What Can I Do With A 10 Gallon??

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vanimal

vanimal

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Hey guys,
I have a 10 gallon fresh that I might change to salt. Are there any salt water fish I could keep in it? How hard is the maintenance? Is it expensive to mix salt into the water and how do I know how much to add? What should the ph be? And how do you cycle a saltwater tank? How much will it cost? And are there any special tools I need? Please just help me out here with all the basics. Thanks!
 
Yes you could definitely get fish! Maybe just a firefish and a small goby and possibly a shrimp. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+2124 50 lb salt bucket is about $50-60 which usually makes 175 gallons (they have smaller buckets, don't know how much SW they make or how much they cost). You'd probably want to do 1 gallon water changes a week so you'd have that bucket forever! If you don't want to buy a RO/DI system, you could purchase water at your lfs and mix it at home. You could get an aquaclear filter ($27) small koralia nano pump ($25) for filtration and water movement. Could use anything for lighting if it's a FOWLR tank and you could get a 30 lb bag of sand ($30) and LR or Base rock depends, but usually $3-8 lbs a lb and 1-2 lbs per gallon. A hydrometer and test kit is essential to check water parameters! Would definitely recommend coral. Lighting wouldn't cost too much b/c you have such a small tank. I say go for it and try not to get too addicted :lol: (yeah right), but the best advice is to RESEARCH!
 
obscurereef said:
Yes you could definitely get fish! Maybe just a firefish and a small goby and possibly a shrimp. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+2124 50 lb salt bucket is about $50-60 which usually makes 175 gallons (they have smaller buckets, don't know how much SW they make or how much they cost). You'd probably want to do 1 gallon water changes a week so you'd have that bucket forever! If you don't want to buy a RO/DI system, you could purchase water at your lfs and mix it at home. You could get an aquaclear filter ($27) small koralia nano pump ($25) for filtration and water movement. Could use anything for lighting if it's a FOWLR tank and you could get a 30 lb bag of sand ($30) and LR or Base rock depends, but usually $3-8 lbs a lb and 1-2 lbs per gallon. A hydrometer and test kit is essential to check water parameters! Would definitely recommend coral. Lighting wouldn't cost too much b/c you have such a small tank. I say go for it and try not to get too addicted :lol: (yeah right), but the best advice is to RESEARCH!
Click to expand...

Hmm. I have sand in the tank already. Do I need a certain kind? I have a whisper 10i on it now but if I do switch to salt I might put on my extra filter. It's an Emperor 200 rated for up to a 50 gallon tank, since it is a large filter on such a small tank would that provide enough water movement? I have an RO system for all my other tanks so water won't be a problem. I have like 3 API master test kits do I still need to buy another test kit? How much does a hydrometer cost usually? What kind of light should I use? I have two 60 watt equivalent bulbs on there that grow plants great but would it work for coral?
 
Could I do 2 Firefish and 1 Goby? If so what do I feed them? What is the minimum size tank for a clown fish?
 
If it's not an aragonite based sand (made of limestone) then I'd say get one because some sands have an excessive amount of silicates which feeds diatoms. That should be fine, you don't need a powerhead. I heard you could just compare the color cards and use the same test kit, but some of the colors are different on each. A hydrometer is usually under $10. If they have a 10,000 K rating or higher then I think they should be fine. T5 HO would be better, but people even use power compact lights for soft corals, so I don't think you'll have a big problem.

No, 2 firefish is too much for a 10 IMO and plus if not in a pair they will be very aggressive with the same species. What other goby would you want? A variety of different foods would be best like flakes, pellets, frozen food (mysis shrimp, spirulina). You could make your own frozen food by getting shrimp, clams, squid, etc. and putting it in the food processor then freeze it. Fish love it and it's cheap too.
 
What about Clowns, could I keep some of those? And thanks for all the help
 
Some people get one clown in a 10 gallon tank, but that's the only fish in there. I don't recommend getting one and certainly not a pair in a 10 gallon; one in a 20 would be fine. And no problem :D
 
Ok I have a lot of time to think about what I want because first I have to pay off the $700 debt I owe my Dad for my 220 gallon tank... I'm broke right now and wont have money to set up the salt water for a while. (Probably after Christmas and my Birthday) I'm only 15 if your wondering.
 
vanimal said:
Ok I have a lot of time to think about what I want because first I have to pay off the $700 debt I owe my Dad for my 220 gallon tank... I'm broke right now and wont have money to set up the salt water for a while. (Probably after Christmas and my Birthday) I'm only 15 if your wondering.
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Dang that's a lot of money. Is that 220 a fresh water tank? You could do a lot with it if you make that a sw. I'm 17 so the hobby gets pretty expensive for me also.
 
Agreed it adds up way too fast. I'm also 15 and have a 70 gallon reef aquarium and have spent over a thousand (will prob reach close to 2000 soon :eek:!) , money that I saved up for a while doing chores and birthday and Christmas money...all for this...sometimes I wish I went smaller and saved up for a car instead. Always a good habit to pay with the money that you have and not the imaginary value :lol:.
 
Jake337 said:
Dang that's a lot of money. Is that 220 a fresh water tank? You could do a lot with it if you make that a sw. I'm 17 so the hobby gets pretty expensive for me also.
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Yeah fw. IMO fresh water has way cooler fish.
 
You could have some really beautiful fish in a 220g SW! Check out liveaquaria.com in the SW nano section for fish ideas for your 10g.
 
I plan on doing
1 Arowana
1 Motoro Stingray
1 Fire Eel
1 Peacock Bass
1 Black Ghost Knife Fish
1 Ornate Bichir
And others.
 
The eel and ghost knife fish are my favorite out of that list. Sounds great! Now you have to find the money to buy those fish!
 
obscurereef said:
The eel and ghost knife fish are my favorite out of that list. Sounds great! Now you have to find the money to buy those fish!
Click to expand...

I currently have a Fire Eel I hand feed everyday :D but will be moving so I will have to restock all my tanks. But all those fish are expensive escpecially the sting ray.
 
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