Getting back into the hobby

[pulpfiction]

I had a tank 10 years ago and I really liked having clowns and miss them. I'm at a place where I want to have a tank again and I have a few questions since it has been so long and I'm sure times have changed for fish keeping.

I am looking at getting a 20 gallon fish only tank with: 2 clowns; 1 royal gamma, 1 fire shrimp, and 2-3 Nassarius snails. I am going to cycle the tank with live sand and a live rock for about 5 weeks before adding anything.

My questions are,

1) Can I buy all 3 fish at once without upsetting the nitrate/nitrite/ammonia level of the tank too much? Buy the two clowns, wait for the water to even out, then get the royal gamma + clean up crew?

2) At what point should I add a clean-up crew? With the fish? Some time after? Before the fish?

3) What’s a good filter for this kind of tank? Don’t know if these have changed much. I saw someone put a bag of rocks inside a filter in a video. What is that?

4) Would any other fish fit comfortably into this setup? I remember trying to keep firefish and they always kamikazed out of the tank even with a lid and damsels were just jerks >.>

4) I have been reading around, but are there must have products/approaches you would recommend for this setup?

Thanks!

 

[1guydude]

You are gonna do a 20 long? Or 20 tall?
Fish only so light will be stock.
They make some good hang on back HOB protein skimmers now days. Aquamaxx bullet. Ehiem liberty hob filter are good too.

The bag of rocks is similar to ceramic rings. Just a biological filtration.

Royal grammas can be punks man. Lol
D

 

[Peace River]

I recommend a fishless-cycle and then all three fish can be added at the same time once the tank is cycled. There are different approaches on when to add clean up crew (cuc), but I usually wait until there is some algae just starting so they will have stuff to eat. Good luck!

 

[pulpfiction]

You are gonna do a 20 long? Or 20 tall?
Fish only so light will be stock.
They make some good hang on back HOB protein skimmers now days. Aquamaxx bullet. Ehiem liberty hob filter are good too.

The bag of rocks is similar to ceramic rings. Just a biological filtration.

Royal grammas can be punks man. Lol
D

For a tall or long, is one better than the other? I haven't decided on which to get yet.

Oh are they punks? lol. I never kept them. My original tank was 2 clowns and 1 fire fish. So I was thinking of one other fish to add with the clowns. and well. firefish always turned into unsuccessful flying fish.

Thanks for the skimmer/filter suggestion.

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[Weasel1960]

Welcome to R2R, Good luck with your build

 

[1guydude]

Eh its just kinda personal prefrence really. I think when a fish gets scared and runs to a glass wall and up. Its got less glass to travel and out in a shallow longer tank if that makes sense. Firefish are jumpers. You can make a bird net screen cover from a window kit at lowes or home depot.
D

 

[pulpfiction]

Eh its just kinda personal prefrence really. I think when a fish gets scared and runs to a glass wall and up. Its got less glass to travel and out in a shallow longer tank if that makes sense. Firefish are jumpers. You can make a bird net screen cover from a window kit at lowes or home depot.
D

That makes sense. The net is a really good idea. I may do that even if I don't get a firefish.

 

[pulpfiction]

I recommend a fishless-cycle and then all three fish can be added at the same time once the tank is cycled. There are different approaches on when to add clean up crew (cuc), but I usually wait until there is some algae just starting so they will have stuff to eat. Good luck!

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I plan to cycle the tank first with no animals. I am going to get 1 live rock and live sand and let them seed dead rock while waiting for the tank to adjust. I am still collecting what I need to start since I have 0 fish supplies. It all got thrown out a long time ago. I ended up with a 20 gallon tall. There was a nice sale on them.

I'm set on choosing 2 clowns and 1 royal gramma when I get fish. I read around but I'm still not exactly sure what to feed or how often. Information is conflicting. The last time I had fish I just fed flakes and some frozen shrimp once a day.

Does the age matter for feeding frequency/type of food? Should I feed them 2 times a day or more? What is currently considered good brands of fish food? How often should the food be alternated to something like frozen shrimp to provide variety?

 

[Peace River]

Obviously there are lots of opinions on food. You may want to consider the @Reef Nutrition TDO Chroma Boost pellets (small), frozen food from LRS or Rods, and ME Coral fish food @marke) for picky fish.

 

[pulpfiction]

Obviously there are lots of opinions on food. You may want to consider the @Reef Nutrition TDO Chroma Boost pellets (small), frozen food from LRS or Rods, and ME Coral fish food @marke) for picky fish.

Thank you so much!