What do you do with a 10 gal?

[Teelabrown]

Okay, I have been cycling this 10 gal for months now waiting for the perfect Dwarf Seahorses to come my way. Well, they haven't and now I have a clean 10 gal with tons of crawlies in it that are all very nice to have around and I'm starting to have second thoughts about the Zots.



The tank currently has tons of shrimp, pods, and bristleworms chugging along with some of the non-coral eating asterina starfish and a margarita snail. The cactus coral has found a new home. He wasn't doing well in either of our tanks. I've built a DSB in with an undergravel filter thinking of any potential baby Zots and was going to throw in a sifting star to keep dead zones out of the bed. I'm happy to change around the set up to some better filtration, a shallow bed, betting lighting, whatever. It would take two seconds.

So...
Dwarf Seahorses
Anemone Tank with some Clowns
Zoanthid tank
Cuttlefish
Amusing Crustaceans
Cow Fish
Sea Cucumbers

Or something else that would be nifty? There are tons of things Serv won't let me have because they die and nuke the tank, or they eat corals, or they borrow your shoes without returning them. Any suggestions?

[100%hydrophylic]

i would make it a zoanthid tank for the simple reason i like zoanthids . theres so mant different kind that you could have a beautiful diverse looking tank made of very similar organisms. Zoanthid nano reef for the win!

[Teelabrown]

Originally posted by 100%hydrophylic
i would make it a zoanthid tank for the simple reason i like zoanthids . theres so mant different kind that you could have a beautiful diverse looking tank made of very similar organisms. Zoanthid nano reef for the win!

Would you keep a fishie or something with them? After seeing April's Tank of the Month, I really could go for it.

[jbird69]

one anemone and mated clowns

[100%hydrophylic]

uh in a zoanthid tank? i personally love all species of goby lol. i would suggest a smaller "shrimp" goby like a yellow watchman. or maybe a neon goby. citrus clown gobies are cute too.

[Teelabrown]

Originally posted by jbird69
one anemone and mated clowns

Why just one? Serv found a really great looking mated pair of clowns for sale online, and I do love my percs. Could I get away with a couple anemones or are you suggesting I keep it to one and try to get the little guys to breed? Is there a bio-load problem with keeping more anemones?

Sorry for all the questions. I did TONS of research before starting this tank. I have done NONE on any of these options but I wanted some feedback on the ideas in general before devoting myself to all the reading.

[100%hydrophylic]

you will need alot better light if your going to get anemone. and yes. only one mated pair. if you put 2 mated pair (4 clowns) in that tank the best thing you can hope for is the two week ones get out competed and the two remaining breed. looking back i think i misread but ive seen tanks with multiple anemones. undergravel filters are kinda old tech though. might wanna keep bio load low. just my opinion though (STILL VOTING ZOA TANK! )

[Toddrtrex]

What lights do you have?

I would stay away from any hosting anemones. The fact of the matter is that they will all outgrow a 10 gallon tank. BTAs can/will get large, the last one I had was over 15" across when I sold it. Then there are the issues with water stability in smaller tanks.

[OwenInAZ]

Originally posted by 100%hydrophylic
you will need alot better light if your going to get anemone. and yes. only one mated pair. if you put 2 mated pair (4 clowns) in that tank the best thing you can hope for is the two week ones get out competed and the two remaining breed. looking back i think i misread but ive seen tanks with multiple anemones. undergravel filters are kinda old tech though. might wanna keep bio load low. just my opinion though (STILL VOTING ZOA TANK! )

Undergravels are low tech, but I still see people with them in nice tanks

I'd go zoanthids in a 10 gallon tank. Some LPS could be pretty cool, too -- like acans or caulastrea etc. If you put a beefy light you could even try out some SPS -- I got those to grow in a 2.5 gallon with 18W PC's a couple inches off the water.

[amore169]

I would go with some zoas and a pair of clowns.

[100%hydrophylic]

i wouldnt try SPS IMO........ well i always think of acropera when people say sps, so atleast stay away from acro for that little tank. for now at least.

[BuddhaKiss]

Mantis shrimp!!!

[insane]

Originally posted by BuddhaKiss
Mantis shrimp!!!

