First Tank!

[Yoshigecko]

Hi guys! I want to start my 1st saltwater tank soon. I have a 10gallob already. I was wondering what i need to do it get it all started up i plan on only having corals, snails, maybe a crab of some sort and mollies. I heard mollies can be in saltwater, would they be ok? Im not ready for the big guys just yet i want to get the hang of things first

 

[DutchAquarium]

Firstly, i'll start saying that i have owned saltwater aquariums before and have experience with multiple types since i don't have this info on my profile. I highly recommend a bigger aquarium for your first saltwater aquarium. At least a 20 is going to be much easier than a 10. In fact, the bigger the aquarium, the easier it will be to take care of. The other thing is that mollies are not saltwater unless they were acclimated first. This means they were bred through generations into saltwater. You can find saltwater mollies, but don't buy the freshwater. If you have any other questions, i hope i can help.

 

[Jesterrace]

1. I have to agree with Dutch Aquarium in that going with a 20 Long (can pick one up for $20 at one of the semi-frequent Petco dollar per gallon sales) and it greatly increases your stock options and will be easier to keep up with for water perameters and long term stability. Keep in mind that with saltwater tanks that water evaporates but salt doesn't and hence your salinity can increase more rapidly in a smaller tank. Furthermore you can only keep 2-3 salty fish MAX in a 10 gallon tank as opposed to 4 in a 20 long
2. Just a personal thing for me, but if I were going through the hassle of a saltwater setup I wouldn't be sticking mollies in there. IMHO the whole reason to go salty is to have a much wider variety of brightly colored wildlife and mollies just don't compare to many of the saltwater varieties. There are plenty of relatively inexpensive saltwater fish that are pretty easy to care for. If you are dead set on the 10 gallon, here are some options:



A bit more expensive but pretty unique:



If you go with a 20 Long the options open up considerably

Any one or pair of the Ocellaris or Percula Variety clownfish
Most Gobies
Most Blennies
Baggai or Pajama Cardinalfish
Firefish (aka Dartfish)
Royal Gramma Basslet
Orchid Dottyback