Brand new 10g saltwater help

[MissGurnus]

I know you're all thinking we're crazy but my fiancé and i are setting up our very first saltwater tank! I'm in charge of finding the SINGLE fish that will inhabit it while he figures out corals.

So my main question is this- what would be suitable for this tank? It obviously has to be reef compatible and stay pretty tiny. I'm currently looking at takana's pygme wrasse and firefish but it's hard to find definite information via Google that i trust

I know a ten gallon saltwater is iffy but we're both experienced and well versed enough to up hold the responsibility and commitment. Any suggestions and tips are greatly appreciated!

 

[Sniperhank]

A clown goby would be great in a 10. Check out liveaquaria.com, they have a pretty good understanding of size requirement for fish.

 

[54seaweed]

first thing is the rock and sand 10lbs sand 10+lbs of rock find a suitable salt mix and a place to find RO/DI water to mix with the salt to a suitable salinity of 1.025
than on to your cycle here is a article of the cycling process , this article will tell you in detail the whole process,
Cycle your salt tank - Aquarium Advice
the cycle could take from 4 to 8 weeks depending on ammonia source,

once your cycles finished you can slowly add fish suitable for your tank size
the link below will give you a bunch of choices just be sure you check if they'll work in a 10g and if they are compatable , avoid damsels they a little demons
you probably could add 4 or 5 fish tops depending on size , adding 1 per week to let the bio load build
adding to many to fast will cause a ammonia spike and most likely kill all the fish
Nano Fish

 

[MissGurnus]

Currently im looking at pygme wrasses and the prawn goby. We won't be setting this up for a bit as we plan on moving soon. Im just looking for information in advance

 

[MissGurnus]

Also it might relieve some of your concerns to mention that sinobotia (spelling i know) the user is my fiancé xD

 

[cgthebeast]

Hi, current owner of a 10g nano reef. Ro/di unit is a must for smaller tanks, as well as staying on top of water changes. Also, in a 10g a skimmer is not needed in a 10g as regular water changes should work. Go with a aquaclear filter for the major filtration on it.
I would never stock as many as 4 fish in my tank, 3 maybe depending what they they are. Neon hints are my fave an a pair of them would be awesome. No clownfish, they need at least a 20g IMHO. A firefighter is great idea also

I have a Pygmy wrasse in mine, a six line an all the research I did said it would be fine in a 10g and they little thing is all over the place, an because it's so active is why I'm upgrading my 10g

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[MissGurnus]

Is he just active? Or is he pacing?

 

[sinibotia]

The tank came with a whole bunch of sand (at least 10lb) and some rock (3 lb or so). We're gonna seed the rock it came with with some live rock (it's all dried out). Also a filter and a heater. The tank was originally a nano reef, which is why I'd like to try to set it up that way. I'm wondering though, I know corals and saltwater fish prefer more flow. Would I be OK jury-rigging a big adjustable HOB filter for up to 55 gallons to fit on the 10? Or should I stick with the 20 gallon HOB filter it came with?

Also, how do you source saltwater fish and corals responsibly? One of the big reasons I haven't jumped to saltwater yet is the damage that the marine trade causes to reefs in some places. And I can't seem to find much information on how to weed out the bad stuff.

We're both pretty solid about water changes. I've been keeping freshwater for 11 years, and I've been teaching her everything I know. So I'm confident we'll both be able to handle this.

 

[coralbandit]

Had a high fin banded goby in my 29g years ago.
Great looking fish!
I would not put(can't think of)4 fish in 10?
Maybe barnacle blennies(another good choice).

 

[sinibotia]

Dunno where people are getting the "4 fish in a 10" thing, but we only plan on putting one solitary fish in this tank! The plan is 1 fish, some cleaner inverts- snails, peppermint shrimp, hermit crabs; and some hardy corals.

 

[MissGurnus]

Yeah it'll be our first experience with saltwater so we're trying not to do anything too drastic as we would like to preserve the lives of the animals we'll be getting

 

[coralbandit]

Dunno where people are getting the "4 fish in a 10" thing, but we only plan on putting one solitary

Comes from a suggestion by other member(with 4000+ post?????)!!!!!!!
Skip the hermits and all crabs as they are pest!
I mean PEST!
In a species tank,fine with any coral I pay for ???Never again!
With your knowledge you will not have a hard time with salt.
After all the who hah it is way less effort and maintenance then ANY of my freshwater tanks!
For real!

