First saltwater tank - 20 gallon long

Finsfl · Jun 25, 2019

Hi there,

I've been keeping fresh water fish for about 10 years now and I'm fairly experienced with that side of the hobby but I've been wanting to try saltwater and i basically have no idea where to start haha

I currently have 2 tanks available (both 20 gallons long) and I'm using 1 of them as a sump for the main display tank, therefore it's a 20gal with 40 gallons volume of water.

I wanted to see if this type of setup would be beneficial for the salt water conversion or if I would be better off running it as a regular 20gallon tank.

For equipment I have it running with a 500gph pump and an overflow into the sump. In the sump, it's basically forced through 4" inches of sponge for mechanical and bio and then back into the tank. Accessory wise I have more pumps and a wave maker as well a a heater.

Is there a way I can use this stuff without having to go out and buy a lot of extra stuff or even a skimmer? (The current overflow skims from the top of the surface)

I'm not really looking into growing coral or anything like that, I'm mainly wanting to have a go with the fish and maybe some crustaceans.

Thank you in advance and sorry for the long post!

SPR1968 · Jun 25, 2019

Hi there and firstly welcome to R2R!

You might find this useful as a starting point as its an excellent read for anyone starting out with saltwater systems

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-supreme-guide-to-setting-up-a-saltwater-reef-aquarium.138750/

This should answer many of your questions and anything else of course just ask.

The bigger the water volume the easier it is to maintain water parameters which are essential in a marine system, especially stable salinity if your fish only. So you may need to look into an auto top off system.

As far as a skimmer is concerned the need will depend on your bio load, but basically you need to remove nutrients from the water. You might be able to get away with simple water changes, in a smaller system and some people don’t have skimmers, but the majority do certainly in larger systems.

Gareth elliott · Jun 25, 2019

Welcome!

When i setup my 15 long that very quickly became a 20 long. I started off with liverock, pumps, and a light. You do not need to start with lots of equipment to keep fish and inverts happy [emoji4]

I prefer the sump to hide equipment even if not currently using it for anything else.