New 10 Gallon Saltwater Aquarium

[Katy410]

My family is really getting "into" this fish idea, and now we are debating around the tank sizes and where to put them, jumping from a 10 gallon, to a 16 biorb, to a 36 half moon, to a monstrous tank. Since I have a lot of clownfish and small tank info, what would be some things for larger tanks? I have a few questions about anemone, reef, and coral as well. First of all, how do I reply to multiple posts at once? I'm using the app, by the way.

 

[bribo12]

My family is really getting "into" this fish idea, and now we are debating around the tank sizes and where to put them, jumping from a 10 gallon, to a 16 biorb, to a 36 half moon, to a monstrous tank. Since I have a lot of clownfish and small tank info, what would be some things for larger tanks? I have a few questions about anemone, reef, and coral as well. First of all, how do I reply to multiple posts at once? I'm using the app, by the way.

I'm on the app too and haven't figured that out yet lol. For a 36 gallon you are probably looking at the clownfish pair plus 2-3 smaller fish like gobies, blennies, jawfish, cardinal fish, bassletts, small wrasses, chromis, fire fish, maybe Pygmy angelfish. No tangs, angels, foxface, or butterflyfish, puffers, triggerfish, etc... Bring on your reef/anemone questions

 

[Brilliant_Barbs_21]

I'm on the app too and haven't figured that out yet lol. For a 36 gallon you are probably looking at the clownfish pair plus 2-3 smaller fish like gobies, blennies, jawfish, cardinal fish, bassletts, small wrasses, chromis, fire fish, maybe Pygmy angelfish. No tangs, angels, foxface, or butterflyfish, puffers, triggerfish, etc... Bring on your reef/anemone questions

+1
Nice suggestions. I agree. If I were to upgrade to a medium tank I would go with mostly small fish and more of them. Some people like a few larger fish but I love lots of small ones. I would get a pair of clowns, a firefish, and a small school of bangaii cardinals. No wrasse though, they can be a little messy and should stay in 50 gallon minimum. But I like to under stock my tanks and fill them with coral. So it could work for some. After all, my 10 gallon nano has over 15 coral species and one clownfish. But he'll be upgraded to a 90 soon, so for a week or so he'll feel like he's the only fish in the ocean.

 

[Big Tex]

+1
Nice suggestions. I agree. If I were to upgrade to a medium tank I would go with mostly small fish and more of them. Some people like a few larger fish but I love lots of small ones. I would get a pair of clowns, a firefish, and a small school of bangaii cardinals. No wrasse though, they can be a little messy and should stay in 50 gallon minimum. But I like to under stock my tanks and fill them with coral. So it could work for some. After all, my 10 gallon nano has over 15 coral species and one clownfish. But he'll be upgraded to a 90 soon, so for a week or so he'll feel like he's the only fish in the ocean.

x2 on those suggestions and you can have a six-line wrasse and a pair of clowns, and depending if you want a fish only or a reef, you can get a dwarf angel like a coral beauty or a flame angel or a blenny as well for more color like a canary blenny or a midas blenny.

 

[edwardclaxton]

Welcome, I hope you found your answers. You probably did, this is a great forum. I didnt read through the entire conversation but I did have a suggestion on a smaller tank. You could possibly look at the bio and nano cubes they are pretty nice. As for fish to go in it you are limited, but there are possibilities. You can get a clown in a to gallon maybe even a pair. You should look into smaller gobies, like the watchman goby and buy a pistol shrimp the have s nice relationship the burrow holes and live together. The goby has great eyes and pretty sees for both and the shrimp digs burrows to live in. Its really nice to see, usually kinda of hard to find them in larger tank because they are pretty small. Hope this. Helps

 

[Fishman007]

My family is really getting "into" this fish idea, and now we are debating around the tank sizes and where to put them, jumping from a 10 gallon, to a 16 biorb, to a 36 half moon, to a monstrous tank. Since I have a lot of clownfish and small tank info, what would be some things for larger tanks? I have a few questions about anemone, reef, and coral as well. First of all, how do I reply to multiple posts at once? I'm using the app, by the way.

Dont get an anenome, they will nuke your tank if they die and will sting other corals not to mention they can uproot from the location and move around.

 

[Grizz]

Wait until X-mas and get at least a 55 gallon tank Plan on spending $10-25 a gallon to set up any tank, low end ($10gl.) is a FOWLR high end ($25gl.) is a full blown SPS reef. Save the 10gl for a QT tank.

 

[Fishman007]

Wait until X-mas and get at least a 55 gallon tank Plan on spending $10-25 a gallon to set up any tank, low end ($10gl.) is a FOWLR high end ($25gl.) is a full blown SPS reef. Save the 10gl for a QT tank.

