Few Noobie Questions

[fishlover500]

What is coraline algae and what does it do?

What is aquascaping?

Should I do aqua scaping?

and for the stocking on a 10 gallon (not ready to be stocked yet but looking ahead)

what would you recommend?

I want a royal gramma for sure
and maybe a cardinal fish?


what is good affordable lighting that is 20 inches long and good for soft corals? as i might want to do
this eventually

 

[kj23502]

What is coraline algae and what does it do?

Coraline algae is the purple/red/yellow or green algae that grows on the rocks and spreads to the walls of the tank. It's said that it uses nitrates, as sw creatures don't do well w/nitrates. It's alot different than the nuisance algae. It doesn't fluff up or get poofy. It just spreads across the rock and glass. Some don't like it on the glass so they scrape it off.

What is aqua-scaping?

Basically how you design your tank and lay out the rock work.

Should I do aqua scaping?

Of course!! The tank is your canvas. Arrange the rock or decor to suite your taste.

and for the stocking on a 10 gallon (not ready to be stocked yet but looking ahead)
what would you recommend?

There's really not much you can put in there safely or happily, imo. I'll leave more experienced members to comment on this one.

what is good affordable lighting that is 20 inches long and good for soft corals? as i might want to do
this eventually

Still learning about this myself, so I'll leave the more experienced to comment

 

[ox5477]

Aquascaping is not only for aestetics, it can help improve flow through the tank and thereby health of the animals in the tank (both fish and corals)

10G is a little small for most fish... but you could have a small clean up crew of a couple smal astrea or turbo snails and hermits with maybe a clown goby... but some don't even like a clown goby in a tank this size... if you go for something this size or smaller, its prob gonna be just corals with a few inverts for your clean up crew.

There are quite a few manufacturers out there with small light all in one hoods. Would look at hoods that have T5 bulbs... this is the most bang for your buck lighting in the hobby and comes in a variety of sizes and spectrums. A hood with one 10K white and and 460nm actinic will prob be good for most softies... somethign like this... though shop around a bit and you could find a good deal... just remember, what you pay is what you get... a large manufacturer may charge more, but they usually come with a better warranty and usually a better piece of mind that it is going to work more reliably.

Ox

 

[xxBarneyxx]

What is coraline algae and what does it do?

Coraline Algae is a type of algae that will end up growing in most marine tanks. Typically it is purple in colour and is normally a good sign of a healthy tank.

What is aquascaping?
Should I do aqua scaping?

Aquascaping in general is just refering arranging the rocks and interior of the tank.

and for the stocking on a 10 gallon (not ready to be stocked yet but looking ahead)
what would you recommend?
I want a royal gramma for sure
and maybe a cardinal fish?

A 10 gallon is not big enough for a Royal gramma Im afraid. Min tank size is about 30g(US)/26g(UK).
Cardinal Fish also needs a min tank size of at least 25g(us)/20g(uk). For a 10g you are probably looking at some smaller gobys. Have a look at the link below for a fairly good list of smaller fish for a nano.
http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/aquariu...amp;pCatId=2124

what is good affordable lighting that is 20 inches long and good for soft corals? as i might want to do
this eventually

Depending on what you want to keep you might be able to get away with just 1 36w Power compact. These are about £30+tubes and a lot of soft corals would do fine under them. If you can get two that would be even better. Most of the PC lighting units just have the starter unit and the bit you plug the tubes into so you will need to fit them in your hood (or make your own hood).

My nano only has powercompacts in and while they are less then ideal you can still keep corals under them if you go for the right ones (corals that is).

 

[fishlover500]

What I thought royal grammas would do fine?!?!? I have been told more than 2 times on this forum that royal grammas would do fine and that list probably isn't good cause it says oscellaris clowns are fine I do want some real fish!!

Don't want gobys!!

The only fish I really like on that list are the

oscellaris clowns
Firefish, Helfrichi
and neon gobys

I have been told probably 5 times from different sources that 2-3 small fish are okay not just stupid corals!!!

What about fish like damsels and stuff aren't they small?

could someone make a list of FISH that could fit

 

[Nick16]

its not down to the size of fish, some small fish need lots of sapce as they are very active. 10g is very small. get a bigger tank if you can, at least 20g, im sure people wil agree, also the water parameters stay more stable as you have a bigger volume of water

 

[Musho3210]

What I thought royal grammas would do fine?!?!? I have been told more than 2 times on this forum that royal grammas would do fine and that list probably isn't good cause it says oscellaris clowns are fine I do want some real fish!!

Don't want gobys!!

The only fish I really like on that list are the

oscellaris clowns
Firefish, Helfrichi
and neon gobys

I have been told probably 5 times from different sources that 2-3 small fish are okay not just stupid corals!!!

