Newbe with a ?

:-/Hi Everyone-

So i have a few questions, my wonderful hubby was nice enough to set me up with a little 10 gallon tank on my night stand that was "totally mine" (mostly to keep me away from 'his' 55 gallon). He makes me do the water changes, feed the fish, test my levels, yadda yadda yadda but we disagree about alot of things. Some things I read, other things hes experienced and then what the people in our fish store tell me. So heres what I want to know, I have a 10 gallon like i said, 8.4lbs of live rock, and 2 baby false clown fish, their ALMOST an inch long. (so cute! ;D). It was a loooong process for me to even get thos efish in there because my tank had to cycle then i had a mantis and i had to get him out . Now that my levels are good and the fish are good i want more!!! Would i be over populating my tank if i got 2 more baby clown fish (like i said not even an inch long) and 1 or 2 emrald crabs??

I understand that i have a little tank and my amonia and nitrates could go up easily, but i do a 40% water change (about 4 gallons) in my tank EVERY SINGLE week with out fail. Would i be okay??

Let me know what ya'll think

Thanks!!

 

Firstly, Welcome to 3Reef!!!

Have you been helping on his 55 gallon (meaning you have a lot of experience)?

4 clowns in a 10 gallon is asking for trouble. Remember, they won't stay that small for long. You will not only have waste problems (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates), you'll also have fighting issues.

 

I mean i help out as much as he lets me.... Which is little to none, haha. Im more of an observer, thats why he got me the 10 gallon. Okay, so the fish are out. I dont want anyone fighting. What about 2 emrald crabs. Would they be okay to be put in a 10 gallon tank?

 

Yes, you could do a couple emerald crabs.

Why don't you try to get some other things? Maybe 1 emerald crab, a clown goby, and a fire shrimp. (Just throwing out ideas)

 

ALWAYS populate a reef tank according to the fishes full adult size, not how big they are today. You are maxed out now in a 10 gallon in my opinion. I keep two false percs in a sebae anemone and a yellow watchman in my 16G and thats the limit for it too. Things can go south very quickly in a small system no matter how well you care for it.

 

i would love to have fire shrimp!! thats what i really want but hubby and people at the fish store keeps telling me i have to do everything in twos. Is that true?

So im really maxed out? Ugh! thats si disapointing. I would honestly be happy just getting more rock, i looooove looking at the crazy things that come out of the rock, but i had a mantis and it took close to 4 weeks to try to get him out, and even then i didnt actually catch him i ended up giving the rock a fresh water bath and he came out and eventually died =0(

 

I suspect you're misunderstanding what they are meaning. If you put a baby clown in a 10 gallon, waited 3 or 4 weeks, and dropped another baby clown in there....well, then, "IT'S ON". The brand new baby clown would be dead in no time at all. There is an intruder in HIS TERRITORY and it must be killed. If you put them in together at the same time, there's no territory issues. With that said, I do hope you understand that eventually they are both going to have to be moved to the 55 gallon. They will eventually outgrow the 10 gallon even with large weekly waterchanges.

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Get the hubby to upgrade and take over the 55 8)

Your definitely maxed out on fish, but you could add in a couple small inverts if you like. You certainly do not have to add shrimp or crabs in "twos". personally, I would get a peppermint shrimp or 2, few hermits / snails, an emerald crab, and maybe that blood shrimp if your confident in your abilities to keep the parameters stable.

~Will.

 

welcome

just want to throw this out there bc I have a lot of trouble keeping shrimp, I would definitely get a peppermint shrimp (cheap) and see if it lives for 3-4 months. Mine always die around 3 months so I am not even going to try an expensive blood shrimp. No shrimp for Peredhil.

 

i didnt know shrimp were hard to keep. good to know because the fire shrimp at my store are 50 each, so getting 2 of them is a little pricey, esp if im just going to kill them.

Hubby has quite the set up and seriously has NEVER had a problem with ANYTHING. I guess he had a fish tank before we got together but around 7-8 months ago we set up his 55 gallon and i was just amazed at everything.

Booo my clowns are gonna out grow my 10 for real?? If i knew that i would have kept my mantis.... He was very odd, and a pain because i wanted fish so bad but very fasinating.

Thanks for everyones imput!! <3