Well for all the set up fees its gonna cost about 30-40$ per gallon. Think about it. Live rock, live sand, lighting, stock, RODI system, filtration, skimmer, and additional supplies. (test kits,food, hydrometer, nets, salt,ect...) im not trying disincorage anyone but welcome to the money pit!

 

[Grizz]

Live rock and live sand are not needed Base rock and dry sand becomes live over time big savings right there. You can get buy with the basic test kit to start as all you'll need to test for are ammo, nitrItes and nritrAtes I agree this hobby is costly My wife calls my tank "The 235 gallon wallet"

 

[edwardclaxton]

I wouldnt choose a 55. Either a biocube if you want something small. If larger than the 28gal bio or nano cube get some type of breeder tank 30 or 40. Then go to 75 90 then any size. This will give you an 18 inches in width which is way better than the 12inches in a 55. And it can be cheaper depending on what you want and where you get it. Dry sand and dry rock is fraction of live rock and sand. With live stuff you will always get the added water weight that you pay for. Which your tank cycles quicker thats good but this can also allow un-wanted pests to get in your tank. Dry rock is safe, takes longer to cure, cheaper, and also saves the reefs in the ocean from being destroyed for reefers. To me all this live stuff isnt worth the extra cost. Buy your dry rock and sand seed it with a couple pounds of live rock and your good to go. This helps you grow inyo the hobby as well from starting from the very basic. Price changes from person to person depending on what you want. This person could have a cheap t5 the next person can have radions or metal halides. Im not saying t5s are cheap but there are some t5s cheaper than other like on ebay. Or ebay leds vs radions. This goes for all your equipment. You can sometimes get great deals on craigslist. Or join a local or state forum. For example, I live in kentucky we have a forum called "Big Blue Reef" this helps because there are usually local people getting rid of unwanted or used items.

 

[Fishman007]

I wouldnt choose a 55. Either a biocube if you want something small. If larger than the 28gal bio or nano cube get some type of breeder tank 30 or 40. Then go to 75 90 then any size. This will give you an 18 inches in width which is way better than the 12inches in a 55. And it can be cheaper depending on what you want and where you get it. Dry sand and dry rock is fraction of live rock and sand. With live stuff you will always get the added water weight that you pay for. Which your tank cycles quicker thats good but this can also allow un-wanted pests to get in your tank. Dry rock is safe, takes longer to cure, cheaper, and also saves the reefs in the ocean from being destroyed for reefers. To me all this live stuff isnt worth the extra cost. Buy your dry rock and sand seed it with a couple pounds of live rock and your good to go. This helps you grow inyo the hobby as well from starting from the very basic. Price changes from person to person depending on what you want. This person could have a cheap t5 the next person can have radions or metal halides. Im not saying t5s are cheap but there are some t5s cheaper than other like on ebay. Or ebay leds vs radions. This goes for all your equipment. You can sometimes get great deals on craigslist. Or join a local or state forum. For example, I live in kentucky we have a forum called "Big Blue Reef" this helps because there are usually local people getting rid of unwanted or used items.

In a small tank once somthing goes wrong it doesnt take a long time to spread through the whole tank. you have to do wc twice a week, and you dont have alot of a selection fish wise. Alot of gobies and inverts are all your gonna get to choose from in a 10g. A 55 would give you much more space and allow you to get more fish and more variety.

 

[Fishman007]

I wouldnt choose a 55. Either a biocube if you want something small. If larger than the 28gal bio or nano cube get some type of breeder tank 30 or 40. Then go to 75 90 then any size. This will give you an 18 inches in width which is way better than the 12inches in a 55. And it can be cheaper depending on what you want and where you get it. Dry sand and dry rock is fraction of live rock and sand. With live stuff you will always get the added water weight that you pay for. Which your tank cycles quicker thats good but this can also allow un-wanted pests to get in your tank. Dry rock is safe, takes longer to cure, cheaper, and also saves the reefs in the ocean from being destroyed for reefers. To me all this live stuff isnt worth the extra cost. Buy your dry rock and sand seed it with a couple pounds of live rock and your good to go. This helps you grow inyo the hobby as well from starting from the very basic. Price changes from person to person depending on what you want. This person could have a cheap t5 the next person can have radions or metal halides. Im not saying t5s are cheap but there are some t5s cheaper than other like on ebay. Or ebay leds vs radions. This goes for all your equipment. You can sometimes get great deals on craigslist. Or join a local or state forum. For example, I live in kentucky we have a forum called "Big Blue Reef" this helps because there are usually local people getting rid of unwanted or used items.

A 30-40 would be good to, its not to big or small. My first SW is a 37g. Great choice for begginers.

