Help needed

[Saltwaternoobie]

Ok so nice to meet everybody! I recently moved and had to sell my fish tanks and start over, and I just took the plunge into saltwater!
I will have a LOT of questions but my current ones are:
I got the CaribSea live sand but had to fill with chlorinated freshwater and then condition it. Do you think this killed the bacteria?
The tank has only been running for 2 days, are there any inverts/corals that could be added at this stage?
I haven't gotten a test kit yet, any reccomendations?
My stocklist will be an orchid dottyback and a goby of some sort, preferrably a sandsifter. Any reccomendations?

[Saltwaternoobie]

Oops, forgot to put the tank size ��
It's 10 gallons.
TIA for any help given!

[Sniperhank]

Yes, saltwater and freshwater bacteria are not the same. They are not able to survive in the other.
But the bacteria contained in these bags of sand is not enough to cycle a tank. It just helps, that is if it hasn't been sitting on a shelf past its expiration period...same with the bacteria in a bottle.
An ammonia source needs to be provided to start the cycle, be it via pure ammonia or a cocktail shrimp, to ensure enough bacteria is built up to support livestock.

In terms of stocking, I suggest checking out liveaquaria.com. They have the best recommendations in terms of tank size on livestock, to which I would not personally put the fish you listed in a 10 gallon.

[Saltwaternoobie]

I actually did put a shrimp in there- boiled unseasoned.
I was thinking about an orchid dottyback, thoughts?

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Are you using regular tap water or RODI water? I would not recommend an orchid dotty in a 10 gallon. They can be nasty.

[Saltwaternoobie]

I would be using tap. That was actually one of my questions- how big of a problem is this?
And I would be fine with only the dottyback. If that would still be overstocked would a firefish instead be good?

[Flaxon-Waxon]

Originally Posted by Saltwaternoobie

I would be using tap. That was actually one of my questions- how big of a problem is this?
And I would be fine with only the dottyback. If that would still be overstocked would a firefish instead be good?

I would not use tap water. Look into sourcing RODI water and if that’s not an option you can get away with distilled. If the dotty was the only fish I think you’d be ok. Same with a firefish. There may be better “1 fish only” species out there in terms of appeal, however.

[melosu58]

I agree that distilled or RO\DI water would be best. Even though it can be done The smaller the tank the less forgiving it will be for mistake and water issues.