My budget 10 gallon

[InvertEnjoyer]

This thread will be my start of my journey to see just how cheap you can get and still have success in this hobby. The tank pictures has been cycling for about 3 weeks and has all equipment I need except for a heater. So far everything here would cost about 180 - 200 $. The equipment is a Seachem Tidal 55, a Lominie Pixie 30 light, and an Aqueon 10 gallon


As for stocking, all I plan on adding is a blood red fire shrimp and maybe a firefish, and I am going to add corals of course but other than pulsing Xenia i’m still trying to think of what would work well with such a cheap light

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Tank is off to a good start!!!

 

[1epauletteshark]

This thread will be my start of my journey to see just how cheap you can get and still have success in this hobby. The tank pictures has been cycling for about 3 weeks and has all equipment I need except for a heater. So far everything here would cost about 180 - 200 $. The equipment is a Seachem Tidal 55, a Lominie Pixie 30 light, and an Aqueon 10 gallon


As for stocking, all I plan on adding is a blood red fire shrimp and maybe a firefish, and I am going to add corals of course but other than pulsing Xenia i’m still trying to think of what would work well with such a cheap light

A ten gallon might be a bit small for a firefish but I am sure you can find some other options here —>
Thread 'Announcing: Nano aquarium fish compatibility document!'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/announcing-nano-aquarium-fish-compatibility-document.958538/
But the tank looks great!

 

[Cthulukelele]

A goby pistol shrimp pair could be fun in a tank that size

 

[1epauletteshark]

A goby pistol shrimp pair could be fun in a tank that size

Maybe an orange stripe prawn goby or a Wheeler's shrimp goby but most pistol shrimp aren’t suitable for a 10 gallon.

 

[Double monti 61]

Awesome I love it I did the same mine is a 15 gallon tank but you may want to add more filters and a small power head for more flow my system has 3 small hang on back filters one power head and a hang on back protein skimmer and let the small life grow!

 

[Phil Steel]

Nice work on a budget! Let us know how it goes!

 

[Petcrazyson]

Following @Cthulukelele idea…a shrimp goby pair would be a good choice. I’d go for a Yasha Goby and Tiger Pistol Shrimp as a pair. Sometimes you can have even a pair of Yashas and the shrimp trio-ed up.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Definitely excited to see what you do with it!

 

[InvertEnjoyer]

Update 1

I decided to move the tank and rearranged the scape.
For stocking, I want to try pulsing Xenia, bullseye mushroom coral, green frog spawn, zoas, and maybe candy cane coral and pineapple tree coral but I’m not sure if the light is strong enough to grow them. The par seems pretty good, up to 200, but it’s only a 30 watt light.
I also want to get a Tailspot Blenny, but I have seen a lot of conflicting information on tank size ranging from 10-20 gallons, so I am wondering about your experiences with this fish and what you would say a proper size tank for them is.

I think the aquarium will be fully cycled and ready for livestock in a week, but until then I probably won’t be posting any other updates.

 

[Blake509]

I second adding additional hob and or wavemaker

 

[ryanjohn1]

This thread will be my start of my journey to see just how cheap you can get and still have success in this hobby. The tank pictures has been cycling for about 3 weeks and has all equipment I need except for a heater. So far everything here would cost about 180 - 200 $. The equipment is a Seachem Tidal 55, a Lominie Pixie 30 light, and an Aqueon 10 gallon


As for stocking, all I plan on adding is a blood red fire shrimp and maybe a firefish, and I am going to add corals of course but other than pulsing Xenia i’m still trying to think of what would work well with such a cheap light

Kenya tree

 

[Drewe]

Any updates on this? I love seeing what can be done on a tight budget!

 

[InvertEnjoyer]

Any updates on this? I love seeing what can be done on a tight budget!

I’ve had some struggles with algae and also had to move a decorator crab in there so stocking plans have changed a lot, however I am going to post an update very soon

 

[InvertEnjoyer]

It’s been a while. I’m not got with updates, but hopefully after this they will be more common. So far I have added a coral banded shrimp and a decorator crab, and am debating on getting a blue damsel to finish off stocking. As for coral, the crab has added a lot of restrictions so I won’t be able to do stuff like plays, zoas, or macro algae. I decided that the first coral I would try would be zoas, which was really stupid of me to try, and obviously got demolished by the crab. Next I put in pavona which is doing good, and in a bit I will add a toadstool, then cristata, and finally I would try birds nest to really test the light.
That’s all for now, any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!