What fish should I put in my 10 gallon reef aquarium?

Question

I am setting up a 10 gallon reef aquarium, and once the tank cycles, what fish or shrimps or crabs should I put in? i am most curious about fish, I have heard that firefish and clownfish are good, is this true? and what else is good? can i put an anemone in? Also, where do you recommend i buy light fixtures and bulbs? (i am not a beginner at salwater, i8 have had a 55 gallon marine aquarium for 6 years, but i am new to reef)

Answer 1

A 10 gallon isn't suitable for more than a few fish species. A firefish would be about as large as you could go, and there are a number of clown or shrimp gobies that would be fine as well. I wouldn't recommend a 10 gallon long-term for a clownfish - they might be okay for a while as juveniles (I've used 10 gallon tanks as quarantines), but as adults they should have at least a 20 (if not larger) depending on the species.

Inverts are another story. Since this is a reef tank, some of the shrimp you could try are peppermints or cleaners. I'd put in a few hermit crabs for cleaners (blue-legged or scarlet). You might try an emerald crab, although some of these may eat small fish if they can catch them. I would also suggest a number of snails for cleaners - a variety is best, but avoid margarites (prefer cool water) and Astraeas (can't right themselves if they lose hold of the glass and will die). I would definitely recommend a few nassarius to stir the substrate.

You could try anemones, but most healthy ones will outgrow a 10 gallon as well, and your success will depend mostly on your lighting (a compact fluorescent or T-5 system would be the minimum to use). Rather than an anemone, you might want to try a few hardy corals - mushrooms, clove polyps, zooanthids, or leathers would all be easy to keep, but would still require the same lighting. With a reef tank, you'll also be getting some amount (around 10 lbs ideally) of live rock, so that will increase the numbers of inverts you'll find.

Just be careful not to overcrowd this tank - even though 10 gallons seems like a fair size, once you have the live rock in place, you'll only have about 2/3 of the original water volume, and the less volume, the greater/quicker any change in temperature, water quality, or salinity (from evaporation) will happen.

Answer 2

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RE:
What fish should I put in my 10 gallon reef aquarium?
I am setting up a 10 gallon reef aquarium, and once the tank cycles, what fish or shrimps or crabs should I put in? i am most curious about fish, I have heard that firefish and clownfish are good, is this true? and what else is good? can i put an anemone in? Also, where do you recommend i buy light...

Answer 3

10 Gallon Reef Tank

Answer 4

The best resource I can give you for research for a nano (30 gallon or less) reef tank is
http://www.nano-reef.com/

There's a really great article there in the beginner's forums that talks about stocking different sized tanks-
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74703

In a 10 gallon, with proper maintenance, you could put 2 ocellaris clowns (the ones that look most like Nemo).

You could do one firefish.

As to anemones- They tend to walk around, and will sting and kill everything they touch when they do. In a 10 gallon, this would likely be every coral you have. I wouldn't have one except in a very large tank.
You also need strong lighting for them, and strong lighting is expensive.
Lastly, a clownfish does not need an anemone, and it is NOT really "good for them" to have one. Keeping up immunity to the anemone's sting takes a lot of energy on the part of the fish and stresses them unnecessarily in an environment where they do not NEED the anemone's protection from predators.

If a clown is going to host, it will host in nearly anything (even heaters and powerheads), and there are lots of beautiful corals you could keep for him to choose from.

A good site for info on tank residents is
http://www.saltcorner.com/sections/zoo/zoointro.htm

Other good resources are shopping sites, like-
http://www.marinedepotlive.com/
http://www.marinecenter.com/fish/

Their info isn't always reliable, but they can at least get you the scientific name for a common name, and give you an idea of tank size.
I would tend to rely mainly on Salt Corner and Nano Reef, tho.

Good luck and happy researching!
Maybe I'll see you on NanoReef!


EDIT- 2 dottybacks of any kind in such a small aquarium will fight til one dies. Dottybacks are also known to attack and eat shrimps and hermits and featherdusters.

The neon gobies is a good suggestion tho.
Just make sure you get 3 or more or one. Two might fight, I had two fight til one died.

Aagain, tons of research on any fish you think you'd want is my recommendation.

Answer 5

You could easily have a pair of the smaller species such as Amphiprion ocellaris, don't keep an anemone, they rarely last long in captivity and captive-bred clownfish will never have even seen one. Please be aware that smaller tanks are much harder to maintain, marine organisms come from an environment that hardly ever changes chemically. This makes marine fish and invertebrates much more sensitive to sudden or large changes. My advice is to purchase the largest aquarium that you can afford and have room for.

Answer 6

10 is alittle small, i just started a 20 high myself.

Anyway, i got this cool starter fish, i believe a blue line damsel, sold to me under demon blue line damsel.

You cant go wrong with a start damsel, VERY hardy, but they are alittle aggressive.


It depends on the type of clownfish, there are about 15 common types out there. Im guessing false percula... They will like alittle larger than 10 gallons, but you can get by with one in that tank. They dont need anemonies but it is good for them.

The problem is a 10 gallon reef tank is alittle harder to maintain then a FOWLR which stands for fish only with live rock.

You might consider getting another one of these set-up likes your 55 gallon.

I have a corallife dual lighting fixture on my 20 high, it has 2 lunar lights which is a must for corals and reef set-ups. The problem is i believe 10 gallon saltwater hoods are hard to come by.

Try looking on drsfostersmith.com under compact lighting for marine lighting.

Answer 7

2-3 neon gobies would be nice. How about a pair of orchid dottybacks? A fairy wrasse? All are reef safe and stay small.