55g

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]