# 20 g salt water tank?



## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

ok, i don't want to even attempt this now, but sometime in the future, i think i'd like to setup a saltwater aquarium. i don't want to go very big, as i know the larger any aquarium gets, the harder it is to maintain, and the more expensive. i'm thinking a 20 gallon would be a good start? i'd like to get some marine hermit crabs. what kinds of fish would do well with the crabs in a 20 gallon tank? i thought the clown fish were just too cute, but i have no idea if they're compatible with the crabs or a 20 gallon tank. so any ideas or suggestions would be nice. also, what exactly is living rock? and what's a good estimate on what a 20 gallon salt water tank costs to set up?


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

It is more expensive the larger you go, but it is easier to matain a larger aquarium than it is a smaller aquarium (fresh or saltwater). Live rock is rock that has oragnisms living on it that will remove the "bad stuff" in saltwater tanks (nitrates for example). As for the rest of the info, a more experienced saltwater keeper can point you in the right direction.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

That would be me.

Live rock is a very porous calcium rock which has bacteria growing inside it and various plants and critters growing on the outside of it. Live rock is used as decor and as filtration, as the bacteria inside the rock are useful in denitrification, which is the transformation of nitrite back into simple nitrogen gas. Live rock is often thought of as anti-bioload, but it must be remebered that while the bacteria IN the rock are filtration, the things ON it are waste producing, nutrient consuming bioload.

Live rock is not a necessary component of a basic fishtank.

Stability is very important in any aquarium, but it is especially critical in a saltwater tank. The sea is VERY stable, and the critters in it have not evolved the capability to handle change very well, since they never had any reason to. 
A large tank is more stable than a small one, and as such much easier to maintain. There is a lot more room for error in a big tank, and you can catch and correct problems before they can wreck everything a lot faster in a big tank. Rapid change kills in saltwater, and change is more rapid in a small tank.

A 20 gallon tank is about the smallest I would ever recommend for a marine tank, and you can keep two clownfish in it. 
Hermit crabs are cool, but not without their own problems. For starters, they eat fish, unless you stick to the tiny herbivorous ones commonly used to help clean the tank, but these aren't as much fun as the big ones you're probably envisioning keeping.

About 10 bucks per gallon is a rough estimate of what it costs to set up a saltwater tank, but that doesn't work at the extremes of very large and very small tanks. For example, there is almost no cost difference between a 10 and 20 gallon setup, so a 10 really makes no sense.


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## Celeste (May 13, 2005)

i always thought that most marine hermit crabs were very small? i saw some at the pet store the other day and they were teeny. my land hermit crabs range between the size of a dime, and the size of a tennis ball. i would stick with the small cleaner hermit crabs in a 20 gallon. well, i was just toying with the idea anyway. it will be a while before i have the space and the money to work on an aquarium.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

well at night the fish will lay on bottem of tank and good chance to get snapped up by the crabs then. But could make a neat 20L tank, if you only plan on doing Fish Only tank with live rock, then need 2wpg to keep liverock alive, which can be easily met with a twin tube florscent top, and filter u just need a skimmer and HOB filter to run carbon, that needs to be replaced ever two weeks.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Marinewater hermits come in a wide range of sizes, with some being twice the size of my fist, but the teeny ones you usually see in shops tend to be the herbivorous cleaners which are safe.

Live rock needs the same care and lighting as coral, or the stuff growing on it dies. It will still be functional as a filter, though, albeit very ugly.

Oh, by the way, I mistyped "nitrite" in my last post when I meant "nitrAte" in reference to denitrification. Sorry for any confusion that may have caused anyone. 

My best advice to you Celeste is to get a few books on the subject and read them a few times each. Most libraries have a few books.


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