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wilenoc51

New Member
i have a 10 gallon aquarium that's in cycling. and i just want to inqiuer of what to stock. i want start with a all inverterbrate type tank with just one or maybe two fishes and inverterbrates. may question is what type of fishes and inver can i stock in these setup that i'm after?
 

ladyreefseeker

Administrator
Staff member
The general rule would be 1 inch of fish per 5 gallons, so choose 2 small fish you would like and build the set up around that. you could have a shrimp or two as well. Crabs and snails,etc.
 

Jesterrace

Active Member
I am going to disagree on the inch per gallon or 5 gallon, etc. as it just doesn't translate to saltwater fish at all as it does not factor level of activity, temperament, etc. A Firefish and a Pygmy Angel both get about 3 inches in length when fully grown but anyone who has owned or even observed both can tell you that they are world's apart in terms of what they require. I do agree that 2 small fish would work. Among the recommendations:

Firefish
The Smallest Gobies
Possum Wrasse
Tailspot Blenny (only after algae is growing though)
 

lmforbis

Well-Known Member
I’d agree. It depends much more on the specific needs of the fish. Things like a fire fish at 2” are good in a small tank because they don’t swim around a lot. A flasher wrass which is also in the 2” range would not work because they need swimming space. I wouldn’t even put a clown in a 10 gallon.
My suggestion would be a fire fish and a small shrimp goby or a clown goby.
 

jay0705

Well-Known Member
I see people mention clown gobys in small tanks. I always laugh, I have one in my 220 lol
 

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
just to get things going and to test it out try a single male molly. Once that lives for a few weeks then try the more expensive saltwater only fish.

and FWIW I highly recommend using macro algae like chaetomorphia in a refugium to balance out and stabilize the system. The refugium can just be a 1/4" plastic grid (egg crate) used as lighting diffusers in dropped ceilings to partition the tank into a small macro algae area and the larger display area..

my .02
 

wilenoc51

New Member
thanks for the advise. I'm thinking about 1 yellow banded possum wrasse with couple of peppermint shrimp, and nassi snail for a cleanup crew and the rest are soft corals to learn from. what are your thoughts ?
 
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