Help stocking

[medguy80]

I have a 10 gal tank and it is almost time to stock it. I started it last fri and by sun I had nitrates. I am taking the water in for testing tommorrow and if everything is ok then I am getting my first fish.
I have 10 pounds of live rock, 30 gal biowheel, powerhead and a heater. I do not have live sand but crushed coral. I got it not knowing it would matter and wish I had sand but it is already in there.
I want a clown fish of some sort and I do not know what else. I have looked on here and there are a few I can have but want some help. I also want some inverts too.

 

[fishguy83]

if you want sand instead of crushed coral - I'd change it out now -- easier to do before you get anything live in there...

 

[medguy80]

I would but I am just going to stick with the coral. I will have to take a pic but I like how it looks in there. What are the main differences of the two. Can I not have certain fish?

 

[mopar9012]

Crushed corals will trap a lot of food and fish waste and sand doesnt. All the stuff that crushed coral can make things like your nitrates go up and you dont want that.
So you have had it set up for about a week? Thats not a very long cycle, usually a cycle last 4 weeks...maybe more.
You are letting your LFS test your water? Its a much better idea to test your water yourself.

 

[medguy80]

The test the water for free so why not let them. I have no idea how the cycle is going. I am going to see how it is going tommorrow to see how the water is going. I might change over to sand then but what is the best way to do this.
Are there any good test kits that are not high as a kite in price??

 

[mopar9012]

Its still a good idea to get a test kit. So you do know what exactly is going on with your tank. I use aqurium pharmaceutics test kits.
Just get a cup and take the Crushed coral out and im pretty sure you would want your filters off when you put the sand it, you wouldnt want sand in your filters.

 

[trigger11]

Here are my thoughts.
Change the CC out now. You will be much happier in the long run. Especially with having a 10g set up. You will be doing water changes often. Once you get established getting the clown fish like you want would be a good thing. After that you are pretty much near the bio load max though. However, if you had a sand bottom that would give you at least a few more options to get small guys like goby's

 

[murph]

Crushed coral will work for now. It was used for years in this hobby and still will work for fish only tanks with a limited amount of rock.
It will increase maintenance a bit as it should be vacuumed with water changes. The problem you may encounter is vacuuming the gravel around and under any rock. This will make maintenance quite intrusive to the life in the tank.
My guess is that as a student you are on a limited budget here so this size tank with the crused coral and a few peices of base rock is probably a good idea for a starter tank. It will allow you to get your feet or should I say hands wet in regards to maintaining water chemistry maintnence routines and wether you have the time and long term interest to maintain a sw tank while keeping cost at a reasonable level.
Keeping a tank this size will actually require more of your time in the way of maintence so if your like most and your interest in the hobby builds rather than declines future upgrades will have that much more chance of success.
If not no harm done. You wont have a couple grand worth of used equipment you need to try and unload. :joy: On the other hand I do agree with the others in regard to sand. So when you upgrade, and notice I said when and not if, use a sand substrate.