10 gallon salwater beginner help

GradyBaby16

Ok so i have a 10 gallon Top fin tank so far these are things i have and done

1) live sand substrate
2) sea salt
3) Coral life protein skimmer 65
4) 2 bulbs of those blue and white super bright light for coral and reef growing
5) hydrometer
6) Filter
7) heater
8) thermometer

and that is about it. so here are my questions

1) am i ready to put living things in here?

2) should i start with rock, fish, invertabrates (shrimp, crab), coral, reef?

3) ok first i was running just the pre packaged topfin filter that came with the tropical fish aquarium but i believe it may only b for saltwater i did little research and installed a protien skimmer, question now is do i leave protein skimmer alone, filter alone, or run both at the same time

thanks for any help and advice it is well appreciated

teddyzaper

if you are going to run the filter, i would take out all the filter material and throw a bag of activated carbon in there.

First you will need to get a water test kit, they are sold at any local fish store. Right now dont get anything but rock, what type of light is it? it should say the wattage and the kelvin level of it. what tempature is your water and what is your salinity at?

I would do a bit more reaserch online and read some articles in the member submited articles section. ill post a link here: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...tted-articles/ read some of the newer saltwater posts, like the begginer guide to saltwater cycleing, marine stocking list, and difference between freshwater and saltwater filtration, ill post the links here:
fish compatability: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...ng-list-38579/

selecting healthy fish: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...hy-fish-35145/

intro to saltwater: Introduction To Salt Water

most important one how filtration differs from freshwater: http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/m...shwater-31955/



enough of me talking :P if you have any questions dont hesitate, i asked some of the sillyest questions and ppl here made me feel like they were legitimate questions, so my point is we wont put u down :P.

P.S. the best way to a succesful tank is patience and lots of questions. GOOD LUCK ON THE TANK!

GradyBaby16

light: i forgot ill check after work, but the guy at my LFS and me where talkin and i told him what kind of light for a planted aquarium and reef and he kept tellin me my stock lights will b to dull for saltwater and planted and gave me these lke $40 lights and i plugged dem up and dere half blue half white and on the box it says saltwater reef and fresh, so ill look again

temperature: its like at 78 - 80 because i left it set after my fresh water, is dat right?

Salinity: ok it was 1.028 and when i installed skimmer it took out lke 2 - 3 inches of water so i added some this morning plain tap water and im hoping it will drop the salinity some to lke 1.025 - 1.026

ok i still dont understand the filter, so what yoiu are sayin is that i need both skimmer and filter? so when u say take out all filter material what is that, i have the whole 8 unassembled filters that come with black rocks( i assume carbon) the filter frame, and the white filter to cover it all. so are you telling me to remove the filter it self and just pour the rocks into the topfin filter? i dont know im confused easily lol

Im thinking i may not have a 10 gallon for long and i may move it to my 37 or buy a 50 -65 when i can afford because this damn skimmer took up a chunk of my tank and looks super ugly and is so loud all i hear is water and a cricket noise all night :/ and i dont think rocks will hide it

Thanks for your help thus far though :D

GradyBaby16

I think i found the lighting online while at work

its two of these coral life mini compact 50/50 lke 20 watt bulbs so 40w total he said it would b enough and it seems pretty damn bright but more of lke a purplish color than blue and white idk.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/tc-photos/11...ard/505253.jpg

GradyBaby16

God i really wanna swap my tanks
i wanna change my fresh water back to the 10 and my salt to the 37, it would be easier to maintain and better but i have too many fish in dat 37 that itll overcroud the ten and not to mention moving all the gravel, water, and decorations out that deep thing will b hard as hell, but my saltwater would be a waste and id have to get new live sand and new salt :/ and the lights for the 37 would b over $100 ugh nvm ill just try this first

ok heres the aquarium living list, let me know what you think is it to much or a bad combination

1) live rock
2) Percula Clownfish
3) Black And White Percula Clownfish ( or that fish form nemo called "dori" lol )
4) small crab
5) Shrimp ( any type thats there just one)
6) Starfish
7) two snails
8) i really really want reef/coral/anemone but i think im not allowed or w/e in a 10 gallon

:D hows it sound good, bad, terrible idea?

trukgirl

Dory is a blue tang - I wouldn't put one in less than 100g.
The article here suggests not lower than a 125g.
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/p...fic-blue-tang/

Also there are people that sucessfully have corals in small tanks like ours, you have to have the right lighting.
I was planning on getting a chocolate chip starfish but I was told it will get too big for a 10g.

GradyBaby16

Good news, i got a nice deal on craigs list where i snatched a 15 gallon with custom built stand and custom built refugium underneath :D im so happy it was all for $125, custom stand, 10 gallon refugium, 15 gallon, drilled, pipes, power strip, heater, protien skimmer, everything basically except lights which i have and the place i picked it up are getting new led lights so there selling lke there $200 lights for 30 things r lookin up :D, will post pics later of both old 10 and what my new setup will b

GradyBaby16

oh yeah im probalbly just going to stick with the two small clown fish, i just like the colors they make and how the shrim, crabs, and fish can hide in them... thanks.. so no dori lol

teddyzaper

looks like your off to a great start! two lownfish in such a small tank is a bad idea. they can get territorial and fight. in a 15gal you can easily have corals and shrimp. i wouldnt add a starfish or crabs, crabs are know to eat corals, and starfish can get anoying and some get to big (some will topple rocks). if i was you i would looki into some kind of goby or damsels. they would go nicely with a clown. thats a great deal on a tank. for the sump you should have live sand live rock and a lot of macro algea (good algea), you will also need a light which you can get for around $30 online, some are called sump light and some are normal lights. what kind of skimmer is it, is it hang on or in sump? also in the sump there are many different ways to set it up, you can do filter media and bio balls, refugium (most stable way), or a mix between both. i would personaly go with a refuge because they will keep the tank the most stable. also, if you got some money, check out JBJ clamp on light, i would go 150watts with air fan, with this light you can look at your tank from the top also.

GradyBaby16

teddyzaper can you go here to help me :D plz thankyou My Saltwater Build