Newbie with a 20G L. Wanting to do a salt water tank, Please help.

[DeJays Saleen]

Ok. Well I just bought a fresh water 20 gallon tank off craigslist. Its very very nice but want to convert it over to a salt water tank. I've been out of the game for a LONG time now. I use to own a 55 gallon salt water tank but that was Y E A R S ago, and to be honest I don't remember much about starting a tank up. So the tank I got is 20 L, has a cheap filter from walmart, a hood w/ light ect... I know I pretty much need to start from the beginning and start from scratch. But I've always wanted to do a 20 L so now I have the foundation to do so. I want to do a tank with a few (maybe 2) Clown Fish. Maybe a few other things? I know with a 20 L I can't put a ton in,... but what else could I put in? A yellow tang? A blue lobster / shrimp? Ect? I want a few different things in there but not a lot. I don't want the tank to look really cramp. I like a nice clean look. I want to go with live sand and a few lil things here and there. I like it when the tanks have the " blue " look to it... Do i need special lighting? And what do I do about getting the tank ready? What kinda filter do I need? One that hangs off the back, or underwater? Ect. I know this tank has a heater with it but do I need a special one? Pretty much I'd say I'm a newbie all over again so please please help me out. I don't want to go crazy with this thing, no sump ect. Just a nice simple 20g l, with a few lil things. Help me out!!!! Thanks

[Chasman]

Go to the "Reef Aquarium" and Saltwater Fish Aquarium" forums on this site and read all the sticky's. Especially the "setting up a FOWLR aquarium" thread. Most of your questions will be answered there. If you don't want to use a sump (I didn't either) you might want to look at a HOB refugium. I have the EcoSystem Pro 40 but CPR makes the AquaFuge which is the same thing. They have a protine skimmer built into them and the skimmer work pretty well.

[gregony]

I have a 40gallon regular and its a tad small for a yellow tang. A 20g long would be way too small. Tangs are busy fish that like 48" or longer tanks. I don't know what skimmer would work well on a 20 gallon long. I tried a Prism on a 20g long reef tank I had a while back, and it didn't work well at all. If you just want to keep a couple of fish, you probably could get away with a biowheel or an aquaclear. It will create nitrates, but on 20 gallons you should be able to just change the water every few days, and keep them under control. Unless the nitrates are way high >120 or so, most fish don't care about them. Corals and the like are the ones that are real sensitive to nitrates. A two light T5HO fixture would be plenty. They make a lot of really sharp fixtures in that size range for less than a $100. You don't need a special heater. Most people recommend EBO-Jager, I use a cheap thermowatt-submersible, been using it for years (just make sure you have a spare heater, if the fish get cold, the stress will cause them to become sick and they'll die - a 20g gets cold quick). You need a powerhead for water circulation. If Korallia's are too big looking, a maxijet 600 would work fine. You need at least a few pounds of live rock. Most people recommend a pound or more per gallon. Remember to let your tank run for at least a month AFTER it has finished cycling, before adding ANY livestock. If the filamentous algae starts to get too thick, remove it by hand. Thats the beauty of a 20 gallon long, it's easy to keep clean.
Don't put in a blue lobster, they eat fish. A couple of clown fish would be about all you'd want. A real interesting fish (that because of its adult size you should keep alone in a 20g) is the convict blenny. They resemble eels, but they don't crawl out of your tank and they're usually silly cheap. They just need some decent sand, and rock to burrow under. They'll eat anything and they remember when its time to eat. Given a chance, they become a real pet. Remember that mandarin fish need old aquariums and a lot of live rock. You might not be able to get enough live rock in a 20 gallon to keep one alive, even though mandarins look plenty small enough.
More neat fishes, (to keep by themselves in a 20G), are dwarf lionfish (one of the best aquarium fish you can own, IMHO), pygmy angelfish, frog fishes (hard to keep alive though), and some of the more scrappy, smaller damselfishes (they're aggresive but interesting), and pseudochromis' (also can get aggressive, but you may be able to find a pair). Add a cleaner shrimp, and maybe a brittle star, and you'd have a nice arrangement.
And as Parrothead says, read the stickys.

[gregony]

I have a 40gallon regular and its a tad small for a yellow tang. A 20g long would be way too small. Tangs are busy fish that like 48" or longer tanks. I don't know what skimmer would work well on a 20 gallon long. I tried a Prism on a 20g long reef tank I had a while back, and it didn't work well at all. If you just want to keep a couple of fish, you probably could get away with a biowheel or an aquaclear. It will create nitrates, but on 20 gallons you should be able to just change the water every few days, and keep them under control. Unless the nitrates are way high >120 or so, most fish don't care about them. Corals and the like are the ones that are real sensitive to nitrates. A two light T5HO fixture would be plenty. They make a lot of really sharp fixtures in that size range for less than a $100. You don't need a special heater. Most people recommend EBO-Jager, I use a cheap thermowatt-submersible, been using it for years (just make sure you have a spare heater, if the fish get cold, the stress will cause them to become sick and they'll die - a 20g gets cold quick). You need a powerhead for water circulation. If Korallia's are too big looking, a maxijet 600 would work fine. You need at least a few pounds of live rock. Most people recommend a pound or more per gallon. Remember to let your tank run for at least a month AFTER it has finished cycling, before adding ANY livestock. If the filamentous algae starts to get too thick, remove it by hand. Thats the beauty of a 20 gallon long, it's easy to keep clean.
Don't put in a blue lobster, they eat fish. A couple of clown fish would be about all you'd want. A real interesting fish (that because of its adult size you should keep alone in a 20g) is the convict blenny. They resemble eels, but they don't crawl out of your tank and they're usually silly cheap. They just need some decent sand, and rock to burrow under. They'll eat anything and they remember when its time to eat. Given a chance, they become a real pet. Remember that mandarin fish need old aquariums and a lot of live rock. You might not be able to get enough live rock in a 20 gallon to keep one alive, even though mandarins look plenty small enough.
More neat fishes, (to keep by themselves in a 20G), are dwarf lionfish (one of the best aquarium fish you can own, IMHO), pygmy angelfish, frog fishes (hard to keep alive though), and some of the more scrappy, smaller damselfishes (they're aggresive but interesting), and pseudochromis' (also can get aggressive, but you may be able to find a pair). Add a cleaner shrimp, and maybe a brittle star, and you'd have a nice arrangement.
And as Parrothead says, read the stickys.