# Starting first SW a 10g tank



## DUSTIN323 (Sep 21, 2005)

I have a 10g hex tank just sitting around and in the past I've done a good bit of research on SW, I've never kept one before. I know that it is usually best to start off bigger, but I have this tank and also since I have the tank and it's smaller it will be cheaper to start up than a bigger tank. I've done some research and saw that in a 10g there is a good bit of fish I can put in there like: some gobies, some clowns, firefish, jawheads. I don't want any corals or anenomes just fish and I guess some live rock would be a good thing. So my questions are: what do ya'll think? does this sound like an ok plan? Can I use a Tetra whisper HOB filter? Any pointers? What fish do you recommend for me as not only a beginner but a small tank? The last thing I want to do is put fish that don't belong in tank this size in there. I like clowns alot could I put like three true percula clowns in there and another fish or two I like jawheads I know they need a sandy bottom(which is no prob). 
Thanks in advance I will really appreciate some help here :shock:


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

You are thinking of way to many fish in that 10 gallon. I'd try one or two fish, not four or five. 
There are many complications that you must understand and be ready to accept to be successful and not successful with a nano.

1) Nano tanks mean a lot can go wrong, in a very short amount of time
2) Nanos must be topped off often, if you leave for 3 days or more, you need to get someone to top off the tank for you.
3) Nanos have a very limited fish load. Maximum would be 3 fish, however, they must be juvenilles and put in a proper home when as they get older. A single fish could hypothetically get by in a 10 gallon.
4) Smaller does NOT mean cheaper. When you make mistakes, and those mistakes take your entire tank so quickly, you may have to start over costing time and money.
5) A whisper filter would be underpowered for a sw tank, I would suggest looking into a sump and fuge, many nanos are supported in this way.
6) since you want liverock, you probably would want to quarentine, as medications can quickly kill your liverock.

IF you still want a 10 gallon nano sw tank now, then maybe we can figure something out, but it won't be easy.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

** No way can a 10g go 3 days w/o being topped off just FYI lol. Barely can go one day! just my 5million $$ cents


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

WHOA, hoss!

There is a world of difference between a standard 10 gallon and a 10 gallon HEX.

Most of the fish you listed simply will NOT fit in a 10 hex. Especially the clowns.

SMALL gobies or blennies, or small seahorses, or maybe even a pair of firefish, but not a whole lot else.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

True tos... hex's are very different. And I top off my 125 almost every three days so I guess that would be a little overestimate.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

I see hex tanks more for like coral display then fish keeping just not enough free space for them to explore u know? Gobies prolly have a blast going up and down the rock work though in one.


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## N1z (Nov 21, 2005)

i would of said that crabs and shrimp ok but not like clowns or large fish, maybe one or 2 gobys


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## DUSTIN323 (Sep 21, 2005)

Ok some good info to start on. I was thinking the same thing about the hex shape TOS. Ok I'm looking at some fish in the drsfostersmith catalog right now, here's an idea or two tell me what ya'll think:
two firefish and one clown goby. Would that work?
or
one jawfish and a clown goby or two?
Filtration though is a main concern now any ideas?


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

I'd go with 1 firefish, and one clown goby or even better, cleaner goby.


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## N1z (Nov 21, 2005)

well ull be needing a nice external, with power heads, a protien skimmer, they are basic stuff then other are UV sterilizer and few other things cnt remember them, live sand cld probs be a good asset to it aswell m8. duno about u guys wot u think!?

but i mean im gunning my 32G on external with spray bar, internal protein skimmer and live rock but cos im only a teen so i aint rich lol


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

im sorry to be the first one to say this, but i think this is a bad idea, im just starting my first sw tank too. if you want to do this, take a little time save some money and get a larger tank. you can get some nice tanks real cheap if you know where to look. im starting with a 46 gal tank and i think THATS to small. im sorry but thats my opinion. the money your planning on spending on fish could easily get you a larger tank for a couple of clowns and some gobys and such.


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## DUSTIN323 (Sep 21, 2005)

Well I know it is better to start off with a bigger tank, but I do think small tanks are sometimes fine for beginners from my own experience and a big article I've read in the past. I could save money up for a bigger tank if I wanted to but I simply don't because I would put another performance addition on my truck before buying another aquarium and when I do have enough money to buy a big aquarium it's gonna be for Tanganyika cichlids. I also am not planning on spending alot on fish niether a firefish costs $12 and a clown goby costs $7 and a yellowhead jawfish cost $20, so whatever I chose it won't be over $20-$30 for all the fish.


