Hey there guys. Name's Chief, already introduced myself in freshwater, wanted to do it here as well. Happy to be here.

I wanted a saltwater tank. I live at the beach, and wanted to mix some native species and a FEW more exotic that I liked. I got a 55 gallon set-up, the cora-life $600 compact flourescent lamp, $300 hang-on skimmer, the tank(given from a friend), 3 small heaters, and was just about to get the water, and my landlord said I can't have that big of a tank. I had a little table-top freshwater 6-gallon guys. I got a 20 gallon tank, and set it up for fresh-water. Looking into getting more fish once I fix the water. Wondering if instead of finishing the FW tank if I could realistically have a 20 gallon reef tank?

I know they make Nano's, but with a standard 20 gallon glass tank, you think it would be ok? It is a 20 tall. I would want live rock, live sand, and maybe a small anemone, maybe some inverts, basically the whole deal. Am I trying to achieve too much? I would probably use some local gobies, drum family fish, and really like cardinals, maybe a single/2 clownfish with the anemone. opinions?

i say w/ 20 gallons its going to be hard to keep that many fish. if you want an anemone i would just go with a species tank and have some live rock, the anemone and 2 clowns... possibly a decorative shrimp would be nice to have. other than that be careful with the corals because the anemone can sting them. i would add the corals after the anemone gets comfortable and finds a nice spot on your reefscape. maybe some zoas and shrooms would be cool in there. just my .02

ps. gotta hate land lords. heheh i just moved out of an apt where i had the same issue, except i kept my tank and moved out a month later. and good luck with the tank btw. let me know how it goes i would be interesting to see the tank once its running.

__________________
If its not broke dont fix it!!! If its broke save yourself the time and buy a new one!!!

Thanks anthony. It's a special situation, because it's an apartment my parents have been renting as a summer home for years. He is a family friend, and kinda gotta abide by his rules. I pay $650 a month in a coastal city for a 2 bedroom, where normal rent for a 2-bedroom here is $2,000 a week during summer, and $1400/month during the winter. Wish I could afford to move, but I doubt i'd ever find this again.

Thanks for the advice. May just keep it as a fresh-tank, wait on the reef.

Many people keep 10g or less reef tanks. As stated a lot of saltwater fish would be too big but there are several fish that can be kept in a 20g. Not to metion a few corals.

Small tanks are called nano's so you might check out the nano forum.


my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g since 2002. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks.

Current tanks 10g FW leiden since 2002, 55g mixed reef since 2002, 20g FW leiden since 2007, 10 g fw leiden since 12/2008, 29g mixed reef since 2007