What are the best saltwater fish?

Question

I have a 20 gallon saltwater aquarium with 20lbs live rock. What fish will get along and thrive in my tank. I was looking at these 4 fish : clownfish, blue devil damsel, clown goby, and an anthia. I Would like to know if these are good fish for a 20 gallon tank?

Answer 1

Is your 20 gallon a standard tank or a "long"? The reason I ask is that so many saltwater fish are territorial - they don't care as much about vertical (up and down) territory as they do horizontal territory. I'd personally only recommend two fish for either if you're a beginner to salt, but you could maybe put a third in later if your tank was a long and would spread the territory out.

Of your choices, I'd say the clowns (especially if you're looking at ocellaris, percula, or skunk clowns) would be the easiest to care for. They don't need an anemone (which would require high intensity lighting to live and you'd have to match the compatibility of the anemone species with that of the clownfish species - all species don't "accept" one another - and anemones shouldn't be added to a new tank). They are hardy and cute, but can be semi-aggressive. If you put two juveniles in together, they will likely become a pair (any two - as they mature, they have an unusual gender-determination system, starting as "male" and can change to female as necessary).

A good second choice would be the the goby. They're peaceful and colorful.

The blue devils are hardy, but the name should tell you something about their personalities. These only get to about 3" but they are aggressive and will harrass fish many times their size to the point of killing them. If you're interested in something of a blue-green color, a "regular" blue damsel is somewhat less aggressive and green reef chromis are peaceful. If you decide to stay with a blue devil, get the smallest you can and add him LAST!

I would skip the anthias altogether. They are beautiful fish, for certain, but they require a much larger tank and are more difficult to care for.

I'll pass on a website where you can look further at the requirements for these, plus some other possibilities for your tank in the "nano fish" section. Note adult sizes, tank size needed, and behavior for any you might like, and try to select for around three fish of a 3" or smaller size for your tank. If you're like most entering the hobby, once your current fish have done well for a while, you'll find yourself wanting to upgrade to a 55 or larger tank to keep all the species you want before the year is over - in which case, your 20 will make a very nice quarantine tank for new fish.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pcatid=15

Good luck with the saltwater tank!

Answer 2

Well, personally, my favorite saltwater fish is a green mandarin dragonet. They are gorgeous fish. They sort of hop or dart around the bottom of the tank. They are peaceful and reef safe. Average length is 3 inches. As for clown fish, like a Percula Clown fish, they are very peaceful. They get around 2 inches. They can also be bred easily in captivity. You can have a few of them in a 20 gallon tank. Clown fish actually perfer to be kept in groups. Contrary to popular belief, clown fish do NOT need an anemone to live but they normally like them. Clown gobies are the smallest gobies that you can keep in an aquarium. They are very peaceful, easy to take care of fish. They like to burrow. Anthias, like the Barteltt anthia, are peaceful small fish. They start out life as females and will change their sex based on their enviornment and water. They get up to around 3 inches but should be kept in bigger tanks, at least 45 gallons. Damsels are very small fish but are normally semi-aggressive fish. I'd be a little careful when getting damsels for your tank. It is possible to put them in a 20 gallon tank. You may want to leave out the damsels and the anthia though. Clown fish are your best bet of these fish. Good luck.

Answer 3

Put 2 Percula clowns and a Bulb Anemone.

Answer 4

you do not want many fish in a salt tank. 20 gal really isn't big enough for more then maybe 2 clowns. salt tanks are not like fresh water. i would recommend reading the book "salt water for dummies"