+1 cuz they are very cool looking.
But…..
Mantis shrimp or stomatopods are marine crustaceans, the members of the order Stomatopoda. They are neither shrimp nor mantids, but receive their name purely from the physical resemblance to both the terrestrial praying mantis and the shrimp. They may reach 30 cm (12 in) in length.
&
Many saltwater aquarists keep stomatopods in captivity. These aquarists may play a role in understanding the mysteries of the mantis shrimp. However, mantis shrimp are considered pests by other aquarium hobbyists because many smasher species create burrows in the exoskeletons of dead corals. These coral remains are useful in the marine aquarium trade and are often collected. It is not uncommon for a piece of coral skeleton, also known as live rock, to also ferry a live mantis shrimp into the aquarium that this live rock is placed into.Once inside the tank, they may feed on fish, corals and smaller crustaceans. However, when kept in species tanks, they are considered intriguing, as some are intelligent enough to be able to recognize their keepers by sight.They are notoriously difficult to catch when established in a well-stocked tank and although there are accounts of them breaking and destroying glass tanks, such incidents are very rare.
+
Smashers use their ability to attack snails, crabs, molluscs and rock oysters; their blunt clubs enabling them to crack the shells of their prey into pieces. Spearers, on the other hand, prefer the meat of softer animals, like fish, which their barbed claws can more easily slice and snag. Copied from here.

Use the KISS method (Keep It Simple Silly)

Keep a low bioload. Make your stock selection based on low light needs, hardier specimens (able to withstand swings in water chemistry), mature size it could grow into & compatability. Plan with those things in mind and your chances of success will be higher in a low volume system. I would dump the UG and just let your sandbed do the work. Increase your flow a little by adding a mini power head to break the water surface and add a nano skimmer. Add a little more cured quality LR to aid in biological filtration. Test your tank water for the basics. Use only RO water for top off & water exchanges.

I was sold a basic 10g freshwater setup with a couple of buckets of saltwater and an anemone when I was a kid by a local LFS that did not tell me anything. Guess what happened to the anemone?

You should first learn what your animal(s) will require before you spend your money or you are just throwing your money away on something you won’t get to keep for very long. Definitely a NO on SPS.

Trying to help you
become,
Insane

p.s. to BuddhaKiss. Put the needle on the record when the drumbeat goes like....... Yeah, me too. 23 years of clubs and 10 minute mixes. 50,000 mp3's. " Frankedj" Have had 3 pairs of 1200's. LOL

[insane]

Originally posted by Teelabrown
Okay, I have been cycling this 10 gal for months now waiting for the perfect Dwarf Seahorses to come my way. Well, they haven't and now I have a clean 10 gal with tons of crawlies in it that are all very nice to have around and I'm starting to have second thoughts about the Zots.

Dwarf Seahorse
(Hippocampus zosterae)
This tiny seahorse only reaches up to two inches, and is not an aggressive feeder. Therefore, they are typically kept in aquariums of ten gallons or less. They are usually fed newly-hatched brine shrimp, although they will also eat copepods and other shrimp larvae. Sometimes, adults can be trained to eat frozen or dried food. Because of their small size, "They must be fed at least twice a day, and many people feed them up to five times a day". The effort to keep a constant source of live food makes this a "very high maintenance" species that should probably be "avoided by inexperienced aquarists".

Unlike most marine fish, they will readily breed in the aquarium. Some of the young can usually survive in the tank with adults, but to get a high survival rate, they should be raised in separate tanks. Like the adults, they can live off of newly hatched brine shrimp; but unlike the adults, they cannot be trained to take food that isn't live.
Copied from here.

Do simple searches here to get a better basic understanding of the species you like to find out if they can survive and thrive in the ecosystem you are placing them into. If you find something that might work for you, then do more searches online to get an even better understanding of the creature.

The more time you spend upfront with researching the animals, the less money it will cost you in the long run.

Learn first, then do.

He do, she do & I do,
insane

[romsoccer12]

+69 on the mantis tank. just setup a 10gal for one recently

[ddinox64]

Use the KISS method (Keep It Simple Silly)

[HighlandReef]

10 gallons make great QTs

[Teelabrown]

Okay, the mantis kicks booty. I do really enjoy the weirder side of the ocean and he fits the bill nicely. That being said, anyone have any experience with cuttlefish or cowfish or sea cucumbers? You know, all the stuff that if they die they nuke the tank and are STILL really expensive, even though the LFS has had the poor things in a tiny back tank for months?

[CNoonan]

I used to breed dwarf seahorses. To this day I have yet to keep something as fascinating. Their easy too..

[ludnix]

Originally posted by Teelabrown
Okay, the mantis kicks booty. I do really enjoy the weirder side of the ocean and he fits the bill nicely. That being said, anyone have any experience with cuttlefish or cowfish or sea cucumbers? You know, all the stuff that if they die they nuke the tank and are STILL really expensive, even though the LFS has had the poor things in a tiny back tank for months?

None of those are really suitable for a 10 gallon tank in the long term. Cuttlefish can be difficult to keep and have a high bioload, cowfish can get up to 16", sea cucumbers might be do-able, but they won't be a very interesting pet.