Final saltwater newbie questions help brothers and sisters

So i've been thinking and planning for months on this salt water and I am ready to do this. I made a thread before about this and finally going to put this plan to action. Well at least begin cycling . So its a 20g long no sump and I would like 4-5 fishies (only for sure is clown fish) and some clean up crew. Its either going to be FOWLR or begin as a FO then FOWLR so help me answer these questions according to my stock

1st question filtration no sump. This is the plan for FO
AQ50 - either LR rubble/ or biomax (if that works for salt please let me know) or a refugium mod with cheato
AQ20 - carbon crushed coral or LR/biomax if my ph is good. (maybe upgrade to 30 or if its a must another 50)
potential algae scrubber in stead of refuge mod.
Is this good enough? and for what size stock?
Live sand bed

FOWLR
Same as above
of course with LR and koralia 240?


Second Q tap water.
I know everywhere it says CAN be bad but usually just mentions for coral can I get away with it for FO or FOWLR? Using dechlorinator and possible carbon in my tank with the alagae remover filtration (refuge or scrubber) and maybe let it sit for like a day?

Those are my questions thanks getting it cycling this weekend thanks everyone, SW seems to be a tad different stuff than FW and thats all I do is research new stuff for fun to expand my knowledge of fish and fishkeeping so now its a new stuff to learn with salt

Tank mate suggestions also allowed, I am not budging on the no sump or skimmer. too small of a tank for me to want to add a skimmer.

Jamesy said:

You could use tap water for FOWLR but not with Corals.

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That's what I was trying to see what people would say. I don't have any intention for corals in the near future!

jtietz said:

no tap water, never. needs to be filtered. local fish stores sell filtered water or you can buy gallons at 7 11 what ever is easier. for a 20 gallon i would pick up a coulple gallons every week from the food store for top off. next go with a sump/refuge, your going to kick your self if you dont. little extra in the begining but worth it in the end. you want clowns, face it if you want one clown your going to want two, then you will want an anemone. if you ever think about corals you will need a sump/refuge. buy a cheap 10 gallon or bigger from your local pet store, more water the more stable your system. and grab a protien skimmer. do it right, take your time.

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You answered one of the questions thanks. Sorry not doing that right now aand I said that In tthe post. Thanks for your opinions though appreciated. Anyone for MY filtration suggestion?

My fish life is sparked up with Polys

Pfisherman said:

Get the LR for sure. I use an emporer 400 on my 75 and just recently put a skimmer on. I think that if you are doing 10% water changes weekly you will be decent w/o a skimmer. If you are doing the 2 HOB filters, I would put carbon in at least one and rinse the pads a couple times a week. Do the bigger filters IMO for more flow and a small power head. some nice dry live sand also. Here is a pic of my fowlr.

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Nice tank thanks for the info!

Pfisherman said:

My bad, I call aragonite live sand. Yeah, dont buy the stuff with water in the bag, its a rip off!

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Otherone said:

Rubble to start - then be sure to cure and cycle the LR (Raw LR might cause a new cycle) before FOWLR or buy dry. Next get yourself an Aragonite (finely crushed corals) sand bed not live sand ( it's a hoax). Use carbon as directed - no more than 48 hours a week - carbon removes essentials from SW. Algae scrubber- cheato fuge both remove nitrous material the cheato however doesn't help control algae. PO4 is a non-issue for FO. A 240 gph power head is perfect for 20 gal. A test kit will tell you how many fish - add one at a time then wait for Nitrate to drop to below 20ppm then add another - when nitrates go above 20ppm your overstocked.

Tapwater can be used but bare in mind it's got alotta junk in it. This junk will more than likely fuel diatoms, cyanobacteria, and obnoxious algae. Carbon will help greatly with dissolved and small particle proteins plus toxins, It will do nothing for excess nitrous material, PO4, or Silicates. Bottom line here is you may be doing a lot more cleaning and scrubbing than someone using RO and have a more difficult time controlling nitrates.

SW keeping is nothing like FW more like the opposite - hence "the darkside."

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Thanks that's tons of helpful info everything I was looking for thank you! Good thing you told me about the carbon I did not know that! Also I am a little confused on what you said about the live rock I'm doing a fishless cycle so should I not put in live rock right away? Thanks for the overstocking answer also! Okay looks like ill probably will use ro/di water!
Oops I didn't clarify when I said livesand I meant starting my own with aragonite I know the premade stuff is fake and garbage. I will use regular aragonite and I'm getting some live sand from another hobbiests cycled system


My fish life is sparked up with Polys