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## DUSTIN323 (Sep 21, 2005)

Would this filter be a good choice, remember it's only a 10g.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3641&N=2004+22769


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

Okay im not going to stop you from doing a10 gallon. It's not ungodly hard and you only asked about filtration and fish so i'll answer.

1. Seahorses were mentioned...NO! The only types that can readily go in smaller tanks are sometimes H. capensis, H. whitei, and H. zosterae. The first two are some of the smaller types but still need 20 gallons and up. The last, h. zosterae, needs about a 5 gallon or smaller... it eats baby brine shrimp and feeding them in a 10 gallon is alot harder than if it was in a 5 gallon or smaller tank.

2. Hexs definitely do constrict what you can get. You may be able to get a clownfish and maybe some inverts. Otherwise I would stick with 2 very small fish, some hermits, and possibly a snail or two. Definitely no jawfish. They get around 4 inches and need about a 5 inch sand bed and room to make they're territory and all that. A firefish would probably do okay in a 10 hex.

3. !0 gallons can be okay to start with. They suck in the lond run most of the time because you spend all of that money and you can obnly keep 1 or two fish. You also want a bigger tank in the future. If you want to go right ahead. My first sw tank was a 10 gallon. Right now it's been up for about 2 years or more I cant remember. It has a false percula clownfish, a coral banded shrimp, a dwarf fuzzy lion, and two hermits. Im glad to say that the dwarf fuzzy lion is getting its own 10 gallon until I can get rid of it. The coral baded shrim is also going to be sold.

3. Just go with a simple power filter on smaller tanks. Just make sure you take out the bio-wheel if there is one. On my 10 gallon I just have 4 pounds of live rock and a power filter and the waters clear and ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites are close to zero ( water change freak here). If you can find atiny canister or whatever than you can do that and it may be even better.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

I _did_ say _small_ seahorse. heheh.

No clownfish, though. And yes, Jawfish are right out unless you really are a masochist who wants to do a lot of extra work. A single jawfish using a PVC pipe for a burrow surrounded & hidden by a bunch of liverock rubble over 2 inches of livesand can be made to work, but what would be the point? Jawfish are a lot more fun when kept in groups, looking like a bunch of undersea prairie dogs.

A Royal Gramma might be a better choice than a Jawfish, given a similar rockpile/PVC pipe arrangement.

Ah, the Skilter... well, it has the cheap price, effective skimming, and small & convenient size factors in it's favor, but there are major downsides, too. The first one is the noise it makes. Skilters make a lot of racket, a stuttering sucking sound, so you only want to use it in an area where it won't annoy everyone. They also make very wet foam and lots of it, resulting in even more water needing to be replaced every day. Otherwise it's a pretty good unit which is fine for a regular 10 tank, but not for a hex. For starters I'm not sure it would even fit along one edge of a 10 hex, and for another it would keep the water in the tank very highly churned all the time. Most fish would not like it one bit, getting exhausted trying to fight it all the time with no dead spots to in the tank to allow them to escape the current.
Gobies & blennies of the rockhopping varieties wouldn't mind the swirl, though, living so commonly in surge zones anyway, so those could work with a Skilter.

Of course, if you could figure out a good way to diffuse the outflow of the skilter to reduce the churning, that would be great.


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## DUSTIN323 (Sep 21, 2005)

Ok well I wasn't planning on the seahorses nor clowns and not jawfish. What I'm looking at now is a firefish and a clown goby.


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

What about adding an overflow and a sump? Sumps can be created by getting a rubbermaid container if I'm not mistaken... that would give you more water volume, more stability, for fairly low cost... I think that might be the best choice yet... you could do a fuge in part of the sump (using egg crate) to soak up nutrients and such.


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## DUSTIN323 (Sep 21, 2005)

That's a good idea fishfirst but since I'm not to familar with SW and everything that goes along with it could you explain to me a little more how exactly I would do this I get what you are basically saying though.


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## PaulInKingston (Dec 4, 2005)

*10 Gal SW*

Use the 10 gallon as a quaratine tank & buy at least a 29 gallon or bigger for the main SW tank.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Nano's are fun! Shhh Paul. They aren't recommended for noobs, but if your willing to work daily on it and stay on top of things, don't see any reason why not.

O boy, explaining the laws of physics of plumbing. Personally i wouldnt worry about a skimmer since it isnt needed for a month or so anyway. I would get a overflow from ebay runs about $35-45 shipped, have it run down into some sort of contraption below that's packed with cheato and have a return pump with splitter. 


***If was going to do it right, i'd drill th eback of the tank or the sides in two spots and install a SCWD on the return line to those.


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