Fluval or Skimmer

[captpete]

I'm currently running my 20gal tank with Live Rock and an Aquaclear 200 with a crushed Coral substrate. Inside my Aquaclear I have the sponge and Chemipure. My tank has been cycled and running for a month and a week. Currently have two Clowns and a Coral Beauty. Lighting on the tank is Coralife Power Compact 65 watt. Should I do anything to improve the filtration like add a skimmer, add a skimmer and take away the Aquaclear, or replace the Aquaclear with a Fluval 104 or 204 canister? I plan on adding two or three more fish tops.

Also, with that current setup. What types of corals if any would thrive? For a beginner. And/or what types of inverts would be good as a clean up crew.

Thanks

Pete

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

If you're adding two or three more fish to a tank of that size (as in, small), a skimmer is definitely in order. For a 20 gallon do some research on the Coralife Super Skimmer 65, or the Aqua C Remora. You'll definitely want a skimmer on that tank or you'll be doing water changes weekly to keep up with that bioload. I have 5 fish in a 125 and might add one more max -- I don't like heavy bioload. For a relatively heavily stocked tank like this, relatively nutrient tolerant corals are a good idea -- mushrooms, leathers, and other softies. I'd recommend a few turbo snails for algae maintenance and about a dozen cerith snails for sand surface mainteanance, assuming you have sand.

For a 20 gallon tank that's been up only 5 weeks, I'd add the skimmer immediately, and get a good handle on nutrient import / export before adding any more fish.

 

[bertoni]

Most any zooxanthellate (photosynthetically-assisted) soft coral will do well in that setup. Some common examples are Xenia, Sarcophyton (leather corals), zoanthids, Capnella (Kenya Tree) Sinularia, and Actinodiscus (mushroom corals). This book is pretty useful, IMO:

[ericsbook]

I agree that a skimmer would be useful. A canister can be useful for running activated carbon, but that's about it.

 

[Emmelemmo]

Get a protein skimmer, but keep some other form of filtration whether it be the aquaclear or canister.

 

[speccialj922]

skimmer, without a doubt.