What to do with my 20L tank????

So I have a acrilic 20L sitting in my garage that was given to me, and I recently came up on a 30" coralife 50/50 light fixture. So I have been trying to figure out what exactly I should do with it. I also have a Fluval 305 filter I could use.

So hear are the options I am thinking off.

Mantis tank
Dwarf Lion fish tank
Quarentine tank/frag tank

What do you guys think?

 

mantis tanks would be your most likely option or the frag tanks but not a lion fish tanks as they creat alot of waste for their size.

the filtration will need to be very good and the sponges kept clean for such a small tank, that said there is no reason you couldnt have it as a mantis or frag or even just as a nano tank with some damsels.
but really the larger the tank the easier the water quality is to keep high

 

I vote Mantis. Either that, or sell it to me, so I can have another mantis

Mantis water quality does not have to be excellent. It doesn't even have to be good...but we like it good because we still care about them. Several mantis species are constantly enduring major temp and salinity swings, because of tide pools they live in. At low tide, tide pools form, and as the sun heats and evaporates the water, the temp and salinty climb like heck. Mantis are not "shrimp" or other similar inverts who can barely survive a small temp or salinity swing. Mantis are tough little buggers, and dirty water won't bother them at all.

Anyways. I vote mantis. How could you have a 20 gallon acrylic and NOT have a mantis in it???

 

Thanks for the input. I think I am going to do a mantis tank. So I will start researching them. Do mantis eat or mess with corals? Just curious to see if I could put a small frag rack in there.

 

Not nearly big enough for a dwarf lion. Mantis would be cool.
What about mated pair of clowns and an anemone? Or the clowns and corals?

 

How about a refugium for main tank?

 

All good ideas so far. And mantis don't eat corals or anything like that. They might move them...but that's only because they re-aquascape for you, if they are big enough. My mantis is not large enough to move her rocks, but a Peacock would. They reaquascape ALOT, so your corals are in slight danger of being buried. However, if you have them on a frag rack like you said, they should be fine. As long as they aren't on the mantis' rocks.

 

I allready have a 29G sump/refugium on my main tank. I also have a maited pair of clowns in my 40G breeder tank. I will probably do a mantis tank and maybe put in a small frag rack.