saltwater fish for a small aquarium?

If this is your first salt water tank, i HIGHLY suggest you start with a minimum of 55 gallons.

I am very experienced in fish keeping, and had a 10g saltwater tank which I was only able ot maintain for about 6 months. It is just so hard to keep a tank of that size stable enough for a sensitive saltwater environment. In a tank that small, all you would be able to keep is one occelaris clown fish and a cleaner shrimp for example.

For any saltwater aquarium you will need:

hydrometer

thermometer

heater

skimmer

marine salt

live rock

sand/ crushed coral

a filtration system

apropriate lighting

power heads for water movement

test kits

ooooh. sorry bud 10 gallons in saltwater is near impossible. I have a 50 gallon reef (40 breeder with 10 gallon sump) and a 10 gallon freshwater with 8 cardinal tetras. 10 gallons in saltwater will just cause problems. there are tanks on youtube that look great at 10 gallons but they have to go through so many corals and fish because of deaths. Remember, an inch drop in a 10g saltwater tank can make the water salinity(how much salt is in the water) go wayy to high and everything will die. Saltwater is by far my favourite, but you will get frustrated and quit angry if you go with a 10.(protein skimmer, lighting, salt, etc all add up and by the time you know it you've spent $500 on a 10 gallon tank when you could have a 30 or 40 for $200 more. If you do it, do it right. Don't want to turn you off but its the hard truth. As far as fish blue green chromis are great. Get 4 of them and they are flamboyant and cute. Clownfish are great, but a bit more expensive(30 instead of $5 chromis). maybe a goby, and get a cleanup crew. I like to add a fire or skunk shrimp as well. (dont get any other shrimps) Check out YT vids and reef central for more info. Hope I helped!

invest some money and a lot of time. I always tell people to pick out thier fish before you pick out the tank. It's a bummer when you find out that the set up you have isn't compatable with the fish you want.

Look in your community for a local fish club. Consult the members on what the good fish dealers and suppliers are in your area. Ask a lot of questions from the locals that are succesful in doing what you want to do. Compare answers and check them against published works. When you find what is best for you, pick your fish. Do a lot of research on the required envirnonment, care, diet, and suitable tank mates for the fish you want. Once you know the care required, THEN go get your tank and supplies. Consult those fish club guys. I'm sure they will be able to reccomed someone that can help you. They also may be an excellent source of cured live rock, a must and a major expense for salt water. Get your tank set up and 100% ready for your fish. Once you're stable and ready to go, locate a reputable dealer and pick up your fish. Never stop researching and never assume everything is alright. If you follow these steps, you will be fine.

also, this process takes time, sometimes months! You want your water to be perfect, cycles, and stable before you attempt fish.

I agree with the other 2 answers, and I think a 10 gallon saltwater is a BAD idea, especially for a beginner. You can't just dump salt in the tank and have it be saltwater, you need a lot of (expensive) equipment, it takes a long time to set up properly, and in such a small tank, your chances of successfully maintaining the proper balance in the water is very slim. You need to start with a very large tank, like someone said. You should buy some books on keeping saltwater fish, it's nothing like freshwater tanks.

Oh, and don't forget the cost- you're looking at several thousand dollars at least to get started, even for a small tank. It's not a cheap hobby, nor one to be taken up lightly.

my first sw tank was a 29 gallon, and it went quite well. sw is complex, and you will need to study to maintain it in peak order.

there are a lot of different things to take into consideration, like the salinity of the water (it gets more salty as water evaporates out of it and leaves the salt, so you have to add plain fresh water, but, the water you add has to be the same temperature as the tank water and should be ro/di water and aerated for about 24 hrs and treated with a calcium buffer and the ph established to same as tank parameters before adding or it causes problems) (and thats just one thing.. lol)

the thing with more vs. less water is that with more water (bigger tanks) it takes longer for bad things to happen. more water absorbs damage easier while less water really takes it on the chin fast. so a very small tank will go bad rapidly when a larger tank has a better chance of absorbing the damage and healing itself.

there are some great web sites and forums that can lead you in the right direction and give you tips for setting up, cycling and stocking your first tank. i always liked the fish index forums. hope you have lots of money to put into this hobby, its a bottomless pit, but fun. : )

If you have never done a s/w tank before you should not even attempt a ten gallon. You will need to start with something bigger so you have more room for inaccuracies. A ten gallon tank is VERY difficult even for someone who has been doing s/w tanks for years. It is too difficult to maintain the correct salinity. You would have to be checking it every hour and constantly fixing and adding water. Do yourself and the fish a favor and get freshwater fish. Since you don't know what supplies you need you obviously have not done a s/w tank before. Anyone who has will tell you it is next to impossible to do. You should start with a 55 gallon or larger.

This is a very broad question that can not be easily answered here.

This is basically a Nano Reef sized aquarium, and as such I would recommend clown fish such as Percula or Ocellaris. Be carefull with clowns that get larger such as Tomato Clown. Less aggressive Damsels such as blue, yellow tail or Chromis, but not clowns that will get large and very aggressive such as Domino or Three stripe.

Small blennies are a good choice, so are some Pseudochromis or firefish, Cardinals also will do well.

As for other supplies, you will need:

* Filtration;

Good filtration is a must for a successful marine aquarium. There are many different filters available too.

*Proper Lighting; Two power compact light, changed every six months and cleaned regularly in between. They should be one daylight and one actinic or two 50/50.

*Test Kits; An ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, Hydrometer, and KH (alkalinity) test kit are all important.

*A proper substrate; A fine #00 sand with a ½” layer of #3 sand on top works best in my opinion for cleaning and de-nitrification.

*Cured live rock is a must.

*Proper foods

This is such a broad subject, I have much of what you need covered in my article about Marine Basics:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Basic_Salt...

Please try and read this article AND MORE,

And good luck!

What lunar flare said sounds good, Get some good literature as well (buy several books). 40-50 gal to start off, small salt water tanks are very hard. It is a very expensive hobby, to do it right it will cost thousands.

Green Spotted Puffers live in brackish water. Part fresh part salt. They are easy to care for and great fun. I had two several years ago. I trained mine to eat from my fingers. Set your tank up and let it run for a week before you add any to it.

go to www.aqueriacentral.com and regestar its free and easy during regerstrantion make sure you put that fish_freak recomended you post a new thread and the people there will help you out better then we can good luck with this