10 Gallon Salty

[saltynoob2008]

Alrighty! what would be some good fish, corals, plants, anemonies, and live rock to use for a 10 G tank? I know some of you are already going...
"The paramaters will be difficult to maintain..." I have kept frshwater tanks with discus for 4 years now. I had to break down all of my freshwater tanks because i'm moving to virginia for my dads job...
Paramaters are no problem for me... at all. :D
But does anyone have any interesting setup ideas or pictures of a tank 10 gallons or less?:D:D:D

Thanks guys!!

Chris

 

[yote]

In a 10 gallon,Stick with a couple of the smaller gobies.Maybe a clownfish.
As for corals,What ever light you go with will determine what corals you can keep.And scratch the anemone off the list untill your tanks been stable for at least 9 months to a year.
It is totally possible to have an awesome reef in a 10gal tank.Like you already said,you just to stay on top of it more.

 

[Bifferwine]

My pick would be to stick with a mix of mushrooms, ricordeas and zoanthids for corals. Anemones would be a no-no for a tank that small, as they are extremely difficult to keep, even in larger tanks. Reef tanks don't usually contain plants (macroalgae), because the macroalgae quickly takes over the tank and smothers out your corals. Stick with corals and fish and you can have a really nice setup.

 

[saltynoob2008]

Are ricordeas and zoanthids names of corals? and what do you mean by mushrooms? I have no idea...

 

[stagofdoom]

Mushrooms
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=597+598

 

[Brat]

I agree. I had written something but i had problems.

Okay as far as anemones go I would not put them in such a small tank. I don't think there would be enough food for it as well as space to grow.

As far as fish I would put maybe two or 3 at most in the tank. Typically blennies, gobies and firefish are good for nano tanks.

Here are some fish:
Neon Blue Goby
Clown Goby
Longspine Cardinal
Firefish
Yellowhead Jawfish

For invertabrates a pom pom crab is fun to watch and maybe a snail or crab.

Some corals that would be good:
Taro Tree Coral
Australian Big Polyp Blastomussa
Blue Spruce Caulastrea
Giant Green Polyp Duncan
Neon Green Palau Nephthea

All information from www.liveaquaria.com

 

[Bifferwine]

Google ricordea, zoanthids and mushroom corals. See if you like how those look. Also google xenia, that's another easy coral.

 

[saltynoob2008]

I actually like all of those!! Especially the Zoanthids. how much would it run me for those and some live rock? and I heard i should be expecting to pay around $200-$300 for this 10 G? That sounds a bit high to me... I just need the test kits...

 

[sen5241b]

I'm very interested to know what kind of lighting you have for your 10G.

 

[Brat]

Yeah, you can expect to pay a little bit before adding fish or corals to your tank. Saltwater is 100% more expensive than freshwater due to the high demand and upkeep of the inhabitants. It's not just about maintaining parameters. It's also about how you are going to maintain them as well. Since you want a nano tank lets see.

Okay you have a 10 gal. tank, the best way to go about maintaining such a small tank is to use as much natural filtration as possible meaning live rock and live sand.

You can get nice live rock and sand from here at a great price: http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/

So you will need for the 10gal. tank.
10-20lbs Live Rock @ $5 lb.=$50-$100
10-20lbs Live Sand @ $2 lb. = $20-$40
Filter = not sure what type of filter would be best for a 10gal.
Protein skimmer = $30+
Heater = $20+
Lights = $$

 

[yote]

Lights are going to your biggest expense to get started.For a 10 gallon tank,look at getting a set of T-5s.
Rock you can save a little money on.Just use 5 or 6 pounds of dry lace rock and seed it with 5 or 6 pounds of good quality live rock.
You could probably get by without a skimmer too.But it'll take being religious about water changes and maintance.
No doubt,salt water is going to be more expensive,but its well worth it.

 

[saltynoob2008]

I know that my CURRENT lighting is too dim for corals... Only 15 Watts... LOL But my mom is suggesting that i go with a 20... she has no idea about aquariums... but she thinks a bigger tank will look cooler... (little does she know that is double what you just showed me for my 10.) Although it would be easier... I might go with a 20... but for the lighting in the 20... I would like to go with around 80 or 85 Watts... Right?

 

[Bifferwine]

Right. At least 4 watts per gallon is good.

 

[saltynoob2008]

would I need the same setup of lights for a 20 or 25 G?

 

[Bifferwine]

It depends on the length of the tank. Most fixtures come in one-foot increments. So if both tanks are 24-inches long (or 36-inches long), you could use the same lights.

 

[saltynoob2008]

no no no... I mean would i have to use T5 Lights for a 20 gallon? are they required? or can i use just a bright light?

 

[Bifferwine]

T5s are not required. However, you can't just use "any" type of light. T5s are the cheapest type of lights for the quality you get.

 

[Piggy]

If you want to keep just low light corals you won't need T5's. It really depends on the type of carals you want. I would go with mushrooms and zoas.

 

[yote]

For the cost,I'd stick with T-5s.That you know you've got enough light for 90% of what corals you want to keep.

 

[isu712]

Right. At least 4 watts per gallon is good.

Not to hijack the thread or anything, but does this rule apply to tanks of all size in the realm of saltwater? I know the wpg guidelines fail in nano freshwater planted tanks.

P.S. I am specifically thinking of a 10 gallon tank.