Best individual fish for a 20gal tank

[Morgan Miller]

Hi everyone,

I am new to the world of saltwater aquariums, and am looking to get some advice.
I have a 20gal tall aquarium with live sand and live rock and a CUC. It’s still a new tank and I’m moving slowly with it and trying to do things well, so I’m not in a rush to get a fish, but I’d like to get some ideas. I am really interested in getting into corals, but I would like to have one individual fish that would be a somewhat active and happy as the only fish in the aquarium.
I went to my local fish store and they had a beautiful 40 gal long coral display with a single tang swimming gracefully back and forth and it was absolutely stunning. I know a tang would not be a good fit for my tank, but does anyone have a suggestions for a single centerpiece style fish that would do well in my tank? I love angelfish but I’m pretty sure my tank is too small.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

 

[Crabs McJones]

Welcome to R2R!

#WelcometoR2R
Unfortunately angelfish and tangs are out of the equation.
If you're looking for an active fish I'd look at the reef safe wrasse. A sixline would do fine in a 20 gallon and has great color and swims in and out of rockwork. Very active

 

[ReefSlice]

A smaller wrasse would work well, but I would go with a dottyback of some sort. They're aggressive, but very pretty, best kept alone.
Welcome to R2R

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Fish are tuff in the sw world till.u hit the 100-120gal size. Frees up more options. Also when u go to the 250gal size.
Anyways

Are u after an active fish that swims back forth?!
D

 

[Morgan Miller]

Hi everyone, thanks for the quick replies! I’ll be doing more research on both of your suggestions.

Yes, I’d prefer a more active fish.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Sixline wrasse. Ull need a top.
D

 

[Shredder99]

Hey Morgan, in my opinion, there are two lines of thought. You can get permanent residents or temporary residents and I am sure this post will generate discussion. In my 24G I started with clown fish and a Royal Gramma. From what I read, you have to keep only a select few species in smaller tanks and I followed that philosophy. A few months later I ran into a hair algae problem and I consulted my LFS. The guy suggested a small Yellow Tang, which I questioned because it would eventually outgrow the tank. He said that when that time comes, they would take it back for store credit. When I purchased him, the Tang was about the size of a quarter. He not only took care of the algae problem, he became our favorite and the showpiece of the tank. He was also a character and would swim up to the glass when you sat in the chair next to the tank; he even did it with the dogs! After a few years and as he grew, the fact that he had such a small environment started to gnaw at me. I loved the fish, but I knew it was time to give him a better home so I swapped him out at my LFS. It could be argued that this was cruel and stressful to the fish, so I determined that I would keep to the smaller species that would be permanent. I now have Chromis, Fire Fish, a Six Line Wrasse, and a Green Clown Goby in my 32G Biocube. I have seen YouTube videos where people are keeping Hippo Tangs, Yellow Tangs, and Copper Butterfly Fish in Biocubes and one guy even said "I know that the Hippo Tang will eventually have to go." Let's see what other members have to say about "term" or "perm" approaches to smaller aquariums. Good luck with the new tank!

 

[Morgan Miller]

The six line wrasse seems like a really cool little fish. Thanks for your input.

 

[Morgan Miller]

A temporary fish on purpose, not something I’d really thought of. I can see the appeal. I hadn’t considered a temporary fish, but knowing myself, I don’t think that’s the best option for me. I’d get way to attached and then end up justifying buying a much larger aquarium. But thank you for adding your input!

 

[Wolf89]

Orchid dottyback. little small of a tank, but if it was the only one, it'd be fine

 

[will25u]

Welcome! I have a Blue Reef Chromis that is always out swimming everywhere. This isn’t the same as the Blue-green Chromis that’s more common.

 

[actik]

I'm here to represent the tailspot blenny ! Haha, they are fairly active, very strange, beautiful and lots of personality

 

[Tamberav]

If I was going to have only ONE fish, I would probably go with something mean that I can't normally keep with other fish in nano's like a dottyback. A neon dotty or the blue eye royal dotty, ect. They are active and extremely colorful.

 

[Salty Lemon]

First of all, welcome to R2R! My favorites are the gobies and blennies. You also can't lose with a classic clown -- one of the smaller varieties.

 

[Morgan Miller]

Wow, lots of suggestions! Thank you everyone for your input. I’m going to do some research for the next few weeks and see what I can learn. Thanks again!

 

[fish farmer]

Six line wrasse

Bicolor Dottyback

Yellow tail blue damsel....I really like the Fiji Devils, but you may not find them now.

Make sure to research how their tolerance is to inverts like shrimp in case you want to add another life form that isn't a fish.

 

[actik]

First of all, welcome to R2R! My favorites are the gobies and blennies. You also can't lose with a classic clown -- one of the smaller varieties.

She's right ! The tank I'm working on is 1 clown, rest will be gobies and blennies, so lovable and chill.

 

[will25u]

I'm here to represent the tailspot blenny ! Haha, they are fairly active, very strange, beautiful and lots of personality

This is a good one as well. We have one and it’s a shy little piggy.

 

[samnaz]

Welcome to r2r! Have you considered an Angler / Frogfish? Some of the smaller species of Anglers can do great in a species specific 20 gallon tank. But their feeding requirements/regimen is relatively unusual, most require live food. Not sure if you're up for the challenge of not, just thought I'd throw it out there!

 

[Jon Fishman]

I would get a Valentini Puffer...... my puffer is full of personality.