Reef Tank Information

Stocking saltwater aquarium?

I have a 20 gallon high and im ready to stock my cycled saltwater Reef Tank. I have 22 pounds of live rock and 20 pounds of live sand. This is what i was thinking so far for my tank.
1 common clownfish
1 six line wrasse
2 skunk or cleaner shrimp(same shrimp just dont know the exact name
I would also like a toadstool mushroom but i can find information about how big it will get. I have some polyps and mushrooms already but would like a longer tenticled mushroom.
Do i have room for a toadstool?
Will my six line wrasse bully anything because i heard it can and will eat ornimental shrimp. Is this true?
What other fish and inverts should i add im looking to have a total of 4 fish.

I’m glad to see you are getting into saltwater aquariums. They are a very fun hobby and will bring you much joy.

For a 20 gallon aquarium, 4 fish and 2 shrimps is a little on the heavy side for livestock. The problem that overstocked aquariums face is too much waste from the animals, which leads to excess nitrate which leads to foul water and ugly algae growth.

I have had many saltwater aquariums over the years, including a 20 gallon once. I would recommend 3 animals. 2 fish and one shrimp, or 1 fish and 2 shrimp, or whatever combination of 3 animals you want.

Even though your aquarium is cycled, at first you still want to introduce hardier animals first. Clownfish are EXCELLENT starter fish because they can live in even the worst water conditions. After you have added a Clown or two (they do better in pairs), try a cleaner shrimp, they are generally pretty easy to take care of on top of being beautiful and very entertaining to watch.

You bring up corals. Corals are one of the most amazing saltwater creatures because they produce no waste. You can literally cram as much coral in an aquarium as you want with one exception. They cannot be growing on top of each other to block the light that they need to survive. Also, some species of coral has stinging tentacles and can kill others if they get too close to them. Other than that, if you can fit a coral in your tank, you are good to go. Corals do require a lot of light and really good water quality though, keep that in mind.

I would wait a bit on the Wrasse. They are fun and beautiful fish but they are a little bit sensitive to water conditions so you might want to get your aquarium running really well first. Wrasses can be a bit bullyish but the Six Line is pretty small so he is not going to hurt anything in your tank (the cleaner shrimps will get about twice as big as the Wrasse).

Another thing that is fun in small aquariums are the “cleaner crew” packages. They include a variety of hermit crabs and snails that look good and bring an interesting view to your aquarium while keeping it clean. Here is an example:

http://www.petsolutions.com/Algae-Away-Teams+I160300L+C40001649.aspx

Make sure you are running a protein skimmer, they are absolutely essential in keeping a clean aquarium. Also, make sure to perform regular water changes. You will hear different opinions on the quantity and periodicity of water changes, but I believe for a clean aquarium, water should be changed at a rate of once per week at the volume of 25% of total water volume.

I hope this advice helps you. I’m sorry if I gave you too much information as I cannot judge your knowledge level from just one question. This is just advice I would have liked to have when I started the hobby.

Good luck!!!

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