Reef tank for a newbie, would like some advice!

NG_Reef

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Hey all, so for the past few weeks I've been really tempted to start a reef tank, or at least a saltwater in general, and since I'm going off to college soon I figured I'd start it up there and have it as a nice side project/hobby to get away form all the stresses of college. I know it's certainly going to be a challenge, but I figure since I currently work at one of the best (in my opinion) LFS in the area, and have four freshwater tanks at the moment, that I'm up for it. My bosses are great and have helped me alot but I'm still relatively in the dark on most things saltwater since I only work four days a week and am still in high school, so I came here looking for some help from people who know what they're doing. Now back to the main point, I'm most likely going to purchase a 20 gallon starter kit that has most of the things I need already included. I have a rough wishlist of fish I'd like to include in the tank but I'm still unsure of the corals I would like. I can get rid of any fish that you guys don't think would work, and I'm curious if I could add a cleanup crew, some other inverts, and an anemone as well. Suggestions for fish that you think would work would be appreciated too.

Here's the wishlist-
Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse
Shrimp Goby
Pistol Shrimp
Purple Firefish
Ocellaris Clown
Neon Goby
Clown Goby
Royal Gramma
Chalk Basslet
Six Line Wrasse
Flasher Wrasse


Sorry for the long read, I appreciate the time you all took to read and hopefully answer this!
 
Welcome! Having been in your position with a 24 gal tank at college, I'll offer my .02. I had to switch apartments quite a bit and that's a pain in the butt due to stress levels on fish and stirring up nitrates etc, so be ready for that possibility. Definitely doable though. For me it helped to have an AIO setup to keep stuff compact and less complicated in limited space.

As for the fish, that would be quite the bioload in a 20 gal, so I'd recommend (if it's not already your intention) to pick your favorite (4-5) from that list. The more fish, the more unstable the tank can get.
I am familiar with the firefish, clown and gobies (all of which should be good tank mates) but I'll defer to someone more knowledgeable about the wrasses.

Clean up crew, inverts, and an anemone should all be doable with the right species.
 
First off welcome to reef2reef and we are glad to have you. I have comprised this list below as a general guide to help you get started.

First I would like to start with an approximate timeline of when you can start adding things to your tank. (This is what I did and for the most part it seemed to work for me.)
Here is my timeline after I started my cycle:

2 weeks: snails and hermit crabs (I had to feed them because of how new the tank was)

1 month: first fish (2 clowns)

Added 1 new fish every 3 weeks after clowns. I stopped at a total of 9 fish but will probably add 1 or 2 more once some of my smaller fish grow.

I would not add any more that 2 fish in your tank due to its size, after the timeline I have a list of fish you could add.

4 months: first corals (mostly soft coral and a few lps)

6 months: first anemone (it died)

8 months: more challenging coral (scoly and meat coral) and first starfish (2 sand sifters)

1 year: second attempt and anemone (it has since split and is doing great)

15 months: serpent stars and brittle star (I could have added this earlier) high end coral (jawbreakers, and high end zoas)

I still do not have any non-photosynthetic coral or sponges but by this point I could probably add some. I also do not have any sps. I plan on adding this within the next 6 months.

Keep in mind this isn't set guidelines you should follow but it's what I did with good success, except for the first anemone. I added him too early for sure


Below is a list of the fish you wanted and some others that would go well, and some to avoid. I only listed fish that are "reef safe" for obvious reasons if you are planning to add corals you shouldn't get any non reef safe fish. ALSO PLEASE REMEBER 2 FISH MAX FOR A TANK YOUR SIZE!

Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse - good fish but could nip at some small inverts. He's a jumper so if you don't have a lid don't add him. Also very shy so you may find him hiding a lot
Shrimp Goby - This and all the other gobys you listed are totally fine to add
Pistol Shrimp - safe to add but you will have to check iodine levels to insure it can molt
Purple Firefish - Good to add. I have one in my tank and it is one of the more shy fish I have
Ocellaris Clown - got 2 of them, totally fine for your tank but if you add 2 I wouldn't add any other fish. They can become territorial and be aggressive with tank mates
Neon Goby - see above
Clown Goby - see above
Royal Gramma - good fish to add
Chalk Basslet - good fish to add
Six Line Wrasse - good fish to add, as a bonus this guy will scan corals for unwanted pests
Flasher Wrasse - your tank is a little too small for this guy

If you add a wrasse of any kind do not add another wrasse, they will fight and one will kill the other

'Reef safe" Fish to avoid include: all tangs and drawf angels


To give you an idea on some of the coral you can add take a look at this list. This will help you decide what type of coral is right for you.

Coral that is good for beginners: zoanthids, mushrooms (avoid jawbreakers and Bounces), favia, star polyps (caution needs to be taken as these can be invasive), nepthia trees, montipora, trumpet coral, chalice coral (must be less that $60 for about a 1 inch frag)

Moderate level corals: expensive chalice, frogspawn, hammer coral, galaxy coral, brain corals, plate corals, bubble coral, blastos (only solid red, or red and green) acans, cynarina (green only) torch coral (green) Duncan coral

Hard Level corals: scolymia, acanthrophyllia (meat coral), cynarina (reds, yellows, pinks), red gonoporia (red flowerpot), gold torch coral, jawbreaker mushrooms, blastos (the ones with yellow are the hardest), high end zoas (stratospheres and speckled kraks are some of the hardest),

Expert Level corals: gorgonians, all non-photosynthetic sponges, sun coral, green flowerpot, carnation trees, elegance coral,

Since I do not have any sps I did not list them here. From what I have heard I would put them on the moderate to hard level corals.

If you have any questions feel free to Pm me or comment on here. Happy Reefing
 
Sorry for the delayed reply, I've been pretty busy as of late. Thanks for the responses, so I've narrowed it down to either a six line or tanakas, a shrimp and goby pair, and a purple/exquisite firefish. I'd assume a small cleanup crew would be okay as well. I think I can manage these three fish and cleanup crew if I keep up with my weekly water changes. Are there any complete starter kit tanks (ones that preferably come with a built in sump and the like) that would be recommended as well? Also, what are the best test kits for reef tanks, salifert or API? I've gotten a lot of mixed responses. Thanks again.
 

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