New to the saltwater game.

[Sharky559]

Hello .. im new to the forum.. and also new to saltwater.. so the wife thought I needed a new hobby.. and bought me a 20 gallon aquarium from water box.. any tips would be helpful 

.. plans  for it would be some live rocks, a few corals, anemones a pair of clown fish

[ReefGoat]

You really need to focus in on quality of life stuff before setting the tank up. It’ll make maintenance so much easier. 
 

1. don’t cheap out on your heater. 
2. I know they’re expensive. But just buy an RODI. I promise it’ll be the most convenient purchase you make. Otherwise you’ll be either hauling water back and forth from you LFS every week. Or you’ll be hauling jugs of distilled water which are sometimes sold out at the stores. Trust me I’ve done it and it sucks. 
3. ATO. Do not try to top off by hand. It becomes a major chore after 2-3 months. You’ll forget. I promise you’ll forget lol. 
 

make sure you’ve got siphon hoses. Extra heater and pump for mixing fresh salt water. A couple 5g buckets…..and if you chose not to get Hanna checkers for testing. At the very least get Salifert test kits. 

[uniquee1]

Welcome Sharky! I, too am new to the hobby and a slight returner to the forum. I am retrying my take at saltwater tanking and got myself a 20g as well! 

 

I am choosing to do a HOB filtration, got myself a Tidal 75 and then a small powerhead for some flow..My tank is a 24 TALL tank so im  alittle nervous. Cant wait to see how you progress with yours!

[Sharky559]

On 10/11/2024 at 2:01 PM, ReefGoat said:

You really need to focus in on quality of life stuff before setting the tank up. It’ll make maintenance so much easier. 
 

1. don’t cheap out on your heater. 
2. I know they’re expensive. But just buy an RODI. I promise it’ll be the most convenient purchase you make. Otherwise you’ll be either hauling water back and forth from you LFS every week. Or you’ll be hauling jugs of distilled water which are sometimes sold out at the stores. Trust me I’ve done it and it sucks. 
3. ATO. Do not try to top off by hand. It becomes a major chore after 2-3 months. You’ll forget. I promise you’ll forget lol. 
 

make sure you’ve got siphon hoses. Extra heater and pump for mixing fresh salt water. A couple 5g buckets…..and if you chose not to get Hanna checkers for testing. At the very least get Salifert test kits. 

Hanna testers.. which ones should I get...I really don't want to buy the whole line of Hanna testers 😅

[ReefGoat]

2 hours ago, Sharky559 said:

Hanna testers.. which ones should I get...I really don't want to buy the whole line of Hanna testers 😅

If that’s what you really want. Salifert is good too and way cheaper. 
 

but if Hanna id prioritize the Phosphate ULR, Alkalinity and Calcium. If the budget allows throw in the nitrate too. If the budget doesn’t allow then go Salifert for nitrate. 
 

those 4 are the only ones I have. Then reason id prioritize the other 3 above the nitrate is that I really want to be accurate on those three and not leave a lot of room for error on my eyes having to tell the difference in the color on the charts of the salifert. I do own Hanna nitrate. But if it wouldn’t have been in my budget I’d have skipped it. Because I’m a little less worried about nitrate being spot on than the others. I still try to keep it stable. I just don’t care about it as much as the other 3 

[Staticmoves]

welcome to NR and the hobby.

Take your time, and study each step along the way, try and understand why your doing each step as you go.

write down your stepped plan of getting the tank up and going. ask questions (fact check the answers you get), then execute the plan.

may seem tedious, but you will thank your self later.

My one piece of advice if your using dry rock, leave the lights off for the first 2-3 months while cycling the tank, to let a good biofilm build on the rock before blasting it with light.

Most important of all...................................................post us some pictures along the way!