Wife wants to switch to salt... Need suggestions...

[phrog]

My wife has a 20-high fresh tank. She is getting bored with it and talks about wanting a salt tank with starfish and whatever would go with them. She really likes chocolate chip stars or any of the knobby varieties (NOT serpents stars, brittle stars, etc.).

Available spare equipment to put the tank together for her:
20g high tank x2
HOB filter
heater
ProClear 75 wet/dry sump with protein skimmer (needs return pump)
standard normal output fluorescent hood

My current reef tank is leathers, softies, zoas with chromis x2, percula, purple firefish, scooter blenny, damsel (unknown variety), serpent star.

I need suggestions of what to put in the new tank with the stars and of what equipment I would need to add to the pile to make it work.

[uriah]

I have some soft coral that grows easily if you need a donation... LMK. My suggestion is stick to softies until you get into the swing of things.

[ballardjr2000]

Well no corals with the chocolate chip star fish, they eat corals, also most knobby style stars will eat your coral. Your equipment sounds fine for a FOWLR tank. since you won't have coral you don't need the normal t-5 metal halide lighting. the rest sounds fine minus the return pump you will need.

[phrog]

Not so much thinking of corals for the new tank because the stars my wife wants are supposed to eat soft corals. I'm mainly curious about fish that would go well in the smaller tank with no coral.

[ballardjr2000]

well i will list what i had in my 65g, granted not all will be good for the 20 but mine was a fish only/ clarkii with anenome starfish won't touch em i know i had./gobies/firefish/shrimp/you can do a lot pretty much small fish wise. since you don't have coral you don't have to worry about them eating it.

[aquasport24]

A pair of Harlequin shrimps would be nice w/ the chocolate star ............J/K...a couple of gobies.

[ballardjr2000]

thats mean aqua lol...those shrimp would be full for sure...off the chocolate lol

[Crazyeyes]

A hawfish would be great as long as there are no shrimp in the tank, and they g=have a great personality. She might like them.