First Salt Water tank ques

[mburks28]

Not set up but this is what I got or getting.

Tank size 20 gallons
Fish only (no coral live rock) a clown fish and another small fish
Aqua Clear 70 filter
Aqua tech filter that came with the 20 gallon tank
heater
fake reef decor
salt mix
sand for saltwater tanks
test kits

Do I have to have these
Power head (since its just for moving water and I am using 2 hob filters)
Skimmer
UV sterilzer
coral reef lights

If I do ok with this set up for a while then we will upgrade the tank and get corals etc
Then the skimmers etc will be needed at that time?

 

[Jason_Rookey]

well powerheads are nice and lights are really only nessesary for corals and such but a reguar light or 6500 k florecsent will produce alot of algae you really want 10000k lights like pc lights t-5 or if you plan on getting corals some need metal halide lighting. i do not think a uv sterilizer is needed, but you need good filtered water. i use a r/o water filter. dont run any media in the filter and buy some live rock. it is expensive but is very important for filtration. a skimmer is almost a must for some corals,inverts, and fish. skimmer can wait but get some live rock and lights and you really want the powerheads to flow water through and around the rocks. remember when getting ready for saltwater be patient.