Im new to saltwater

[andrew pougnet]

i have recently purchased a 20 gal tank and decided to go with saltwater. ive put crushed coral as the subsrtate and have put liverock and raw basa to cycle the tank. do i need to purchase special lights to have anemone in the tank? i would like to purchase clownfish after the cycle is complete

 

[Piratefish]

You should wait to put a anemone for about a year. As far as lighting it depends what you want to keep. check out www.reefgeek.com great people there, very willing to anwser any Q's you have.
Crushed coral may not have been the best choice of substrate, but someone else will chime in on that. I do really like the look of it though.
Welcome to the site!!

 

[andrew pougnet]

thanks for the info
to keep corals i have been told to use t5 10,000 k bulbs

 

[Bifferwine]

10,000K is the color. The color isn't what's very important. More important is the number of bulbs, and if they have individual reflectors. You will want a light fixture with at least 4 bulbs to keep an anemone. They are very challenging animals to keep and require more light and more stable water parameters than most corals need. They shouldn't be put in a new tank.

Getting a clown after the cycle is done is a good plan.

I would recommend, before you get too far in, to switch out the crushed coral for sand instead. Crushed coral can be difficult to keep clean and can lead to water quality issues.

 

[andrew pougnet]

to switch out the coral would i needto epmty my tank?

 

[Smitty]

Hello and welcome to the site...glad to have you.

 

[andrew pougnet]

thank you