What should i do with my extra 10 gallon?

Heh. cool. can't blame you. i would LOVE seahorses, but i just don't have a set-up for them. plus i always have a hard time sticking to a species tank. i tried that back in the day with some freshwater species....and it lasted for like 6 months before i broke down and changed things.

So clowns seem like a good idea. What light would be the right size for a reef tank that size? Could i even find t5s to fit?

 

DUDE!!!!! I forgot all about that!!! Yeah...a mantis. Don't worry about the glass thing. Lots of mantis tanks are 10g glass. Just don't go out of your way to tease the little beasts. Unless you have a full grown Peacock Mantis (Your tank is too small for one of those anyway), I wouldn't worry at all.

But yeah.....a species tank of some sort. Excellent.

 

So the whole 'They will break your tank, crawl in your ear, and thump your brain until you can taste color' thing is false?

 

haha i'm sure they're capable of doing such things...like John said, don't taunt them and they won't bite your face off hehe

 

I'm partial to the mermaid idea... with a pink dolphin, of course...

 

Awesome, then you know you know exactly how to take care of these guys. I like the idea of a fry tank, or maybe even a little frag tank. Ho about a simple QT tank?

 

Seems like a read somewhere that a big one might have a chance at a 10g thickness if it hit it just right. And unless you are Pavel Chekov and Khan is standing opposite you....the mantis in the ear thing is a far cry!!!!!

Sorry for the Star Trek reference. Just proves I am a hopeless geek.

 

If they wanted too they could go much larger. I've seen a research video of a full grown mantis busting right through a 75g tank

 

Mantis that puppy up!!! The only mantis species that would have a prayer of breaking aquarium glass IMO is the Peacock. And it's a very rare occurance. Mantis shrimp are smart suckers, they aren't dumb enough to bust open their homestead. unless you really tick them off?

Ten gallons is a perfect size for tons of mantis species. I've got a Neogonodactylus Wennerae, aka the Caribbean Rock Mantis in a 9 gallon. She's still a little baby, about an inch long. Hopefully going to grow up to 3 or 3.5 inches though.

I highly recommend a mantis. You can have fast fish with them (as long as it's a smasher type mantis) and even corals. Right now I have a 3 striped damsel fish and a xenia with my mantis. And a hermit crab. She only smashes and eats what I put in front of her. Right now she's getting fat so she's spent the day widening the tunnels in her den and digging out some sand. Taking the time to stare at my when she wants a break.

Can you tell I'm a little overzealous about my mantis? Her name is Princess. Mantis can live in not so sparkling clean water, don't require expensive lights, and mine even eats flake food. I try to spot feed her frozen krill and mysis, along with a live snail every now and then, but she eats the damsel's flake food as well. I love them.;D

 

A mini reef with nano gobies and sexy shrimp would be really cool, are you going for uniqueness or rarity? Maybe a coral specific tank?