Jeff@wisdom.UUCP (01/16/90)
My suggestion is, if you intend to set up a marine tank, set it up in the larger tank, and get the long tank. the reason for the long tank is more surface area, thus more area for bacteria to grow.... this is expecially true if you want to put a large number of fish in a tank. oh, the reason not to use the 20gal tank for marine, you would be very limited in the specimens you could place in the tank, water evaporation could be a major problem if not watched like a hawk because the salt content could rise drastically cause numerous problems. this is not to say it cant be done, but it is not recomemded for a beginer in marine, I kept a juvinille emporor angel in a 20 gal tank for several months. the decision is yours, good luck....... Jeff If 1 man can dig a ditch in 60 seconds, then 60 men can dig a ditch in 1 second. uucp: ...uunet!tronsbox!wisdom!jeff ...ddsw1!tronsbox!wisdom!jeff ...attunix!joker!wisdom!jeff arpa: jeff%wisdom%tronsbox@ddsw1.mcs.com
daveo@mipon3.intel.com (David O'Brien) (01/20/90)
In article <1848.AA1848@wisdom> Jeff@wisdom.UUCP writes: >My suggestion is, if you intend to set up a marine tank, set it up in the >larger tank, and get the long tank. the reason for the long tank is more >surface area, thus more area for bacteria to grow.... > >this is expecially true if you want to put a large number of fish in a tank. > >oh, the reason not to use the 20gal tank for marine, you would be very limited >in the specimens you could place in the tank, water evaporation could be a maj >problem if not watched like a hawk because the salt content could rise >drastically cause numerous problems. this is not to say it cant be done, >but it is not recomemded for a beginer in marine, I kept a juvinille emporor >angel in a 20 gal tank for several months. Smaller tanks are not really a problem, but your right, you must watch them a little closer. Also, you will want to put double/triple the filteration that you would have thought on the tank. I have a twenty long the UGF run by two Penguin 550 power heads and a Penguin 160 external filter hanging off the back. In it I have one 4" yellow tailed blue surgon fish, one 4" Panamic Frillfin Goby (Bathygobius ramosus), one 3" ocean whitefish (Caulolatilus princeps), and one 2.5" sergeant major. They have been in there now since about labor day. They are doing fine and have grown. I also have two ten gallon tanks setup. One with only a UGF driven by a single Aquaclear 400 Power Head. The other 10 has a UGF driven by a Penguin 550 on one plate and a protein skimmer on the other plate. It also has a Penguin 160 external filter on it. Both of these are doing well too, but I populate them less. This is all to just show you that you can setup smaller marine tanks. Yes you have to top them off with water every other day, but that's fine with me. One note, I tend to keep only fish in my smaller tanks. A shrimp may work too, but I would NOT try anemonies with the setups I have. -DAVE