Thinking of a Perc Nano

[caffeinefiend]

Newbie question here

I've had lots of success with small freshwater tanks over the years, and was thinking of trying to branch out and make a small saltwater tank.

The largest size tank I could get, because I live in a campus apartment, is a 10 gallon.

Since clown fish have been my favorites since as long as I've known fish, I'd like to put in a clown fish. Is 10 gallons too small for one?

Would I need to get live rock, or anenomes, or anything like that? I'm used to fresh water, where I can just use fake plants...but I don't want my fish to be unhappy

 

[1979camaro]

ten gallons would be fine for a pair of percs or ocellaris

live rock would be a definite yes, anemones are not needed for clowns and would not be a good choice for a nano tank

there are a lot of posts about similar ideas on here, i reccomend looking through those

 

[zanoshano]

read soem of the stickies. 2 clowns would be fine, i just got 2 today myslef, lol. I would recomend about 8-10 lbs of LR. I would NOT recomend anenomes/corals if your just starting out.

 

[1979camaro]

I would recomend anenomes/corals if your just starting out.

I think there should be a not in there

 

[caffeinefiend]

ten gallons would be fine for a pair of percs or ocellaris

live rock would be a definite yes, anemones are not needed for clowns and would not be a good choice for a nano tank

I will be moving from one apartment to another. I've never had any problems moving my freshwater fish, would moving kill the live rock and all?

 

[something]

I think there should be a not in there

agreed, anemonies arent a great choice for such a small tank if you dont have the right requirements.


As far as moving stuff, as long as you keep the LR wet it should be ok.

 

[caffeinefiend]

read soem of the stickies. 2 clowns would be fine, i just got 2 today myslef, lol. I would recomend about 8-10 lbs of LR. I would recomend anenomes/corals if your just starting out.

I live by the shore. Live rock is just rock from the ocean, right? Could I just get some sand and rocks from there to use in my tank? (this is the Atlantic coast, in NJ, if it matters)

 

[1979camaro]

no you cannot

first off, its generally illegal to take from the ocean without a permit
secondarily, and more practically, the stuff you would take from the NJ coast is not tropical and would most likely die

 

[something]

and, ummmm, its from NJ.

 

[caffeinefiend]

no you cannot

first off, its generally illegal to take from the ocean without a permit
secondarily, and more practically, the stuff you would take from the NJ coast is not tropical and would most likely die

Not even sand? I mean, there are no rocks I could take from here...lol, I'm sure not diving this time of the season.

What alternatives are there to live rocks? Can I just use predominantly regular rocks in the aquarium, with one or two lbs of live rock added in? I don't want to have any corals or zoos or anything. What about fake plants?

Thanks for your reply.

 

[caffeinefiend]

and, ummmm, its from NJ.

Believe me, the water here is not as polluted as it's made out to be.

 

[something]

Yeh, its prob worse back in CT where im from (darn millstone power plant)

 

[1979camaro]

regardless of the water quality,it won't work

live rocks are really your best bet, they provide all of the biological filtration your tank will need...read up on some of the other posts and you will find lots of infor on seeding non-live rock

you can use plastic plants in SW...they make some plastic macro algaes and plastic corals

 

[caffeinefiend]

you can use plastic plants in SW...they make some plastic macro algaes and plastic corals

I wasn't sure if saltwater fish would try to eat plastic plants. Are the sorta fabric-ish ones ok, too, do you think?

I don't care so much about whether they look like they're ocean plants, I just want something that will provide cover and look nice, and make the fish happy.

 

[zanoshano]

ya camaro, i definetly meant to put a not in there. how did i miss a whole word...lol. The fish will not eat your plants, dotn worry about that.

 

[caffeinefiend]

ya camaro, i definetly meant to put a not in there. how did i miss a whole word...lol. The fish will not eat your plants, dotn worry about that.

Oh, that's great! Because I love tanks with pants.

So, if I provide enough hidey-holes (I've got a lot of bleached coral and two queen conch shells that I've collected on research trips over the years), and lots of plants, do you think that would suffice for a one clownfish in 10 gallons?

And, if I don't use LR, or just one piece, does that mean I should use a damselfish to cycle? I'd rather like to have something swimming around while it's sitting there for a month. I also read that throwing in two plain-old supermarket shrimp to decompose and rot is a good way to cycle a saltwater tank...

Also, I noticed you have a cichlid tank. I have one too, and add a little bit of kosher salt to the tank for them. When I set up my saltwater tank, can I use kosher salt, or do I need to use the kind the LFS supplies?

 

[zanoshano]

PLANTS : lol, i meant that they will not eat your plastic plants, lol. But i do believe that your only putting percs in here? In that case, they probably will not eat your live plants.

CYCLING : Well, what size of this "one piece" rock are you planning opn getting. I think any amount will be sufficient. I would just get a few small pieces. About cycling with fish, i would not recomend it. I made that mistake this year when i started up my 38 G. My LFS owner said that he would get me 12 damsels to start off the cycle, he said that in a month or two, he woudl buy back whatever was left, well i returned to him a couple weeks ago with ALL 12 FISH. He thought that wa s rediculous and told me that he didnt want to buy them back from me. Luckily i didnt bring the fish with me this trip, or i woudl have bagged them up for nothing... Its not neccesary to cycle with fish if you have LR. you dont want to risk the fish just for the cycle anyway. btw, clownfish are a damsel, so if you wanted clownfish, and we aleready gonna cycle with a damsel, you might as well just get the clowns. All my cycle fish lived in a brand new tank, dont see why yours wouldnt.

 

[1979camaro]

or you could not harm the fish and cycle with the dead shrimp or the LR...as far as how much, trying to run a 10g nano system without at least 8# of LR is going to cause you headaches

 

[zanoshano]

2nd camaro. Be sure to just get the amount that you plan on having in there the first trip around the pet store, lol. Because if you get 5lbs now, and 5lbs later, your cycling starts all over w ith the second set. just get the full amount and more, and ur cycling will pass faster. The more the better, less maintinence, more biological filtration. what kind of filter are u running again?

 

[caffeinefiend]

2nd camaro. Be sure to just get the amount that you plan on having in there the first trip around the pet store, lol. Because if you get 5lbs now, and 5lbs later, your cycling starts all over w ith the second set. just get the full amount and more, and ur cycling will pass faster. The more the better, less maintinence, more biological filtration. what kind of filter are u running again?

It's an Aqua Clear. Aqua Clear 20, I think. It's worked great for my freshwater tank.