Hey Tom,
Its not that the chemistry is that complicated in a salt fish only tank,
its that in a small tank, when things start to go wrong, they go wrong
quickly with little time to react or to let your fish slowly get used to the
changes.
Honestly if you want to try again at a salt tank, I would suggest at least a
tank with 36" in length. This does a little more for you. It gives you
some more gallons (diluting whatever is going wrong) and it gives you more
surface area for your undergravel filter(which is what im assuming you will
be running), hence more bacteria to help stabilize ammonia and nitrite. if
your worried about the number of gallons(i.e. because of apartment rules or
something like that) then I would go with a 20 long. Its in the same foot
print as a 29. While less water(which means testing more often), it has more
surface area than the 29(helps reduce levels quicker).

as far as the fish, cycle only with the damsels and don't add the clowns
until the tank is good and stable (meaning you've seen both ammonia and
nitrite peak and drop to 0).
And an anemone is not required to keep your clown happy and healthy. A good
diet and clean water will do that.


I hope this helps a bit.

-Rich


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"Tom E." wrote in message
...
I was into freshwater tanks a few years back, and tried salt water
once with two damsels in a 10 gallon tank. They didn't make
it:-(. I was told that the chemistry of salt water is too delicate
for such small self-contained tanks. I was thinking of getting
another setup with a couple of clowns and damsels (small fish).
What is the minimum tank size? Would 20 or 29 gallons do?
Also, is an enemone required for clowns to be happy??
Thanks,
Tom (I want to do this right, or not at all)