The most important follow up question that noah should pay attention to:As a saltwater aquarist of about 1.5 years, I would like to add my two bits of advice.
My saltwater aquarium is also 20 gallons, not long, but 20 gallons nonetheless. When I first started, I bought a massive clean up crew like the one you listed. Most of the critters died off after a month. IME you probably only need one emerald crab, five hermits, five ninja stars snails, one short spine urchin, and a nano sand sifter.
Check your chemicals prior to dosing. If you want to keep corals, LPS or SPS, research what parameters the corals prefer before buying. If you are extremely set on purchasing said coral, supplement over the period of a few days to a couple weeks to adjust current tank inhabitants to the new levels.
In my tank, I use live aragonite sand, not too picky about which brand as long as the grains are fine. I have about ten pounds of live rock, though I imagine you have space for a little more due to extra length. I dechlorinate (API Stress Coat) my tap water here in Utah before mixing with Instant Ocean Reef Salt to a salinity of about 1.025 - keep this number consistent if you choose to add serpent sea stars, they will literally dissolve if you change it in the slightest!
As for extra gadgets or cool tech setup, I have the Aqamai KPS Wavemaker, which can be controlled through WiFi. It can provide wave flow for varying sizes of tanks as the GPH can be changed. I also recently purchased the AI Hydra32HD LED reef light. I gotta say I love it, makes my corals and nems pop! I also got a UV sterilizer to help combat algae; we will see how that adventure turns out.
A skimmer would be a good addition, but an aquarium can thrive without one. Same goes for an RODI system![]()
What is your stocking and what changes if any would you have made in hindsight?



