Have I Had my Plan Backwards This Whole Time?

[livinlifeinBKK]

Hey reefers, I need your opinions an possibly a little wisdom if you guys have any to share...I have two tanks-- a 20 gallon that's about 2 years old with several soft corals, a clam, and one SPS coral plus a few small inverts and I have a 10 gallon that's about 3 months old with a sponge, starfish, hermits, snails, a black sun coral, and some especially beautiful coralline algae. Since the 10 gallon tank's inception its purpose was to be a small FOWLR tank in front of my bed for me to wake up to in the morning (my 20 gallon had a case of velvet that still gives me nightmares so it has been fallow for a few months which left me missing fish), however, I think I've been imagining the two tanks backwards. Since I started the 10 gallon tank I've been doing all I can to help along its maturation by adding all ocean collected live rock and using various supplements to focus on maturing the microbiome so that when I introduce fish, their natural immune system will be supported in case any parasite or disease like the velvet I previously dealt with returned and I've somewhat neglected the 20 gallon because of the fallow period. It just hit me that I might be better off making the 20 gallon a FOWLR and the 10 gallon a small invert/coral focused tank with just a couple clowns maybe because fish would have more room to swim in the 20 gallon, it's probably more mature overall, and the fallow period is over. It would also probably be easier for me to control my nutrient levels in the small tank if it was focused on corals (I've meticulously been watching my parameters like nitrate, phosphate, DKH, etc. since its inception) so the corals would thrive better in there. If I decide to go this way I think I just need to move my chiller, SPS-grade light, and maybe the ATO to my newer, smaller 10 gallon along with the corals that would get eaten by non reef friendly fish. Does it seem like I'm thinking this through right or am I missing something?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I agree, the 10 gallon should be coral/invert tank, the 20 gallon should be fish tank (if we are thinking of the fishes happiness)

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I agree, the 10 gallon should be coral/invert tank, the 20 gallon should be fish tank (if we are thinking of the fishes happiness)

Plus I think the corals will do better in the tank I've been meticulously watching the parameters of

 

[DeniseAndy]

As long as you have the correct fish and inverts, the size does not matter. However, if you want two clowns, the 20g is the better choice. Just make sure to get a small variety of clown.

Would love to see pictures.