Starting 10 gallon tank...

[ChrisMan123]

Hey, I'm starting a 10 gallon tank... i have live rock, sand, a skimmer, 2 powerheads and a filter and everything I need because my family has a 120 gallon reef tank set up with a bunch of little tanks downstairs below it... so I've decided to make the 10 gallon my own to see if I like it.. if I do i might invest in a nano cube aquarium.. if not i can always just bring the tank back downstairs with the rest of the tanks... so either way I'm not wasting any materials or anything... but with starting this tank im not sure where to start exactly... we have lots of live rock and the water im using is from my family setup so its ready to go, I might take some small corals (soft) and some polyps that are easy to keep to start off from our sump... and some hermit crabs and snails probably, I have a 15W Flurescent bulb so i might need to upgrade that eventually but does anyone know of anything that can be kept with that type of lighting, I know its not much... but in the future i was thinking about getting an anenome and clownfish and I know that might not be efficient lighting for an anenome... and I don't know what fish to start out with... so with all that being said, my 2 questions are 1. What type of organisms can I can keep with that sort of lighting at the moment? and 2. What kinds of fish should i start off with in my tank?

[BLKTANG]

Softies
2-fish since your skimming.
[welcome]

[ChrisMan123]

any specific kinds of fish? and why 2 because Im skimming, just wondering...

[BLKTANG]

Clowns,Damsels,stuff like that,nothing that is gonna outgrow its environment.

I say 2 because of the bio-load,10g is a small amount of water.I have 1 fish in my 10g,no skimming 20% Water changes weekly.

[nonamesright]

id stick with a single fish, but its your tank. be very regular on water changes and id definetly upgrade the lighting before any corals go in. a powerquad or 80 watt pc fixture should be cheap and effective.

[ChrisMan123]

so with skimming would i have to do less water changes?

[BLKTANG]

id say 20% a week with 2 fish,& skimming.

[ChrisMan123]

alright thanks, so I'll keep the number of fish down to 2 until I decide whether or not I'm going to upgrade to the Nano Cube or not, then i'll have 12 or 24 gallons instead of 10 but I'd probably go for the 24 gallon Nano Cube Deluxe if I really enjoy it... or maybe the 12 gallon deluxe (definitely deluxe cuz the lighting is much more efficient) but I'm still not sure 12 or 24 but I'll have to wait and see... thanks again

[BLKTANG]

Do some research ive heard here that the jbj 12g only holds like 10g or something like that.

[ChrisMan123]

yeah I'm going to look into them while I have the 10g setting up and while its running... but yeah that wouldnt be much of an upgrade except for lighting... so I'd probably go for the 24 gallon deluxe... and I'm not sure if I can fit my skimmer or some sort of skimmer under the hood of the Nano Cube either... so I'll have to look more into them

[nonamesright]

24's have a reputation of cracking, and neither the 12 dx or 24 dx have a whole lot of light.

[ChrisMan123]

oh thats good to know... I'll keep looking into them, the ones ive seen so far have all been new tanks so I wouldnt be able to hear from them of the cracking but I'll keep the lack of light in mind and maybe invest in an all glass aquarium to avoid cracking, i just like the idea of having everything right under the hood the whole system kinda thing... but thanks

[nUgZ]

if you are primarily interested in the fish, i wouldn't go with a nano....most nano-reefers are more concerned about the corals they keep...some don't keep any fish at all.

[vanmo92]

in my ten gallon (i have a 20 now) I had 1 seargent major, 3 chromis, 2 prcula clowns 2 hermits a snail, and about 4 lbs of live rock. all the fish thrived and did extremly well. just be sure to add the sergant major last, or at the same time as the others. for corals i recommend more like 10 lbs of live rock. and the coralife 96 watt light is better.

[birdie]

and how long was that tank sucessfully maintained?

[ChrisMan123]

yeah that many fish in 10 gallons seems like alot... but i'll take any information so thanks and id also like to know how long that tank thrived for...