Selecting Fish For 20 Gallon Tank

Fishman144 · Jul 31, 2016

Now that I have gotten all of the info for the supplies that Im going to be buying for my new 20 gallon tall tank, its time to start researching on some cool fish and other critters. My question is what are some good fish to for my 20 gallon? (You cant have a saltwater tank without a clownfish..Lol)
I would like the fish to be lovely to just sit and watch with beautiful colors as well.

njtiger aquariums · Jul 31, 2016

I'm in the middle of getting a 10g tank ready for my girls. I am looking at firefish for their tank.

DeniseAndy · Jul 31, 2016

If you are getting a pair of clowns in a 20g, best to get ocellaris as they are least likely to be overly aggressive. However, if they begin laying eggs, you will not be able to add any other fish afterwards. Just keep that in mind when adding fish.

Firefish are peaceful and very pretty. Couple color options too. I love gobies and shrimp pairings (if you have sand for caves). These guys are small and are peaceful too. Lots of options of shrimp gobies out there, so google them. Colorful to dull and all great. A yellow, green or panda clown goby would work and they are cute.

What are you getting besides fish? Corals? Inverts?

4FordFamily · Jul 31, 2016

I love orchid dottybacks!

Fishman144 · Jul 31, 2016

DeniseAndy said:
If you are getting a pair of clowns in a 20g, best to get ocellaris as they are least likely to be overly aggressive. However, if they begin laying eggs, you will not be able to add any other fish afterwards. Just keep that in mind when adding fish.

Firefish are peaceful and very pretty. Couple color options too. I love gobies and shrimp pairings (if you have sand for caves). These guys are small and are peaceful too. Lots of options of shrimp gobies out there, so google them. Colorful to dull and all great. A yellow, green or panda clown goby would work and they are cute.

What are you getting besides fish? Corals? Inverts?

For now Im just sticking with the fish and inverts. I cant afford to get corals right now and taking care of them too..I am a beginner so I want to just take it one step at a time after about the first of the year or so Ill probably add corals. But what kind of inverts would you recommend?

4FordFamily · Jul 31, 2016

Fishman144 said:
For now Im just sticking with the fish and inverts. I cant afford to get corals right now and taking care of them too..I am a beginner so I want to just take it one step at a time after about the first of the year or so Ill probably add corals. But what kind of inverts would you recommend?

Cleaner shrimp is one of my beginner level favorites

DeniseAndy · Aug 1, 2016

Some shrimp are quite sensitive to water changes and can be tricky. Just make sure when you get them that you do at least a 1 hour acclimation. Slow is key. I like the spotted cleaners the best. They are just cool.

I would stay away from all hermits except scarlet hermits. The others become very aggressive to snails and eat them all.

Make sure you are ready for the inverts. They will feed on algae and such, so not too early in the cycle. In a 20, I would get a scarlet hermit, nerites (maybe 5), cerith (3), and depending on level of algae a trochus. If you have sand, you can later add a nassarius. These are some of my favorite, but they are carion eaters that live in the sand.

You could also get a nano red brittle star. These are neat, but only come out at night. Careful not to get a green one as they tend to eat fish. :O

Inverts get you into the territory of needing very stable parameters. So, a top off system is really needed for any shrimp. Keep that in mind before adding.

PupChow · Aug 1, 2016

Check out yellow or green clown gobies, they are small fish with very engaging personality that's perfect for a smaller tank.

eatbreakfast · Aug 1, 2016

If you want variety then only get one clown, that way you can avoid an increase in aggression when they start spawning.

Other great fish for a 20g include yellow assessor, midas blenny, stigmatura blenny, a small group of barnacle blennies, firefish, zebra dartfish, royal gramma, chalk bass, swales basslet, pink streak wrasse, Wetmorella wrasse, clown goby, trimma, eviota, or neon goby. Pick 4-5 of these that you like best.

Focus on keeping your parameters stable, especially the salinity. Once you feel comfortable with that, then start looking at inverts. The skunk cleaner is relatively easy,and readily available.

kay2443 · Feb 3, 2023

4FordFamily said:
I love orchid dottybacks!

Aren't dottybacks jerks?

4FordFamily · Feb 3, 2023

kay2443 said:
Aren't dottybacks jerks?

Many of them are, yes. Orchid tend not to be jerks. I've actually never met one that didn't "play well with others". But their cousin, the magenta dottyback is another story altogether...