10 gallon saltwater help?

[octoxpuss]

Well i have been thinking about setting up a salt water tank for quite a while and i came across a great fish and i was wonderin about everything needed to set up a 10 gallon tank? What could i fit in there. I was looking at a pair of striped damsels. Favorite aquarium saltwater fish.

[Goodbye]

The items you would need are:

10g Tank
Stand
Heater - 50 watt would be fine.
Filter - you can do without, but it would be recomended to have a small filter such as an AC 20.
Protein Skimmer - I would get an AquaC Remora Hang-On Protein Skimmer.
Test kits - ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, KH, DKH, phosphate and calcium
Salt Mixes - have heard that seachem reef salt works well
Lighting - don't know much about lighting...someone else should help you here
Powerheads - for a 10g, I would go with 2 Nano Koralia powerheads.
Refractometer - You could get a hydrometer instead. They are cheaper, but refractometers are better.
Live Rock
Live Sand
RO/DI system - not nessecary, but wouldn't be a bad idea. It would help keep good water quality.

Those are all the basics. I wouldn't recomend have two damsels in a 10g as they are agressive and teritorial. You could keep one single damsel though. They are great beginner fish!

[octoxpuss]

Thank u , lots of help. What do u mean no filter so confused. I would like to learn everything i can on this subject before anything so I dont need any type of filter. Well if that is true what is that Object that flows into the filter on reef aquariums. Ha so beginner. I must have a salt water. Also how do u cycle them.

[MCHRKiller]

Are you going reef or just a fowlr?

If your just going to keep a fowlr, you dont need to really bother with calcium levels or phosphate as they arnt criticle unless your keeping corals. You will also need to be doing weekly waterchanges so that should keep your levels in check. You dont need to spend the extra cash on reef salt for a fowlr either regular salt would work fine, Seachem is the best salt mix I have ever used....next to that would be Oceanic salt.

10gallons is definatly to small for damsels. You would want to stick to 1...2 tops tiny fish. A single percula clown, or a pair of firefish...and then some little blennies and etc.

You dont need filtration due to the fact that your live rock and live sand acts as a biofilter. I would however run a small HOB with chemical media and maybe some filter floss. A tank this small is going to require alot of knowledge, time and care. I suggest you devote about 3-4months of intensive research before starting.

[octoxpuss]

WEll i have been researching for a little and stuff but not really learning anything. HA. Anyway, what is a fowlr i dont really plan on corals to much for that tiny of a tank. I don't really like the clownfish they are just so typical. The damsels i have been looking at said they get to 2" max so that is why i was like cool.

[Goodbye]

WEll i have been researching for a little and stuff but not really learning anything. HA. Anyway, what is a fowlr i dont really plan on corals to much for that tiny of a tank. I don't really like the clownfish they are just so typical. The damsels i have been looking at said they get to 2" max so that is why i was like cool.

FOWLR means Fish Only with Live Rock.

Damsels do stay small, but they just are not suitable for smaller tanks. They are agressive and territorial and require space.

For fish, the best choices for a 10g are firefish, clownfish and various gobies. A single clown and 2 neon gobies would be wonderful stocking for a 10g tank. Pretty much, nano fish are your best bet. This link has a good selection of them: [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[octoxpuss]

I am way open to suggestions for fish, the only thing i kind of want to stay away from is a clown fish. Ha sorry they just dont suit my tastes. I never thought that way really they do get pretty agressive. Anyway i plan on keeping with just live rock and fish becasue it is so small also i wanted like some hermit crabs and stuff. Just sayin. What else could go great in a ten gallon.

[MCHRKiller]

Nanos are extremely fragile systems, you need to really devote yourself to alot more research. Most people never realize just how close a nano tank is at all times to crashing, I have known people with very large several year old highly successful reefs randomly crash one day for no apparent reason at all. A pair of neon gobies or a pair of firefish would be your prime options.

[octoxpuss]

ok, what do u mean by crash exactly?
My Lfs had this one fish it was really cool it had it was some type of cardinal it was black and white with like 4 fins off it really cool

[MCHRKiller]

Crash means that your tank is fine and fish are happy one day...all levels are fine and so on. Next day all of your livestock is dead and/or your levels have gone totally wrong for no real reason and your livestock is sick and will die. You will have to be especially careful about temperature with 10G tanks, as well as keeping up with regular top offs and monitoring your water levels atleast 3-4 times per week to keep things in check. Running a nano tank is somewhat like building a beachfront house, if you do your research take it slowly and build your tank carefully and with caution and always be prepared for the worst case and capable of dealing with it the tide wont come in and knock your house down or in this case your tank wont crash.

