salt water fish?

Question

i am about to start a salt water fish tank and i do not know if a 10g tank is big enough to start off with if not i am willing to go buy a bigger one after xmas and start it then but i would like to start it in my 10g first to learn. i also wanted to know if you need a diffrent kind of filter then the kind i use in my fresh water tank?

Answer 1

I am a tropical fish collector in Hawaii. A 10 gallon tank is too small. Fish need space to swim or they get weak and die. Get at least a 50 gal; a hundred is ideal. You will need to make your own salt water; look it up on the net. You need to get your 'bio' going before your fish can survive. a salt water filter is similar to a fresh but reacts differently with the water. Get a book from Borders on Tropical Fish Systems and follow the instructions carefully. Buy a yellow tang, a kole tang, and a saddle wrass to start. They are hardy and will live in captivity. Good luck!

Answer 2

A 10 gallon tank is far too small, you would only be able to have one small fish to allow it to have room to grow. Any problems with the water will be magnified because of the small amount of water in the tank. You would be better waiting and getting a bigger tank at least 40 gallons should be OK for you start with. You will need a protein skimmer, which takes out all the fishes waste products. I would advise you to buy a good book and read up on everything you need before you start. They are difficult at first but once you get some experience it becomes easy, and once the tank is matured as long as you do regular water changes then you should have no problems. Good luck.

Answer 3

A ten gallon is going to be very limited as far as what you're able to keep. Only some smaller clown or shrimp gobies or a firefish would be suitable for that size, and in a 10 gallon tank, you could probably only keep one fish.

A 29 or 55 would be better and give you more flexibility with what you could keep. The main thing to keep in mind with saltwater is that the fish are naturally territorial, so if they get too crowded, they will be aggressive to any other fish in "their" space. Consider keeping marine fish similar to keeping aggressive cichlids. You can help out by selecting fish that are different colors and body shapes because the less the fish look like each other, the less the fish will see each other as rivals. Most fish, you will only be able to keep one of any fish from that family, although there are some species you can keep as mated pairs (clownfish, cardinalfish), and a very limited number that will be able to be kept as a school (chromis, scissortail gobies). In a 29 gallon, you might be able to keep 4 small-medium fish, and maybe 6-7 in a 55 depending on the types that are chosen. Some of the types that you might try (smaller and only semi-aggressive) are ocellaris clowns, chromis, cardinalfish, gobies, jawfish, some of the blennies, and smaller hawkfish (longnose hawkfish is one of my favorites).

You can use these links to find the minimum tank size needed for the marine fish I've mentioned and others which may interest you: http://www.marinedepotlive.com/
http://www.tropicalfishoutlet.com/
http://www.liveaquaria.com/

You can use your freshwater filter - as long as its the appropriate size for the tank. If you get a larger tank and filter, you may also want to get a powerhead to increase the circulation of water around the tank.

Answer 4

I disagree with the 1st 2 above..

10g is fine - you can use the same filter

Look learning to mix the salt isn't difficult and maintaining the levels isn't like brain surgery...

You can always go crazy later with corals, live rock, lighting, filters & different types of fish....

Get some sea anenome & a couple clown fish

When you do decide to get crazy in your purchases try these 2 sites for ordering, you would be crazy to buy at a retail location!!!

www.saltwaterfish.com & www.aquacon.com

Aquacon has the better customer service and will answer any questions you might have..

Good luck!

Answer 5

I started mine with a 39gal. and ran into problems with the fish not being able to see the food for quite a while. It was one of the corner tanks that are fairly deep. I ended up acclimating a 20gal. and transferred them into it. My Lionfish were much happier when they could stalk their live food. You should also have all your test kits and a little backup supply of salt, coral, and even food if your shop is anywhere out of town. Hope this helps. Don't forget a good heater.

Answer 6

Saltwater is a great hobby, but there is a LOT more to learn and know about sw then fw.
Go buy yourself a few books, check out reefcentral.com and learn as much as you can!!!
SW in a ten gal is possible but you are not going to be happy with in and need to upgrade very soon.
also there are a lot more chemical to stabils and in a smaller tank it's much harder. must sw people dont recommeed anything smaller then a 40 gal.

Answer 7

what i have found out is the smaller the tank the harder it is to maintain, as for the filter you just need a hang on the back filter with bio wheels cause the one of the places were bacteria collects.