New 10gal nano tank.

Well i have own freshwater fish from a guppie to 12inch oscars and now i am thinking affter these years with freshwater tanks i might try salt. I am planing on a 10gal tank with about 10pounds of live rock, coral, 2-3 fish, and a clean up crew like snails, crabs or a starfish.
First question: What are some nice looking, easy to care for, cheap, coral that would do good in a 10gal?
Second question: What is a good/cheap light that would work for the coral (see first question)
Third question: Where is a good cheap place to buy coral and live rock?
I will probaly have more questions but lets start with these:sfish:

 

Try the Odyssea 20" T5 for light.

Corals:
Zoas, clove polyps, star polyps, button polyps, mushrooms, leathers, palythoas, frogspawn, favias, brains (trachy-, lobophyllia, etc...) hammers, elegence, torch, plate, etc... I have that light and will be trying Acropora, Montipora and Stylophora soon.

Fish options are narrow and limited to 1 fish, maybe 2 when you let it mature enough. 2 would also depend on your maintenence and the types.

For more life, youll need a CUC consisting of (for a 10 gallon) 2-3 astrea, cerith, nassarius and nerite snails, maybe 1-2 turbo snails, a small starfish if you choose (not many stay small enough). Other possibilities are hermits (stay away from the big red ones, they eat corals. Also make sure there are plenty of extra shells), emerald crabs, shrimp, etc...

Make sure you research before you buy and be patient, take your time.

Most importantly, welcome, have fun and happy reefing.

 

for corals, if you stick with mushrooms and leathers, you very well could get away with just some HO CFL bulbs from what I have heard. But that will severely limit you to just those corals but its a cheap way to start. +1 on just one fish. Go to liveaquaria.com and under fish there is a nano section. Those should do just fine in a 10. Look on craigslist for live rock. Coral is just expensive unfortunately.

 

PS, here are a few other 10 gals on this site that you can follow and get some ideas from.

https://www.livingreefs.com/brittanys-teeny-tiny-reef-t38801.html

https://www.livingreefs.com/erins-tineh-tank-extravaganza-t39833p24.html

https://www.livingreefs.com/chichimom79s-10-gallon-t39639.html

https://www.livingreefs.com/mikegs-10-gallon-mini-reef-t39581.html

 

Wich one do you think is a better/cooler in a 10gal. A pair of clown fish or a pair of Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Firefish ?

And is there any light bulbs for coral that would fit in this type of holder? Fluorescent Aquarium Lighting: All-Glass Aquarium Oak Strip Lights Or am i going to have to buy a new fixture?


Hopeing to take my time to set it up and do it one coral at a time so i dont go broke lol

 

I'm having a lot of fun with my ten gallon. Good luck!

 

Hello and welcome to the site...they've got you covered.

 

I would go firefish. Clowns usually need a larger tank. If you are looking at chichimoms, she is setting up a 6gal for those clowns. Yes that light should be able to support soft coral. You probably can't do anything else but softies are cool, come people only do softies :-D

 

He meant 60 gallon

 

lol thank angie

 

Well i do enjoy most all of the soft coral so i might do all soft.

Is there another type of cheap light that would work for softies and a few of the other types of coral? Or do all the other coral all require like T5 lights etc?

 

There are non- photosynthetic corals, but I think they are a lot more challenging to keep.

 

Hello and welcome. Looks like you are covered. If you want to go beyond soft corals you will have to get t5 or leds. I personally would bite the bullet and get a good light so you don't have to worry about what you can and can't keep. I got my t5 fixture for $50 with free shipping. It's the odyssea 4bulb t5 fixture from aquatraders.com

 

If thats a T8 light, go buy a Coralife 50/50. Itll allow you to keep all softies and some LPS. Trust me, I had one at first. Its a cheap half-ass way to start, but gets the jov done. I would recommend the Odyssea light though. $50, free shipping at aquatraders.com. Brittany and I think Fast have it, too.

 

@Kbuser92: Is this the one your talking about? http://www.petco.com/product/5710/Coralife-5050-50Percent-Natural-Daylight-6000-K-Fluorescent-Bulbs.aspx

 

I agree that a pair of firefish would be better suited for a 10 gallon tank than a pair of clowns. There's a good chance that the clowns could end up fighting in a tank that size, and firefish just don't need as much room to swim.

 

Same thing excelt 10,000K. Ill look for a link.

 

I found this light it a 10,000k but not sure if the watts are good. Coralife 10,000K High-Intensity Purified Super Daylight Lamps at PETCO

 

Its fine. Can you get another 20" fixture and put a 420nm bulb in? Like I said, worked for me. Just cant do SPS with it.

 

yes very cool and dang you all getting me think about my 10 g sitting there lookin pretty wanting attention