A single cardinal fish wouldnt be a bad choice for a 10G :22:

[Amazon]

FOWLR- Fish only with live rock.
I have 2 blacktail damsels, probably the same kind you are talking about in a 14 gallon biocube. My 14g has those two damsels and a small lawnmower blenny. The damsels chase each other sometimes but nothing else. The blenny defends his cave but is never aggresive besides the whole cave thing. I feed him nori sheets and he eats all my brown, hair, and any other bad algae. He doesnt touch the corraline though. Corraline algae is the pink,red, and other colored algae that lives in established saltwater tanks. It is good to have so dont scrape it off.
I would personally run a filter, maybe the AC 20 that Agassizi recommended. As for the aggresion issue, I think you can have one of those damsels in there, also some differant small clown gobys and stuff would look good in there. The way I see a succesful marine tank is lots of live rock and hiding places. Fish are more prone to aggresion in open bare tanks rather than tanks with lots of hiding places.
Another good thing about lots of exploring areas is you can have more fish.
The more rocks and places to explore the more fish you can fit. But do not overdue your bioload. I would stick to one damsel and 2 other small fish like clown gobys that only get about 2in.
Even though I said you can only have 3 fish that doesnt mean you cant have inverts like shrimp, corals, and snails. They help your bioload not add to it. Unless you overdue it.
Here would be a good list
1 striped damsel
2 small gobys or blennys
4 hermits (i like red legged hermits)
2 marine snails
starfish or feather duster or corals if you want.

i think you could have corals in a 10 gallon fairly easily, im personally gonna put corals in my 14g.
If you have the extra money you might want to invest in to a fuge, a 2-5 gallon would be a good size, they help with your water chemistry a lot.
Good luck and if have any more questions just ask us.

[octoxpuss]

hmmmm ok i actually have no idea when i will get this tank. Is it realy that tricky my grandparents want to start one too but the lfs said it was easy and they want a second opinion. I just want like a great looking tank with a great looking fish or something would u recomend a fowlr tank for a 14 yr old.

[octoxpuss]

Ok amazon i dont want to burst MY ego but that like made me happy to hear that. HA ugh, i what is a fuge. and i dont have too much extra money how much in estimate would all this cost w/o fish. the entire set up

[labnjab]

A fuge is a safe place to grow chaeto algae (for nutrient reduction) and pods (free food). It can be a hob or can be a whole separate tank below the main tank connected by an overflow and return pump

I don't know what a 10 gallon will cost but I can tell you what our 2 29 gallon reef cost not including stock and will break it down

Our newest set-up was $230 for everything, but we got lucky and found the complete set-up used for sale on our local reef club which included a 250 watt metal halide with ballast, tank, stand,, heater, skimmer, power head, 35 lbs of live rock and 50 lbs of live sand

Our older 29 gallon with a 20 gallon sump is a different story and has been very expensive. We already had the tank and stand so that was free
4x39 watt ho t-5 fixture- $200
50lbs of live rock and 50 lbs of live sand $120
2 Koralia 2 power heads- $30 each
Skimmer- $100
Used 20 long for sump- $20
sump baffles- $30
Return pump $100
Used Overflow $25
200 gallon box of salt- $50
Test kits combined- $100 (API saltwater master kit, calcium, phosphate, magnesium, alkalinity, and various others
temp controller- $30
2 heaters $30
Used Refracto Meter $20
RO./DI unit $80

So thats roughly $935 and that doesn't included plumbing, live stock, food, daily calcium additives or coral and were still adding on to it

If you just doing FOWLR you don't need to buy fancy lighting but I would expect to pay no less then $500 to set up a 10 gallon if you do it right. You biggest expense is the live rock, and depending on your location can be close to $10 a pound, although we got a steal on craigslist for our live rock. The best advice is to get the best equipment or you'll end up paying more in lost livestock due to equipment failure

[octoxpuss]

I dont think i will need most of that and it wont be as big of a tank. HA thanks for the estimate tho.

[Amazon]

The strange part is that I am 14 as well.:hmm3grin2orange: You will not need the fuge just yet, but eventually it would be a good idea someday. The skimmer will be good enough for a while. The trick is to just add your stock slowly. Especially since its not cycled yet. You can do a fishless cycle. Or the damsel is a good cycling fish if you want to do that but you will need to do lots of water changes either way. I bought my 14g tanl already cycled brand new lights, filter, live rock, fish, hermit crab, snail, and all it didnt have was a protein skimmer all for 300 dollars, no tax.. Just add your fish really slowly because marine tanks take a lot longer to get established.
Best lucks to you.

[octoxpuss]

Ha thanks i have no idea what i will get or even if i will get one i was just curious really. Thanks for everyones help Thanks u so much.

[Amazon]

Oh and by the way saltwater is extremely exciting! I love it. and highly recommend it to experienced aquarists.

[octoxpuss]

ok thanks again