help me stock my soon to be 10 gallon nano reef

Satyr

Reefing newb
im looking at starting a 10 gallon nano tank and id like some advice on stocking options. im new to saltwater so please feel free to give any advice. basically the setup will be live sand, 15 lbs of live rock and several corals. i dont want any anemones except for the tiny ones on a pom pom crab. i do know i need a filter and lights and stuff, got that covered. right now im mainly concerned with the compatibility of the inhabitants i have picked out so far as well as suggestions for any others that i might not know about. stocking list:

inverts:
-green lettuce sea slug
-pom pom crab
-2 dwarf zebra hermit crabs
-6 dwarf blue leg hermit crabs
-pistol shrimp
-other shrimp - please make suggestions :mrgreen:
-maybe other very small crabs - suggestions

fish:
-yellow watchman goby
-sixline wrasse
-banded opossum wrasse
-one more small fish if i can fit it - maybe an oscilarous clown fish but i think they need to be in pairs - suggestions for a fourth fish?

coral:
-no idea, soft corals... easy yet beautiful - no regular feeding, thats about all i know right now.


so, what do you guys think? should it work? are all of these critters compatible with each other? i plan on doing 20-30% water changes once every week. suggestions? :bounce:
 
Hi and welcome!

You will be super hard pressed to fit 4 fish in a 10 gallon tank. The maximum you could probably keep (safely) is 2. Not only will it be extremely difficult to keep water quality acceptable, but in that such small space, fish will fight each other for territory.

Also why the lettuce nudibranch? They only live for a few weeks, then die. Usually they are used as a quick fix for a specific type of algae (bryopsis), but not as a long-term tank inhabitant.

A group of sexy shrimp look cool. If you want a pistol shrimp, make sure the tank's not in your bedroom (loud CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK).

Mixing wrasses can be risky, they tend to fight. Especially in a small tank. But a yellow watchman goby would be okay.
 
thank you! im glad to be here.

i did not know that about the lettuce slug. thats too bad, they look cool.

it will not be in my bedroom but i still am not sure what to think about that. honestly though the only reason i was looking at getting pistol shrimp was because i have heard that yellow watchman gobies do very well with them. i personally do not know that i will like pistols anymore. i have been thinking about this more and more and it just seems like all that noise might be a nuisance. will the watchman be fine without one?

wrasses fight with each other, ok. so i guess i can only pick one. i like the banded possum the most, i think. do they have a lot of personality to them? since my other fish will probably be a yellow watchman this fish is liable to be my center piece fish.

are sexy shrimp the same as sexy anemone shrimp?
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+525+1135&pcatid=1135

i really like the look of those.

so how about this:
inverts:
-1 - 3 pom pom crabs
-2 dwarf zebra hermit crabs
-6 dwarf blue leg hermit crabs
-4 sexy anemone shrimp

fish:
-yellow watchman
-banded possum wrasse
 
That seems like a lot of livestock for a nano. I have a 7 gallon nano in my office at work. It holds one tomato clown 1 hermit crab and one astrea snail. That's it(and tons of mushrooms). I couldn't imagine keeping anymore in it. I am actually looking to upgrade it to a 20-30 gallon. If you can, try to find something bigger now.
 
I would get one pom pom and one or two small crabs and one or two small snails. It seems like you are adding too many invertebrates for your livestock.
 
Dont think that the pistol is bad with the clicking.

Its weird everybody has said things about them and how they make the noise but ive had one for a couple of months and ive heard the noise one or two times.
Also like they have said your tank will fit only 2 fish maybe 3 if they are small.
 
Oh and welcome and feel free to ask as many questions as you want.

I know I annoyed some people on here with all the questions but its worth it.
 
lol thanks stagofdoom. by the way i like your user name, i dont know if it means anything but it just sounds cool.

and thanks to everyone else too.

so to modify things
-1 pom pom
-1 dwarf zebra hermit crabs
-3 dwarf blue leg hermit crabs
-2 sexy anemone shrimp
-1 pistol shrimp
-3 snails of some sort, i dont care about what type those are really, ill ask my friend who works at a lfs and just get a few of whatever he recommends

fish:
-yellow watchman
-banded possum wrasse

whatchyall think?
 
oh and i should add that im new to SW as iv said but im pretty decent at FW and understand the responsibility of general upkeep and what not, just to give yall an idea of my background and that i know better than to just think the tank will be able to take care of itself, idk if yall think that about me or not i just thought id mention it :)

ill have to research a bit more and im sure ill have lots of questions.
 
I would skip them hermit crabs. They are a pain and eat the snails. Even if there are extra shells in the tank. Also they like to climb all over corals and piss them off. By the way Welcome to the Reef. Goby good choice.
 
yeah, you really don't need the hermit crabs in such a small tank. They may do more harm than good.
 
wow, really? no hermits. ok, so how many snails and of what kind do yall recommend?

i think ill pass on the pistol shrimp.

thank you for the welcome
 
i would say about 10ish, but i would only do about five to start and only add more if the 5 snails you get can keep the algae under control because if you get too many then algae wont grow fast enough to keep them alive and some will starve to death, as for a recommendation i would say mexican turbos
 
hahah my name is a long story from WAY back in the day....actually it was pretty stupid but I have stuck with the name and havnt wanted to change it.

First off let me say dont add everything at once, Patience is the best thing in this addiction ( or hobby or whatever you want to call it). :)

and why no on the pistol shrimp?
 
well no on the pistols (quick interjection - thats kinda cool how "no on" mirrors itself... yes im easily amused, and i love it) cause im not sure that i wolnt want this in my bedroom, i love white noise but CLICK CLICK CLICK would just drive me crazy. its one thing to take one of those wire mesh containers you keep crickets in when go fishing and put it in ur closet or something to add a pleasant background noise to help you sleep or just for fun buts if the pistols sound like what im imagining... i dont think that would be fun at all. otherwise id say yes to them. so until i learn what they sound like they are not completely off the list.

ok so in what sequence should i add what and in what amounts? i.e. maybe.... 1st week just let the tank run with live sand and live rock, 2nd week add clean up crew - 5 mexican turbo snails and pom pom crab, 3rd week add 1 fish and observe effectiveness of clean up crew, 4th week add fish number 2 and a few shrimp, 5th week add rest of shrimp and modify clean up crew if need be and start adding corals. how does that sound?

there are such things as healthy addictions :)
 
you cant really plan it out like that

when you get your tank up and running you have to let it cycle and at the end of the cycle your nitrates and ammonia should be at 0. The nitrates might be there but if they are very small and your ammonia is at 0 then your tank is ready for livestock.
 
ok so when i let it cycle, what all is in it? just live rock and live sand with the lights on?

i like the nassarius snails. they remind me of the malaysian trumpet snails in my FW tanks. ill definitely keep the turbo snails in mind when i get a bigger tank but for now i was really hoping for the "tiny world" look - to a degree. so the nassarius at .5" fits much better.
 
To run a cycle add sand and LR to the tank.(Plus saltwater) If you use both LR and LS you may even skip the cycle or have a mini cycle. It's important to test the tank during the cycle so you'll know when it's over.
 
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