Water change schedule for nano

[Vivid-Dawn]

Hiya

I've been keeping freshwater for about 5 years now, and while it's nice, I've always been fascinated with saltwater. So, I figure I'll give it a go.
First off, I'm being "bad" and doing nano (20 gallon tank)...but from what I understand, the main reason people fail at it beginning so small, is they don't maintain it properly...I have no job, school only one day a week - I can devote plenty of attention to it!
While I don't have a lot of money (which is why I'm doing nano), I'm not going to skimp on maintenance things, either. I'll try to get good quality, without spending a fortune... I hope!

So, here's what I plan on:
20 gallon tank (but after some calculations, will only have about 16.5 gallons, cuz of the sand, decorations, and stuff)
Filter - regular Hagen AquaClear (might get a Penguin Bio-wheel if I have enough money left over, but I've currently got an AquaClear to use) with foam/sponge, charcoal and some white granule stuff called "BioMax"
Fish Only - no live rock/sand/corals/etc. (I only have regular lights)
Now, for the livestock, I plan on only a couple fish (maybe 3, AFTER I've gotten used to keeping a couple things nice and healthy) and a small cleaning crew. Here's my choices:
FISH
Neon Goby (definitely getting this)
Bangaii Cardinal
Yellow Clown Goby
Yellow-tail Blue Damsel
Black Bar Chromis
(still doing research to find out if any are territorial, too shy (want to actually see my pets once in a while!), etc.)
CLEANING
Scarlet Skunk cleaner shrimp (? they just look purdy!)
super tongan nassarius snail (detritus)
cerith snail (detritus)
turbo snail (algea)
dwarf hermit crab (algae)
I do want at least one algae eater, and one detritus eater.

So, I got two questions:
which of these pets are recommended for the set-up and not be overstocked?
would a 10%, once a week (every Saturday) water change be okay? Or too little/too much?

[CarterNichols]

if you aren't going to have LR and LS then you should def. get that biowheel since they usally take the place (LR & LS) of the biofiltration..

also consider a coral banded shrimp as a cleaner, they are alot less expensive than other shrimp and look really cool. and gobies aren't going to be very pleased if you don't give them anything to burrow in a.k.a sand coral and such

i started out in salt with a 12g and if is so much easier to upkeep with LR and LS, they pretty much do everything for you, so consider investing in some lights like a 50/50 or something.

oh and as to the water change i would bump it up to maybe 15-20%

Good Luck!

[Scuba Kid]

Skip the Aquaclear HOB filter and get a good protein skimmer.

Don't get damsels. In that size tank they will terrorize everything else.
I wouldn't get chromis either or cardinals either.
I'd get a couple neon gobies, the yellow clown goby, and maybe one other small fish.

Increase your clean up crew.

Get liverock.

[Gourami Swami]

Live rock is awesome! You can find it on ebay for 2$ a pound, you should buy about 20 lbs. It will be the best investment ou make on the tank, unless you decide to buy a skimmer.

[karazy]

ya, liverock can really help. and also something kool to see is the symbiosis between the watchman goby and the pistol shrimp. you could maybe do this in your tank.

[Vivid-Dawn]

Hrm...I guess I need live rock after all. I've read you don't really need it, if you've got a decent "regular" filter. (and yes, I love the wheel ones...got one for my 50g)
The main reason I didn't want to get it, is that I've read many ways to cure it...and I'm confuzzled! I don't want to do it wrong, and have to go buy more, to try another method.

Coral banded shrimp, yes! They're pretty too. Not sure about pistol shrimp, as I've heard they can crack the glass with their 'pistol', and I don't want to have to clean up a flood.

I plan on spending at least 15 minutes a day with basic maintenance. Feeding, closely observing for odd behaviors, doing visual checks of anything that needs attention, topping off evaporation, etc. Then on the weekend, do the water change, test water parameters, and...hrm, with a cleaning crew, would I need to vacuum the sand? I think the digging of the critters does basically the same thing?

These might seem like silly questions, but I'd rather ask and make sure, than just jump into the whole thing all ignorant and overconfident!

[CarterNichols]

as long as you have a decent cleanup crew cleaning substrate shouldn't be an issue unless there is a disease outbreak, and most LFS cure the live rock before hand so you can just put it right in. and whatever you do, do not clean it off under freshwater that kills all the bacteria on the rock that you got it for, however you may want to lay it out on newspaper to check for bristleworms if you don't want them although the coral banded shrimp will snack on them anyways.. live rock is probably the most valuable thing you can add to a saltwater tank but don't get low quality rock because of price, just buy what you can of good rock and get more when funds become avaliable... your LFS will be able to show you whats good and whats not along with some research on your part!

[Vivid-Dawn]

Okay, so here's another question, since it seems to have so many different opinions in my research:
Can I use tap water?
I can't afford a RO/DI (at least for now...maybe I can get one for Christmas!). I was planning on putting tap water in a bucket with a dose of AmQuel and NovAqua, and letting it sit with an aerator for a day, then add salt to the proper level, let it sit for another day, and then add it.
I could use distilled water from the store (Wal-Mart has it for under a dollar a gallon), but I've heard that's not much better than treated tap water.

What do you guys think?
For top-off water due to evaporation, I'd use the same method, just without the salt part.

[TheOldSalt]

Distilled water is vastly better than tapwater, BUT you really only need it for a reef tank. If you want a FISH tank, then tapwater is fine.

Liverock means you need much better lights =$$$

A skimmer is what you really need more than anything else if you want a fishtank.

You are going to have your hands full with a bunch of fish in a 20. I think that avoiding the "reef" stuff is a good idea for awhile, since you have much to learn and will make mistakes. Mistakes=$ in a fish tank, but mean $$$$$ in a reeftank, and to complicate things, the reef stuff will limit your options when those problems arise.
Lots of people dive right in with a small reef tank on their first saltwater attempt. Lots of people also fail miserably. Plenty more do just fine, too. It's not just a matter of maintenance, but a matter of understanding. THAT is what makes all the difference. If you don't understand rocks and curing and such, then my best advice for you is to avoid them until you do. There's still plenty of stuff to learn and enjoy before you go and complicate things.

[darkjedv]

You should check your LFS (Local Fish Store) and see if they sell RO water. The one in my area sells it 2.50 for 5 gal of RO. Tap water should be out of the question in my opinon. I would use a 4" sandbed and LR, the benifits out way anything else. Just make sure you cycle that tank for around a month or until your levels are good before you put any fish in there. Bio-Spira helps a bunch.