Hey guys, I'm kinda new to tropical fish and need some help on a 20gallon tank I'm looking at.
I basically need to know if Clown fish(1) Yellow watchman(1) Guppy(1) would be fine together in a 20gallon tank and if they require the same basic needs like temperature etc.

Also which lighting i need for these corals; Toadstool,Torch,Candy cane, Xenia. And whether or not they are a good choice for someone new to this.

I've also decided on a clean up crew but I'm not sure if I've chosen too many, I decided on; Scarlet leg hermit crabs(2) Emerald crap (1) Nerites snails (3) Cerith snails (2) Cleaner shrimp(1) Porcelain crab(1) Nassarius snails (3-4).

Thanks alot guys =)

The first fish will be fine together. You may want to get 2 clowns instead of a guppy.. they like friends. All those fish will be fine together as long as you acclimate them properly.

Those coral require medium lighting. This will depend on what you want to get.. LED, metal halide, or fluorescent. You'll need about 40-45 watts of LED, 150-200 watts of fluorescent, and about 150-200 watts of metal halide. You'll also need to make sure you get actinic and white lighting mixture.

For a clean up crew, i've heard numbers of 1 crew member per gallon. The list you have looks pretty good. If you're going to have a sand bed, i'd suggest getting a conch to help clean and aerate it.

Thanks alot phys, helped alot =D but another couple of question how much live rock would be required in a 20gallon tank ?

Also Ive been reading around and theres been different opinions on whether or not protein skimmers are good in a 20gallon tank, i was wondering what exactly they are and whether or not it would ease the care of the fish if one was included in my setup.

Also if you have any good reef care guides or
starter guides i would appreciate it.

Thanks again.

I suggest buying clown fish only since you are just starting out. It's kind of good to start off with only one type of fish or just few fish to start off with.

oh btw, there's a great guide that i found called "caring for your aquarium". It's a really good book and I highly recommend it to anybody just starting out. You can learn more about the book at my blog How To Take Care Of An Aquarium

I hope I helped...

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Visit my blog below and learn about the mistakes you must avoid when making your first aquarium.

http://www.how-to-take-care-of-an-aquarium.blogspot.com

Feel free to ask any questions!

You'll need at least 20 lbs of live rock for your tank. I suggest more, it will help. I have about 28 lbs in mine. 28 lbs sounds like a lot but I should have purchased more. Having a lot of hiding places for your fish to hide at night is a good idea and is the reason i should have got more. So purchase as much as you can afford and get pieces that you think will look good for aquascaping to your liking. Think about how you want to put it in, a pile, wall, etc. then purchase the type of rock that will best suit your build.

protein skimmers help to remove excess proteins from the aquarium that are given off by excess foods, fish wastes, etc. They create tiny bubbles that attract the protein because of the water's dipole attraction. Some issues with them is that they create micro bubbles in your tank. That's why you see a lot of people use them in their sumps instead. They are good to have but not required especially on a small aquairum where they wont build up too high. They're a nice addition but as i said, not required. I dont have one right now but hopefully will get one soon.

Hi,

Small tanks are harder to take care of in saltwater. This is just my opinion but I use a skimmer on my 30g (in sump) nutrients build up fast. I also have 65 snails in my tank to control the algae and keep the sand clean. I have three different kinds because each does a different job.

Cerith
Nassarius
Nerite

Corals like different water quality to be healthy and grow. I know when my Xenia, and toadstool were happy....the torch types and candy cane corals were not.


Xenia likes nitrates. If your tank is under a year old, I would go for the Xenia, mushroom coral, leathers and Nepthia trees. These are great beginner corals because new tanks are very unstable in water quality.