First SW setup: Update.
- Thread starter ewurm
- Start date
I hear purple lobsters are territorial and will kill anything that looks like them (including shrimp) and eat small fish (3 inches and under) in their sleep. just what I heard.TankBuster;580552; said:Go fo the purple lobster, and also cleaner shrimp and watchman gobies are fun to watch.
cleaner shrimp are great, if you start to get bubble algae you might add an emerald crab. make sure he gets food, though.ewurm;580562; said:
I had a purplew lobster with a small dragon wrasse and damsel and no issues at all but someone may have different experiences.
ewurm;580562; said:
Clownfish? But there are so much cooler fish out there than clownfish. Sorry I guess it's your tank, not mine. It looks good though. I thought you really weren't interested in salt. You probably don't care, but if it was my tank I would get some angels, maybe a koran and a coral beauty. Hawkfish and gobies are cool too. I love yellow-headed jawfish. Anyways, that is me just dreaming up a tank. Someday, maybe i will have a tank of my own, rather than taking care of ones i don't own.
I would keep your salinity where it is (1.023). Keep in mind that most inverts are sensitive to lower salinty levels.
With a 20 gal tank you are going to be limited as to what you can keep for fish. Clowns should do good as well as some small gobies. Avoid any angels, triggers, lionfish, etc. Avoid anemones and corals too. You need more intense lighting and a stable system to keep them. Clownfish don't need anemones either.
If you hunt around, you should be able to find more live rock. Often you will find another hobbyist that is taking their tank down and you can get a really good deal on rock. If you do order rock, make sure you cure it before adding it to your tank. A lot of stuff in/on the rock dies in transit and the ammonia will spike if you immediately put the rock in your tank.
I would suspect your tank hasn't cycled yet with your readings at zero. I would wait before adding any more livestock.
You really should upgrade your skimmer too. Skilters are not very good skimmers. There are some other nice hob skimmers out there.
Another very important tool is a quarantine tank. Once you get ich or other parasites in an established tank, it is hard to get rid of them. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.
Above all, have patience.
With a 20 gal tank you are going to be limited as to what you can keep for fish. Clowns should do good as well as some small gobies. Avoid any angels, triggers, lionfish, etc. Avoid anemones and corals too. You need more intense lighting and a stable system to keep them. Clownfish don't need anemones either.
If you hunt around, you should be able to find more live rock. Often you will find another hobbyist that is taking their tank down and you can get a really good deal on rock. If you do order rock, make sure you cure it before adding it to your tank. A lot of stuff in/on the rock dies in transit and the ammonia will spike if you immediately put the rock in your tank.
I would suspect your tank hasn't cycled yet with your readings at zero. I would wait before adding any more livestock.
You really should upgrade your skimmer too. Skilters are not very good skimmers. There are some other nice hob skimmers out there.
Another very important tool is a quarantine tank. Once you get ich or other parasites in an established tank, it is hard to get rid of them. An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.
Above all, have patience.
