Saltwater fish!

[ChateauPoisson]

Hi there! We recently bought a saltwater tank with live rock, and we were hoping to eventually get some corals and fish! Our tank is 10 gallons.

We were thinking about a pair of clown fish, and maybe a Royal Gramma? Any suggestions? Do you think these three fish would be too many?

Any help would be excellent!

[Proteus]

Should be fine but that be max

[Dearth]

Gobies would be another alternative

[lpsreefer]

on a side note.
was the live rock cycled already?

[ChateauPoisson]

Originally Posted by lpsreefer

on a side note.
was the live rock cycled already?

I believe the rock we bought has already been cycled. We were told it could be ready to receive a hermit crab the next day.

[Madreefer]

Your tank is not near ready. Any reputable store would never suggest what you were told. I wouldnt go back. Go get yourself some test kits and start doing alot of research. IME royal grammas are too aggressive and a 10g is too small for a pair of clowns. There's a fair amount of newbies that read alot and like to give advice. Most of it is wrong so try to take advice with those who have actual experience in the hobby.

[Coralgurl]

Did you buy a new set up or an established tank? If its a new set up, you need to let the tank cycle. Pick up test kits and learn how to use them. Ask a ton of questions here. Be wary of lfs advice.

Tell us a bit more about your tank (equipment, lighting, filtration) and what you'd like to do with it. That will help get you the advice you need to get off to a good start!

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Your tank is not near ready. Any reputable store would never suggest what you were told. I wouldnt go back. Go get yourself some test kits and start doing alot of research. IME royal grammas are too aggressive and a 10g is too small for a pair of clowns. There's a fair amount of newbies that read alot and like to give advice. Most of it is wrong so try to take advice with those who have actual experience in the hobby.

Assuming you bought rock from a store, this is very good advice. Even if you bought the system used and simply did a transfer to your home, there is no way your tank is ready for inhabitants the very next day. The person that told you that has limited experience and/or understanding of the nitrogen cycle. I agree that a Royal Gramma is likely to get too aggressive in a 10-gallon tank. Someone suggested Gobies, which would be a great option. Some Gobies pair up with Pistol Shrimp and make a very interesting display. Do a Google search for "shrimp gobies". All of the ones with reasonable price tags are easy to care for - just make sure they are eating before you buy them.

You will need an ammonia test kit and a nitrate test kit at the very minimum. If you want to keep costs down, API makes a reasonably accurate test kit for both of these. If you stick to soft corals you don't need other test kits, but monthly testing at an LFS for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium is a good idea. If you buy hard corals you should probably buy cal, alk, mg kits for yourself (Elos, Hanna, and Salifert are all ok. API not so much).

That aside, you need to monitor ammonia for the next week at least. If there is absolutely NO ammonia showing up then the rock was cured (cycled). Likely, there will be some die-off even in a tank transfer if the rock was exposed to air at any point for longer than a few minutes.

Please take a read through the link in my signature about curing live rock.

[intarsiabox]

I personally really like firefish in a small tank, the purple ones add a bit more color. Also don't overlook various shrimps to make up for having only a fish or two. Cleaner shrimp are very pretty and interact readily with people. Blood shrimp are a bit pricey but also look great. As mentioned earlier a goby paired with a pistol shrimp is also very interesting to watch. Hermit crabs can be good or bad as some will be completely docile while others will kill snails for their shells and irritate some corals. Personally I just stick to snails.

[JmeJReefer]

Originally Posted by Myka

Assuming you bought rock from a store, this is very good advice. Even if you bought the system used and simply did a transfer to your home, there is no way your tank is ready for inhabitants the very next day. The person that told you that has limited experience and/or understanding of the nitrogen cycle. I agree that a Royal Gramma is likely to get too aggressive in a 10-gallon tank. Someone suggested Gobies, which would be a great option. Some Gobies pair up with Pistol Shrimp and make a very interesting display. Do a Google search for "shrimp gobies". All of the ones with reasonable price tags are easy to care for - just make sure they are eating before you buy them.

You will need an ammonia test kit and a nitrate test kit at the very minimum. If you want to keep costs down, API makes a reasonably accurate test kit for both of these. If you stick to soft corals you don't need other test kits, but monthly testing at an LFS for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium is a good idea. If you buy hard corals you should probably buy cal, alk, mg kits for yourself (Elos, Hanna, and Salifert are all ok. API not so much).

That aside, you need to monitor ammonia for the next week at least. If there is absolutely NO ammonia showing up then the rock was cured (cycled). Likely, there will be some die-off even in a tank transfer if the rock was exposed to air at any point for longer than a few minutes.

Please take a read through the link in my signature about curing live rock.

+1. Ur tank needs a cycle cured or uncured.
Livestock-wise. Gobies are small. So one can have a few in a ten gallon! They are rather interesting. A firefish or similar in size. On a side note, from experience with masked gobies. Redhead. And a coral goby, they have a knack for jumping. Lost a few souls to the linoleum until I caught on! Royal grammas, dotty backs are territorial, and the dotty back will create sandstorms from digging tunnels in the sand! A very interesting setup would be straight gobies/blennies (tailspot, two spot, bi color) with sexy shrimp cleanup crew. All nano creatures in a nano setup! Good luck! And for shame on the individual who tried to shortcut ya on the cycle! And money!