10 gal starter kit

[Mlonghorns]

Hey everyone, I’m looking to get a small saltwater tank, possibly with live rock. I’ve had a 43 gal freshwater tank for over a year and I am looking to dip my sack into the saltwater side of the business. I want to start small with a 10 gallon setup and I was wondering what kind of fish I could stock safely in the tank? Even if it’s just one fish or a couple inverts. Open to any suggestions or tips for getting started. Thanks!

 

[bribo12]

There’s a lot of gobies/shrimp pairs that would work well. You could do a firefish. Uh a smaller blennies would do fine as well. Inverts like shrimp and crabs would do well too once the tanks more established

 

[Mlonghorns]

Thanks for the response!

The firefish looks incredible! Would I have to stick to a single firefish or get a pair? And would I be able to add inverts or a couple blenniea with the firefish(s)?

Also do you know of any good online dealers of saltwater fish that don’t kill you on delivery? There aren’t any saltwater dealers very close to me.

Also would I be able to use my freshwater bio filter colonies to jumpstart my saltwater cycle? Or is that not how that works hahah

 

[bribo12]

I’d stick to a single fish in a 10 gallon as more could overload it. But you could definitely add a cleaner shrimp or fire shrimp to the mix plus other inverts.

Nah the bacteria for sw and fw is completely different so it wouldn’t work. And with most online fish sellers you’re gonna pay a lot in overnight shipping. Um uniquecorals.com has a small selection of fish but their shipping isn’t to bad.

 

[Mlonghorns]

Ahh okay after doin a little research I was thinking of doing a firefish goby along with a yellowhead jawfish, but if you think that’s too much I’ll just stick with the firefish and some inverts. Also I’ve never really worked with live rock. Is live rock 100% necessary for firefish?

 

[bribo12]

Live rock is 100% necessary for sw. It is your main source of filtration and beneficial bacteria. I’d skip the jawfish, they need a fairly deep sandbed to burrow in which will look a little odd in a 10 gallon

 

[Mlonghorns]

Okay that make sure sense. I think for now I’ll just stick with the firefish goby and look for inverts later down the line. Do you have any recommendations on where to find cheap live rock? And live rock is completely different than coral, correct?

 

[okapizebra]

You could do a neon goby or shark nose goby. Both stay very small and would be fine with the firefish.

 

[Mlonghorns]

Okay well I have an issue now. I can’t get the firefish, blue neon, or sharknose at my local stores. Pretty much the only small saltwater fish available to me are the orange striped prawn goby (randall’s Goby), the court jester goby, the citron goby (clown goby), and the Catalina goby. I know the Catalina has to be in mid 60 degrees so I don’t want to get that. Are there any combination of these 3 I could do? Or just do a single one of the three?

 

[okapizebra]

IMO you could pick two of those and be fine. Just don't do two of the same species as they will fight. Agreed, pass on the catalina.

Coral are animals. They have their own care requirements just as fish would. Very different from live rock. Live rock is well... rock. It's called 'live' rock because it's colonized with all sorts of good bacteria. In salt water you house the majority of your beneficial bacteria in rock rather than in a filter like in freshwater.

If it's easier for you, you could always buy mostly dry rock and seed it with a few pieces of live rock to jump start the cycle.

 

[bribo12]

Agreed with everything okapizebra posted!
The store isn’t able to order firefish?? Hmm they’re a super common sw fish. But yeah any of he 2 other than the Catalina would be fine.

 

[Mlonghorns]

Thanks okapizebra! I actually have been doing some research and just found out what live rock really meant and felt a little stupid for not realizing it haha but not knowing anything about saltwater why would I know that lol but I think I’m gunna go for the Randall goby and a citron goby; stock with the orange tint.

Also, I looked into all of the essentials for starting a saltwater tank and this is the list I came up with:

Tank
Hood/light
Filter
Heater
Saltwater/salt
Live sand/crushed corral/aragonite
Hydrometer
Thermometer
Live/dry rock(nitrifying bacteria if dry rock)
and a saltwater master test kit.

If there are any other items that are 100% necessary please let me know! I was reading about protein skimmers but wasn’t sure if I would need one for a Nano tank like this one.

(For anyone else wanting to start a 10 gal nano tank like this, I costed it out thru Amazon to be around $250-280 without fish and also with the Petco 1$/gallon deal. Just as a point of reference.)

 

[Mlonghorns]

And Bribo12, I actually haven’t asked them if they could I didn’t really know that was an option! I’ll have to ask them for sure. If they are able to order a firefish for me, would I be able to do a firefish with a Randall’s goby or a firefish with a citron goby? Or just stick with he firefish and blue neon goby?

 

[bribo12]

Yeah you could do any of that combination!

 

[Mlonghorns]

Okay I just ordered all of my equipment today! I got Caribsea Agra-alive Hawaiian black sand and 12lbs of dry rock. Do I need to dose the tank with any bacteria to get the cycle started or does the live sand do that already?

Also I was thinkin now about maybe doing a clown fish now since my local store can order them in for me. Would I be able to do a clown fish with a firefish? Or should I just stick with clown and a goby or a firefish And a goby?

 

[Sniperhank]

Get your rock in the system. Then add the sand. This will help solidify things in the system as putting the rock on the sand will lead to the rock settling and can cause the rock to fall to harm livestock or the tank itself.
Once the rock and sand are in the system, toss a cocktail shrimp in some panty hose. Tie it off and throw it in. Run your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate tests for a handful of weeks until you don't see any more ammonia/nitrite readings. Then it'll be time for water changes until nitrates are 0, throwing away the panty hoses, and adding your first fish.

 

[Mlonghorns]

Okay I’ll make sure to follow that. Would I be able to just dose with pure ammonia instead of waiting for the cocktail shrimp to break down?

 

[Sniperhank]

Yes, you can do so if you want. It works, but you have to continue dosing up to 2 ppm of the pure ammonia when you are detecting the ammonia levels dropping. I prefer a cocktail shrimp so I can set it and forget it.

 

[Mlonghorns]

Ahh okay that makes sense I’ll do it that way

 

[King Fisher]

Yes, you can do so if you want. It works, but you have to continue dosing up to 2 ppm of the pure ammonia when you are detecting the ammonia levels dropping. I prefer a cocktail shrimp so I can set it and forget it.

I presume this method also works for FW cycling?