What about fish like damsels and stuff aren't they small?

could someone make a list of FISH that could fit

Woah buddy, calm down, ive been told about 100 times that goldfish can live in fishbowls.....

 

[shibby]

What I thought royal grammas would do fine?!?!? I have been told more than 2 times on this forum that royal grammas would do fine and that list probably isn't good cause it says oscellaris clowns are fine I do want some real fish!!

Don't want gobys!!

The only fish I really like on that list are the

oscellaris clowns
Firefish, Helfrichi
and neon gobys thought you didnt like gobys?

I have been told probably 5 times from different sources that 2-3 small fish are okay not just stupid corals!!!

What about fish like damsels and stuff aren't they small?

could someone make a list of FISH that could fit

and i agree with musho ive been told millions of times the goldfish thing, can a goldfish live in a bowl, to a certain extent for a few months, is it a succesful long lived life for them, thats a hell no.

10g small gobys, shrimp, crabs, corals. especially since you a noobie controlling a 10g is hard one little thing goes wrong your be looking at zero fishies.

clowns dont move much in the wild but still i dont think its right to put something that gets to a godo size in a small tank.

 

[Musho3210]

I researched for 9 months, did everything by the book, ignored warnings on newbies taking care of nano tanks. My 20 gallon crashed within 3 months. Luckily only lost about 50$ worth of stuff because the tank was new.

I overdosed kalkwasser that i dripped in because i believed a dumb test kit that my alk was just a little low.


Anyway, nano's arent the way to go, my tank was a death zone for a whole month, i did daily water changes but it still took a month to take the "poison" out. I had a zoa colony survive and a torch coral, candy cane, frogspawn, ricordia mushrooms, regular mushrooms, all died (fish made it through).

I followed the rules and still pretty much failed (in the beginning)

Make the right choice, dont start with a nano, and if you must, don't only listen to the things you want to hear.

 

[kj23502]

What I thought royal grammas would do fine?!?!? I have been told more than 2 times on this forum that royal grammas would do fine and that list probably isn't good cause it says oscellaris clowns are fine I do want some real fish!!

Don't want gobys!!

The only fish I really like on that list are the

oscellaris clowns
Firefish, Helfrichi
and neon gobys

Then transfer the sand and things you have to a bigger tank. Go read some of the links in the nano pinned section and the marine and reef chit chat section.

Like I said, I don't think you've read enough. I haven't even set up a marine tank yet and I can answer 75% of the questions you've asked just by the research I've done.

For the sake of your future fishies, read some more before you go further

 

[@ombomb]

I have been told probably 5 times from different sources that 2-3 small fish are okay not just stupid corals!!!

i've been told santa comes down the chimney at christmas...

a firefish would be fine in there, but other than that it is a case of small gobies or blennies really. you could look for a goby / shrimp pair which are extremely interesting to watch. dwarf seahorses would be good for a 10g, but not a good place to start in your first marine tank imo

a 10G is a very small, limiting tank, which is why a 30 is more commonly recommended as a starter

 

[fishlover500]

What would the price range be for a goby/shrimp pair and I will try and get some books and read more on the subject.
Would a firefish and a goby/shrimp pair be okay?

 

[chrissaysyes]

Depends on the species really...

You mentioned a firefish earlier. They generally run around $15-20. Maybe less in some places. A cleaner shrimp would do nicely in there...theyre about the same price. Maybe you'd like to check out a blood shrimp for more color? Theyre a bit more pricey and slightly harder to come by. You could do a firefish, a clown goby, and a shrimp. Hell, I'd put two young shrimp in that tank. Just dont go overstocking on fish or trying to put something in there that we warn you will need more room or grow too large.

 

[Musho3210]

Dont do 2 pistol shrimps though, could be asking for trouble. You could do a pistol and 2 cleaner/blood/peppermint I guess.

 

[fishlover500]

I don't mind that idea chris w/ firefish, goby, shrimp

I initially wanted bloodshrimp and my lfs has them but not gonna get from there cause they are $50-55 maybe online?
What are some good online stores other than ebay that ship North Am.

Why put 2 young shrimp in tank?
Also trying to look at snails for cuc I know lfs has black turbo snail @2.50 but not sure of others could someone guide me on a good mixture so I don't have 8 cleaning the same thing?

Also wanted to inquire on what wuld I need to do a fo tank? just a filter w/ cartridge cause I'm not looking forward to buying another few pounds of live rock. I have 3.5 lbs of live rock in it now and about 3-4 lbs of lava rock so they seed eventually but is it okay if I have a good size hob filter with cartridge in to do the rest??

ALSo

ARE THERE ANY DAMSELS THAT ARE OKAY IN THIS SIZE tank?