All you salt water buffs. . .

[Rebecca]

I have a 10g that I want to make into a salt water tank. I want to have some coral, and a couple of fish. I know it's harder to keep a smaller salt water tank, but for now that's what I want. Now my question is what can I put in it?? I want a couple of bright active fish and some nice pretty colorful coral. Any ideas??

[Youkai]

The only things I can think of are like...maybe tiny species of clownfish, or invertebrates. Catolina gobies are small, but the light for the corals will heat the water too much for them. Even the tiniest of marine fish are also very very active.
I think you're just shooting yourself in the foot by getting something so small. Even go 33 gallons, still small - but at least the fish have room.
Think about a 10 gallon. Once you have all that coral and stuff in there, there is hardly swimming room for anything but juveniles of the smallest species.

If I set up a mini reef like that,I would either make it coral and inverts, or not a reef at all - just a couple tiny, tiny fish.
With the money you'll be putting into 'pretty colorful coral' you might as well spring for an extra bit and get a bigger tank. Trust me, the tank costs NOTHING compared to everything else you'll need.

[Rebecca]

I actually have the tank already. That's why I thought of it. I've always wanted a salt water tank. I don't plan on lots of coral just like 2 types in the corners type thing. Something small. As for fish I think one or 2 small fish would be ok. What kind of invertebrates, would go in there?? I also didn't say I do plan on getting a bigger tank for a salt water, but for starters I want only a 10g tank. I also already have a filter that you can upgrade for salt water tanks and I also have the heater too, oh ya I also have the lighting for it. I'm going to have to upgrade from incandesint (sp?) though.

[Shane Tesser]

Probably your best bet will be damsels...cheap and easy to keep, small..but will probably fight....marines are really territorial, plus the tank is small...probably too small as Youkai stated. With marines you have to keep in my, a fluctuation of temp, nitrates, pretty much anything will kill everything in the tank fast. Your whole problem will be that these things can occur without warning in a small tank..where as in a larger one you will notice it as it takes time. Personally i think even 33 or 35 is too small. I would never try with anything under 60 especially with marines. Im not saying that it cant be done...im just saying that for your first time...your better off to wait until you have the right equipment, and corels..these are harder than fish to keep for the most part..and many will not stay in a corner..they will find their own place in the tank, i just dont want to see you get discourage. Good luck with what ever you decide, its your money, spend it wisely and research anything you are trying to attempt in a tank that small :)

[dlucka]

I'm in salt water and i did try a lot of thing, 10 gal. for me it's not a problem.
For sure you'll have to think to keep small fish, a few live rock. Fish can be Damsel or clown, small cardinal. Coral you will have to go with soft one or anemone they need less light so you'll keep temp. lower. I'll put 2 neons 1 actinic and one 50/50, then you will have less evaporation. Invertebrates
snail are good cleaner, serpent star fish, shrimp (be sure to keep good one if you have coral) sea star (same thing, keep the good one), sea cucumber,
sea horse (if you don't have anemone). For fish you should not keep more then 2 or 3.. Then you will have to add calcium, magnesium,... Feed your coral
with special mix (i like the home made one). You'll need water to move to get
good oxygenation, no air pomp (the air bubble stick on coral and burn it). That's a good start, if you need more specification just ask, this is real a fast
over view.

P.S. Yes it's more easy with a bigger thank, more you have water the more buffer you have for mistake. But a small on is a nice chalange.

Good luck

[Clownfishie]

Hi Rebecca,

Keeping a 10 gallon saltwater tank can be done -- but you're going to have to keep a very close eye on your water quality to make sure that nothing gets out of whack... which can happen very quickly in a small tank. In general, I'd recommend starting with a larger tank... but if you're willing to put the work into a small tank, it can be done.

For fish, you really *should* just stick to one fish... you could probably get away with 2, as long as they're small. Either one of the smaller clownfish (perculas are my favourites :)) or a damsel should be ok... and for a second fish if you want to have 2, maybe a small goby or blenny.

If you plan on having corals, you definitely need to upgrade your lighting. Depending on what you want to keep, that can cost quite a bit. For the easier corals (most soft corals for example) you should be ok with 2 flourescent bulbs -- one full spectrum, and one actinic. Mushrooms and leathers are probably your best bet. They're relatively easy to keep, and don't require as much light as a lot of other corals. You could probably also put some polyps in there (button, star, clove...). Any of the hard corals require more lighting than you're probably willing to invest in (power compacts, or metal halides) -- same with anemones, they have very high light requirements.

For inverts, you'll probably want some hermit crabs and snails to act as a cleanup crew... they'll eat any leftover food the fish don't get to, and also clean up algae. Feather dusters are really neat, and should be fine in a tank that size. You could get a small serpent or brittle star, although it will probably get too big for the tank eventually. There's also several kinds of shrimp that look great in the tank -- cleaner shrimp, coral banded shrimp, fire shrimp... all cool :)

I wouldn't recommend putting seahorses in the tank unless you plan on dedicating the whole tank to them -- they tend not to do well with other fish in the tank, since they're slow feeders. If you're willing to put the effort into their care though, they're simply amazing :)

Hope that helped a bit, if you have any other questions feel free to ask away :) I'm in the process of setting up a new saltwater tank myself after my move... I miss the tanks that I had out there, unfortunately I wasn't able to bring them with me so I'm starting from scratch again....

Jen