20 Gallon Saltwater tank for Dorm

[Major Mushroom]

Hello,

I know that this post will be frowned upon and I will be told to go bigger. However, I simply cannot. I would like to put a SW tank in my dorm for stress relief and continue my favorite hobby. I was wondering what I would need to ensure success and be able to enjoy the great hobby of fish watching. What equipment would I need? What fish could I keep along with corals and other sea life? I do have a lot of experience with freshwater so I know the whole cycle and everything. Just need some details. Thank you =D

 

[CStrickland]

There's lots of nice 20g tanks around. You'll just want to be realistic about the fish that will be happy in there, liveaquaria.com has good info for tank sizes and whether they eat coral or are aggressive, or just hard to keep in captivity. Saltwater fish are wilder than fw generally, so they have more specific needs around diet and stuff. There is also a nano tank section of the forum you can look at for inspiration, idk if 20 is quite small enough to qualify, but it's close. The thing that makes it hard is stability, there's less dilution for pollution and evaporating 1/2 gallon out of a 20 pushes the salinity up a lot more than it does in a 40. But it's totes doable and not crazy at all.

I would start by checking your dorms rules to see if tanks are allowed, it would be a shame to spend a bunch of $ on something and then have an ra notice it and be stuck trying to sell it on Craigslist during finals or something. It's pretty common for apartment leases and dorms to have a no-tank clause.

PS I would automate as much as you can, a good skimmer will keep the water clean between changes and an ato will save you work on topping up. Little things like that will leave you more time to study, which is the priority. Maybe look at some of the all in one tanks like a biocube that are more plug and play, rather than trying to set up all the lights and stuff yourself?

 

[Misled]

Welcome and look here. You'd be surprised at what can be kept in a 20 gallon tank.

 

[Major Mushroom]

that's a huge relief. We are allowed to keep 20 gallon tanks in the dorms. Some were saying that transportation would be really stressful on the fish? Is that as much as a issue as they say? Also, where is the nano section? I haven't been able to find it. Thank you!

 

[Major Mushroom]

Yeah I'm trying to find an all in one tank but cant seem to find anything online

 

[homer1475]

30 gallons or less in the DT,(not including sump if you have one)is the nano requirements(in case anyone wanted to know).

JBJ makes a 24G AIO, and there's the 14G Biocube. There are plenty of nano makers these days, but I would most certainly go with an AIO tank with a decent skimmer and an ATO. It will be less work for a student, allowing more time for just enjoying the tank. Keep in mind though, your very limited on what fish you can house in a 20G. Most nano's nowadays are coral collections with a small fish or 2.

 

[Reef Frog]

I agree an all in one tank may make the project easier. Not to be captsin buzzkill here, but you should consider the possible need to look after a tank during breaks, especially between semesters, and the possible need for breakdown and set up over the summer months, which is stressful on the animals and tank keeper alike.

 

[CStrickland]

yeah, how far is school from home?

 

[thegrun]

On a side note almost all campus lab buildings have RO/DI systems so you may be able to score free water.

 

[Major Mushroom]

I'm only about an hour from home, I've done moves before and the clowns seemed to be okay. I'm not really looking for a huge fish collection. More corals then anything and maybe a goby with shrimp. This will be my first real tank and I'm trying to make it not as difficult as needs to be.