Going to do the white coral, white sand thing!!

[Auratus]

Once my blue rams get their new home I will have a spare ten gallon. Ever since my mom saw finding nemo she has wanted a saltwater tank but since that is too much $$$$ I am going to go with sand and coral and maybe some dwarf puffers. would they do good in this invironment? If not, any other freshwater or brackish fish that would? The tank is 10 gallons. 50 watt heater, regent 5-15 power filter. I might need to buy a new filter though. That one is pretty old.

 

[CFC]

Coral and coral sand will raise the pH of your tank to a level unsuitable for most tropical fish with the exception of african rift valley and brackish species.
FW puffer species preffer a neutral pH and may suffer in more alkeline water, if you are looking for a marine look then why not look at some of the smaller african cichlids many of which have colours which rival those of marine fishes.

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

Once my blue rams get their new home I will have a spare ten gallon. Ever since my mom saw finding nemo she has wanted a saltwater tank but since that is too much $$$$ I am going to go with sand and coral and maybe some dwarf puffers. would they do good in this invironment? If not, any other freshwater or brackish fish that would? The tank is 10 gallons. 50 watt heater, regent 5-15 power filter. I might need to buy a new filter though. That one is pretty old.

Wow, your mom actualy WANTS a saltwater tank. do the right kind of talking and you could get some extra funding *nudge nudge wink wink*

but in your sig you say you have a snail tank. Put a couple dwarf puffers in there and your problems will be over.

 

[Globel]

I Sugest when you put in the sand that you use a white cichled sand they have it at trhe fish store here. Its for african cichleds and if you leave the white coral in the sun for a few days it bleeches out all the stuff in it. they have other colored fake coral and red sea is coming out with new cilicon corals that move and look real. I dont know if there out yet but i think you should put african cichleds in the tank like small blue demsi's and a tulip or peacocks.

 

[Auratus]

Let me explain more. I have cichlids already. I really dont want anymore. I have blue rams, they are small cichlids. The snails are just in a spare ten gallon in the back room. No heater or anything... I just didn't want to kill them so I filled the tank and threw them in. They are doing really well. The whole tank is filled with egg sacks.

I was just going to go with the ceramic fake coral and mix in some of that dried white coral stuff you can get a petsmart. It looks like coral but I don't think it's real dried stuff. I could go with white gravel if the sand raises p.h. too much. I might just get a marine background to help it look more colorful...

 

[Pufferpack]

Sounds like a good plan to me, as long as it is fake coral there is no problem. Having the snail colony established in a spare thak is a bonus as you have a handy healthy source to feed the puffers from. My only issue with white themed substrata is the dirt stands out so much more than on a darker bottom, but with the puffers being such messy eaters it may work to your advantage to keep up with small daily cleanings