I’d say 30G. no less than a 20L and even that’s pushing it. mine are in a 55G and they use every inch of that space. If you search on google lots of places say that common goldfish can be kept in 10 gallons (they need 90+) and that bettas can be kept in bowls (just… no).
some people would never put a betta in anything less than a 10 and bettas are less than half of the size of a clown. and clowns get bulkier (esp. the females) and aggressive. (and he’s got like a goby and a damsel in there as well, damsels are SUPER aggressive for their size, mine had the cojones to beat up on noodle and she’s comparatively HUGE, i can guarantee that once one of the clowns turns female and the damsel matures, the other clown is gonna have a rough time if that dude doesn’t upgrade)
this is just a guy who wants to spend the least amount of money possible and not look too closely to see that what he’s doing isn’t really up to snuff. and I’m upset about it because i’m basically the only other saltwater person there so it’s his word against mine. most people just go along with whoever is more eloquent and i’m not very good with words.
I don’t really care about his opinion but I really don’t want new keepers starting out with a pair of clowns in a 10 gallon because it’s just going to end badly.
In addition, smaller saltwater aquariums are harder to keep stable, the parameters fluctuate easily. This is true for all aquariums, but saltwater animals, particularly inverts, are generally much more sensitive to those changes.
I wouldn’t suggest that a beginner to saltwater start with anything smaller than 20 gallons. Besides the whole stability thing, there are only a handful of saltwater fish that are happy in a 10g, a lot of them not great for beginners. They tend to need more space than freshwater fish, and there are a lot fewer tiny saltwater fish than freshwater fish. I can easily name 10 freshwater species that don’t go much past an inch, and maybe two or three in that same size range.
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