First saltwater aquarium?

Question

I would like to start my first saltwater aquarium and I would like some pointers and maybe some links to like "saltwater aquariums for dummys" type websites. I currently have a 10 gallon tank with a Whisper Power Filter, and new equipment isn't a problem. What kinds of fish and how many would safely fit in 10 gallons? And how do I go about setting one up in the first place?

Answer 1

I can give you a number of websites, but I also would suggest that you get a book on saltwater tanks. In the 6 months that I've been answering questions in the forum, I've already seen a number of websites that I've used for references that have gone to "registered users only" access or that have lost their domain name and links get changed so web sources aren't always there when you want them.

Here are some links that I'd highly recommend:
http://www.apapets.com/MarineEcosystem/whatto.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/
http://www.peteducation.com/index.cfm?cls=16
http://www.fishlore.com/SaltwaterBeginners.htm

For books, these helped me tremendously when I first started keeping saltwater:
The New Marine Aquarium – Michael S. Paletta. Microcosm Ltd. ISBN 1-890087-52-1
The Conscientious Marine Aquarist – Robert M. Fenner. Microcosm Ltd. ISBN 1-890087-02-5

A 10 gallon is really very small for a saltwater tank - the larger they are, the more stable the conditions. Marine fish are more sensitive to changes in water quality, and the fish tend to be more aggressive/territorial, so there can't be as many in the same amount of space as in freshwater tanks. I would suggest you look into a larger tank, such as a 29 or 55 gallon, if not larger. In a 10 gallon, you would be limited to firefish or smaller gobies, you only be able to keep about 2 at the most, and these would have to be very different in color or form so they don't become aggressive with each other. Along with the fish, you would be able to have some snails, hermit crabs, and shrimp, possibly a few easy corals if you upgrade the lighting beyond that which comes with a standard hood.

Good luck with your tank.

Answer 2

Well, If you want the small cute fish here they are.
1. Chromises.
2. Clown Gobys. (green,yellow,citron,black,rusty,and panda.)
3. Clown fish.
4. Pipefish.
5. Dottybacks.
6. Cleaner shrimp.
7. Peppermint shrimp.
All these fish get toghter great! Aspecially if your giong to do live rock, and corals (reef tank) I would remonend these fish, there beautiful and nice fish and small. :) But you cant have all those fish for that small of a tank you can do...#1 for starter fish and to get settled in do 6,5,2( not all ) Well good luck!

Answer 3

ok you are going to have all kinds of problems doing salt water in a 10gal tank since its your first salt water tank.
your going to have to be really on the ball with the water like almost every day.
any slip up and your going to have dead fish with in hours and at the cost of salt water fish you could end up being sorry you ever tryed this.
also untill you get the hang of what your doing and keep things going for like 6 months stick with damsel there are all colors and types of damsels and there cheap.
You really dont want to be killing $20 fish every other day.

Answer 4

Hi. Congrats on wanting to start your first sw tank.

The first thing you should do is research, then research, and finally research some more!

FishGeeks has some good articles on setting up your first sw tank, and also has a forum just for first time sw people.

http://www.aquaria.info/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=324

http://www.aquaria.info/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewforum&f=110

Answer 5

for a 10g you need to do alot of research, wetwebmedia.com is good, for fish small gobies, and one of them, maybe and i say maybe 2 of the smaller ones. nano-reefs.com would be helpful as well