Help. Newbie to salt water.

[Herotilapia_Multispinosa]

Can anyone explain what I need for a basic 10 gallon reef tank? I also would like to know what fish/invertibrates (spelled wrong) I could get for a 10 gallon that are fairly hearty.

 

[Henry405]

10g is very limiting and not recommended for someone new to SW. Having a larger tank will give you a larger margin of error for careless mistakes like bad water quality. If you're really set on the 10g, then you would need:

10lbs of rock
10lbs of sand
filter
heater
water test kit
hydrometer or refractometer
1g of SW for water changes every week at least
lights

With 10g, you can prob have an invert and 1 fish

 

[carey]

Hi. 10g is a bit limiting but you could probably add a few inverts with the fish. The fish choices would be nice though, check out liveaquaria.com they have a nano section under saltwater fish.

 

[Herotilapia_Multispinosa]

Ok thanks guys I just don't have the space for anything larger than a 10 gallon. Could i get a clownfish? I never really understood what live rock is could some explain it?

 

[carey]

A single clown would be ok, just a regular one though nothing like a maroon or anything.

Live rock has bacteria and organisms on and living in it. It helps filter your tank. You can get like 2-3 lbs of live rock which is pricey and the just get 8-10 lbs of cheap "dead" base rock.

 

[Herotilapia_Multispinosa]

Thank you you have been very helpfull I think I'm going to look into shrimp to. Are there any species I should be wary of I.e coral, species of other invertabrates?

 

[carey]

I have several peppermint shrimp in some of my tanks, they are really neat. Sexy shrimp are even smaller and cuter but a bit more $$. lol
You could get some hermits and snails too.

 

[Henry405]

Most shrimps should be able to live with each other, but if you want multiple shrimps, don't get the coral banded shrimp since it will become very territorial towards other shrimps