dont know what to do

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I just started a salt water tank on Friday morning.  Its a 10 gallon tank and I added the chemicals to purify the water and also the amount of salt that the lady at the fish place told me I needed.  The water cleared on the first day, but now is very cloudy.  There is nothing in the tank but the water.  How do I clear up this problem.  I dont want to add the sand or anything else until I take care of the current problem.  Thank you for your time and help   Linda

ANSWER: First I am very sorry for not getting back to you sooner. What kind of filter do you have on it, and do you have a skimmer? Also it should be ok for you to put the sand and rock in. When you put the sand it will get cloudy again until all of the fine particles either settle or get filtered.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Michael,  I have a wisper wonder filter that came with the tank and no skimmer ass yet.  The lady at the pet shop told me this is all I should need.  I really appreciate any help that you can give me  Thank you so much  Linda

Answer
Hi Linda;
Well I don't like to say anyone is wrong, because everyone has there opinions. I just don't think you have enough filtration. A skimmer will help a lot, and to be honest I would venture to say you need a canister filter. Now I am going to go as far as to tell you that your tank is small for Salt water, but not to say it can't be done. The smaller the volume the more errors are magnified, IE. you have Ammonia spike, in that volume to the fish it seems more intense and a little harder for you to control. One way for it to be done is to set up a sump/refugium, which will add more volume. I have a 10 gal eclipse, which was for my Daughter, and it was to me, harder to take care of than my 110 gal. I hope I didn't confuse you, and let me know if I can help further.