help me decide plz

[ladyfsu]

OK my dad (who is 72) loves fish tanks and had one years ago but never was well maintained. My mom was ready to kill him over it. I've learned to be a semi-decent aquarium person.

I am NOT a person with much money. I want to get him this cute 10 gallon nano tank with pc lights and filter for father's day and his b-day. I also have plenty of live sand and rock for him.

Please help me decide what would be the prettiest, most intersting and hardest to kill . He saw my pom-pom xenia and loved it so I know I'll get him that. But what else?

I'm thinking 3-4 semi-cheap and hardy corals, and 2-3 small bright fish (and maybe a serpent star or cleaner shrimp).

Please let me know your thoughts about what would look bright, interesting and not too complicated. Thx.

(ps ... I'm gonna try to work an anthias into this maybe...they are my fav's and I don't even own one ).

My thoughts on fish are:

1. percula clown
2. neon cleaner wrasse
3. yellow shrimp goby
4. well not fish but....small serpent star or a pistol shrimp

Corals are:

1. pom-pom xenia
2. a few frags of my shrooms
3. (hmmm....don't know...maybe something for the clown? or zoo's.....)

I will start cooking on this in a week so plz let me know. If anything ever gets too big, I'll move it to my big tank and get him something new.

...edit: oh yeah...I have about $100 to spend on livestock. I already have him the xenia, sand, rock and shrooms.

[Reefeross]

Okay, I would really suggest you get a skimmer, it well help in case your dad isn't exactly on top of water changes if you get my drift. Try a Bac-Pac or maybe a Remora for that tank. I would stay away from SERPANT stars, they have been known to consume small fish, but other stars would be okay as long as they are reefsafe. A cleaner shrimp would be great in this set-up. I suppose you mean Neon Goby and not wrasse, Cleaner wrasses need very large tanks and its not very ethical to keep them. A percula, a pair of Neons, and some other type of Goby (A Shrimp goby if you wish) would be fine. Also, all those fish are available captive bred, I would HIGHLY reccomend you hunt down CB specimens, they are much harder to kill . I would stay away from the Anthias, they need to be kept in large groups and need lots of space. The Corals you wanted should be fine, start with Shrooms and Zoos and then get Xenia and maybe some softies if theres room. What wattage/temperature are the lights? A two PC unit with 10K and Actinic should work.

As for cost, the most expensive thing will be the skimmer, but it is probably the most important thing for this set up. Try to save for one, you won't regret it. It sounds like you know plenty to me, you should be fine. Good luck and happy reefing!

[SpaceAce]

Anthias are hard to keep and need swimming room. Not an easy choice. Brainszoos and ricordias are easy. If he isnt good at routine upkeep, a larger tank could be harder for him to crash. Larger will tolerate more neglect than nano.

[goda]

keep the fish number down to one or 2 small fish
3 is pushing it if he dosnt keep up with maintance

[ladyfsu]

My parents watch my daughter so I see him everyday. I will have no problem doing water changes for him very frequently. I will look into the skimmer still. Do they make nano-skimmers???? ( guess I should research that).

The anthias...yeah, i won't get him one. I just want one so bad but my husband may shoot me if I get anything else for our tank at home for a while.

OK so I'm all about the perc, 2 neon gobies, and maybe a shrimp goby (of course with a shrimp ).

....no serpent
....no anthias

I guess a 6-line needs more room too? They are incredibly pretty and not crazy expensive. And what about the little pygmy angel...forget what he's called....flame angel or something...? OK I'm asking and apologize for brainstorming on the forums and not researching. I just know so many people have learned by error that you don't "research."

[WaterKeeper]

Hi Lady,

For a 10 gallon your fish list is too large. You really want to limit it to a single small fish and have coral as the centerpiece. I take it you do want a colorful fish however so I might suggest a small fairy wrasse, Cirrhilabrus sp..

[goda]

they make nano fision but it isnt that great

i saw somthing by aquamedic
it is a 9 gallon tank with built in fuge and skimmer

[lilprincess]

and a pygmy angel is too big for a 10 gal

[Reefeross]

I'm fairly sure there is some reefsafe star you could put in there. If you get a Pistol I'd be careful about putting any other shrimp in there, Pistols prey on smaller shrimp. Yeah, I'd stay away from a six-line, they aren't very friendly to small fish either.

[ladyfsu]

Thank you! I'm getting a percula, 2 little cleaner goby's and either a jaw fish or a little yellow goby. I can do a 2-3 gallon water change every 1-2 weeks.

I'll put about 2 inches of LS, and maybe 10 lbs of live rock.

Pom-pom's and shrooms is all for now for inverts, except for basic blue-legs and snails. Maybe some macro of some kind. If it starts looking too full as I think it thought, I'll not put it all in. I think 4 inches of fish could survive in there though.

[jenzabear]

If you are going to put a Jawfish in there, you are gonna need a deeper sand bed than 2" probably more like 4". I just got a pair in my 72 gallon and they are the most amazing fish, but can also be frustrating because if they get spooked they will jump out of the tank. But they are the neatest fish to observe and there colour is amazing. Maybe just a tank with two jawfish would be great.

[ladyfsu]

Someone just donated a large tank to our school with a jawfish and that's where I learned about them last week. It's SOO beautiful and funny! You are right about the sand bed.