 

[edwardclaxton]

A 55 is still considered a small tank. The time for something to spread over a 40 gallon tank compared to a 55 is prolly a couple days or a week at most if not fixed. Bigger is better but a 55's dimesions suck. After you put an overflow box in there or drill it the skimmer box part takes so much room up. You have 13inches to stack rock keep room for getting a cleaning magnet your hands or scrappers is going to be alomst impossible. You will have a chance of knocking stuff over. Thats why im against it. 55 was my first tank I ran into this issue. Have the extra space in width is worth it even if you lose 15 gallons of water. Or go up 20 gallons to a 75gal. Thats the best options over a 55.

 

[Katy410]

Hey,
Sorry for me replying now,
I had a rather busy day.
First of all, reef questions! I read over all of the replies, which answered a lot, but I have a few more. First of all, is anemone like a fish, or creature, with a mind of it's own, moving, eating, emotions? That seems interesting to watch. If anemone is one-of-a-kind, then this question can be skipped, but is there some type of coral similar, that's small, and doesn't sting? That'd be great. And what are soft/hard corals, and all? Just full me in on some or this coral-ness. Thanks!
~Katy

 

[bribo12]

Hey,
Sorry for me replying now,
I had a rather busy day.
First of all, reef questions! I read over all of the replies, which answered a lot, but I have a few more. First of all, is anemone like a fish, or creature, with a mind of it's own, moving, eating, emotions? That seems interesting to watch. If anemone is one-of-a-kind, then this question can be skipped, but is there some type of coral similar, that's small, and doesn't sting? That'd be great. And what are soft/hard corals, and all? Just full me in on some or this coral-ness. Thanks!
~Katy

Anemones are cnidarian a much like corals not in the same order. They have a very limited nervous system and one opening that serves as a mouth and anus. So they eat and poop from the same opening lol. They are an animal though like fish just not as complex. I hope that helps. Soft corals are corals that do not form a skeleton, while hard corals create a calcium carbonate skeleton and are the primary builders of reefs in the wild. Corals are basically a bunch of polyps that form skeletons and live in large groups. Both are very simple animals but require specific care at the same time lol

 

[edwardclaxton]

An Anemone is an animal and labeled as an invert they do eat, move, and I guess show signs of emtion (health feeling good and not). There are some extremely hard anemones to keep and a few easier to keep. Im not saying they are easy but easier than some others. For instance usually your carpet anemones are hard to keep they need special care the bubble tips are usually a little easier and are found in for sale in most lfs (local fish stores) because of that reason.

Now for coral.
Before I get into this know that no matter what type of coral it is there are usually harder and easier corals to keep in each class. With that being said make sure you do your research on the type of coral you are interested in. Liveaquaria.com is a good place to get some quick info about the coral.
The classes im labeling as: softies, lps, sps.
Softies: zoanthids, leathers, mushrooms, .usually the easiest class of corals to keep. There are some but few exceptions. They usually like moderant to high flow. Because a lot of them especially leathers they get this slim on them and the high flow gets it off. Usually no need for high lighting. These are ok under low to moderant lighting. These corals usually grow the fastest.
Lps, large polyp stoney: they are a moderant to high lighting. They usually do well in low to moderant waterflow. This is because they external skeleton in high flow areas there polyps can hit there exoskeleton and damage the coral. Or if its close enough to rock. They like a decent flow but doesnt want to be blasted. This class has a great variety of coral levels. Id say on average they will be a moderant level coral they will need extra needs.
Sps: small polyps stoney.
Id say will be where you find the hardest coral to take care of. There are some that are easier. These coral if you have large amounts you may need to dose you tank with calcium. If you dont have a lot then you wwc (weekly water changes ) should supplement it enough. Usually moderant to high lighting. And moderant to high flow.

As far as the question about an coral like an anemone that doesnt sting. Im 100% sure what your asking. Are you wanting some that has tentacles, or something for a clown to host?

 

[Brilliant_Barbs_21]

Some LPS corals take the place of an anemone. Some examples are hammers, torch, and bubble corals. The torch are my favorites, but the pretty ones are pretty expensive. That is this hobby after all.

 

[Daniel Fishy]

All the above very well said,good water quality, good flow and good lighting will keep a successful reef. It's pretty easy with good advice and patience. So buy decent stuff the first time to save some cash in the long run.

 

[Katy410]

Sorry I didn't reply,
I have a bit of a cold.
Floors are getting stained on Tuesday, but I may now be getting a 55 gallon. By the way, would it be good to have a little extra 10 gallon, just in case I get some fry, or a fish is sick, etc.?

 

[Big Tex]

Sorry I didn't reply,
I have a bit of a cold.
Floors are getting stained on Tuesday, but I may now be getting a 55 gallon. By the way, would it be good to have a little extra 10 gallon, just in case I get some fry, or a fish is sick, etc.?

Keep it as a quarantine tank, just a simple hob filter and a few pvc "t" and elbow fittings and you'll be set.