changing a 10 gallon to a saltwater tank from fresh

[hotpod]

ok so i have nothing in this tank and i want to start a small reef tank with one or two clownfish maybe a damsel or tang...can anyone tell me how many i can put in there? also what substrate to use? i want to eventually put an anemome in there and some corals to grow, and mushrooms. so what do i need? i work at petco so i get a discount i know A LOT about freshwater but not salt can anyone give me any heads up advice or suggestions?

also what about lighting???

 

[InTr4nceWeTrust]

Uh...you can fit 1-3 small fish in a 10 gallon. A tang will never work out in a 10 gallon. Anemones won't work either. Lighting depends on the kind of coral you want. PC lighting is generally good enough for nano tanks with softies or LPS. Most people get the current PC fixture that's at 80w. Substrate is live sand or no substrate at all. You need 1-2lbs of LR per gallon in a nano....I think that's everything (plus a tad more) than what you asked. Expect to put in a few hundred dollars to start a minimal nano reef.

 

[dilbert]

Many sites and people say 20 gallons minimum for clownfish. But in my opinion, 10 gallons for two would be fine as they are poor swimmers.

Maybe you leave out the damsel as they are often aggressive. Our damsel is quite nice and is really friends with the single clown but you never know.

My advice is to concentrate on a few things you would really like to have. The more poo-makers in a tank the more problems you have with algae etc.

IMO, nanos and picos are good for watching little things (on the live rock) from the near.

Nanos aren't really more difficult than greater tanks but a lot more cheaper and come with one restriction: you cannot have much variety in that size.