 

[sinibotia]

Comes from a suggestion by other member(with 4000+ post?????)!!!!!!!
Skip the hermits and all crabs as they are pest!
I mean PEST!
In a species tank,fine with any coral I pay for ???Never again!
With your knowledge you will not have a hard time with salt.
After all the who hah it is way less effort and maintenance then ANY of my freshwater tanks!
For real!

Ok, skip the crabs then! I just really want some shrimp, and anything else that will help with cleanup and bioturbation and be fun to watch!

So, anybody got answers about responsibly sourcing reef fish/corals? That's what I'm most worried about here. I think that if I can't find them locally, I'm definitely going to get captive-raised corals from liveaquaria. But I'm not sure about the fish.

Oh and still wondering about the filter too- would the 55 gallon filter be ok? It has an adjustable flow, so I could turn it down, but I'd really like more water movement.

 

[MissGurnus]

Ive been wanting some sort of shrimp as well.

 

[54seaweed]

wrasse in a 10g isn't going to work wrasses can get nasty in small tanks ,
I never had issues with hermits just avoid the red leg , scarlet's would be your best choice
skunk shrimp is a must

 

[sinibotia]

wrasse in a 10g isn't going to work wrasses can get nasty in small tanks ,
I never had issues with hermits just avoid the red leg , scarlet's would be your best choice
skunk shrimp is a must

But does it matter if they get nasty if it's just a solitary specimen? Will they damage corals? I'm really liking the look of the tanakas pygmy wrasse.

 

[Ingy]

I agree about reg leg hermits. Snail eating monsters. Blue leg, scarlet and many others are fine with snails tho.


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[coralbandit]

In a 10 I would keep 1 of a couple shrimp.
1 coralbanded(sounds familiar?)
1 cleaner(I have always had many in larger tanks but they(too) are not so species friendly in smaller tanks)
1 fire shrimp(Most expensive,totally cool hides more then all the others!)
ON the crab thing I have mis spoke!
I know of 1 good crab!
Still after 3 years in my 75 reef a porcelain crab(you need to check them out!).
I am not against Live aquaria even after hearing petco just bought them(but this may change)?
Get your fish there also if you can't find any local(or call visit me in Saratoga and I'll get you hooked up with good stock from my LFS!{Like 13 in my area!}




It didn't take long to banish my blue legged hermits either!

 

[sinibotia]

In a 10 I would keep 1 of a couple shrimp.
1 coralbanded(sounds familiar?)
1 cleaner(I have always had many in larger tanks but they(too) are not so species friendly in smaller tanks)
1 fire shrimp(Most expensive,totally cool hides more then all the others!)
ON the crab thing I have mis spoke!
I know of 1 good crab!
Still after 3 years in my 75 reef a porcelain crab(you need to check them out!).
I am not against Live aquaria even after hearing petco just bought them(but this may change)?
Get your fish there also if you can't find any local(or call visit me in Saratoga and I'll get you hooked up with good stock from my LFS!{Like 13 in my area!}




It didn't take long to banish my blue legged hermits either!

I think I'll give the coral banded shrimp a try! And maybe a few of the less pesky hermit crabs. But I think a porcelain crab is too much for this tank, maybe. Thoughts? We're trying to keep the stocking pretty light on all sides so we can have a mix of corals, inverts, and our one fish. I'm doing research on corals on my own now and I'll surely be back with questions.

Any thoughts on the pygmy wrasse?

 

[coralbandit]

Porcelains are filter feeders so would be one of the last added IMO anyways.
Not too much though IMO.
I have to look hard to find mine as it sits(hangs) in a rock cave that gets good flow.
Never owned a pygmy wrasse or I would add.
There really are no good hermits!
They won't kill your tank too fast to find out for your self but they irritated my corals (killed 2 for sure)and killed snails for no good reason,beside wanting that shell instead of the other 20 offered!)