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okay. i'm confused!

i've set up a 10G tank with 10 lbs of live rock and 1.5" of argonite as a substrate. it is filtered by a HOB rated for a 40G tank.

currently it houses 1 firefish and 3 blue legged hermits.

some people tell me that it is fully stocked as is, whereas others say that i could put a small goby or two and some additional inverts (like pistol shrimp or cleaner shrimp, etc...) according to the list of nano-compatible species in this forum, there are definitely a lot of possibilities.

although this is my first marine tank, i've been keeping freshwater tanks (including challenging species such as discus) for years and have found that when it comes to stocking levels, there's no precise formula to follow. the best indicator is water quality.

so, my question is: could i not add more fish as long as water quality is maintained? (assuming, of course, that the fish added do not get too large, are not territorial, etc.. etc...).

why are people so much stricter about stocking levels in marine tanks, aside from the obvious reasons (delicate nature of fish, importance of water quality, etc...)

hmmmm?

With a firefish I probably wouldn't add any other fish but a shrimp and some snails would definitely be possible. Firefish can be quite active and skittish. I wouldn't really recommend them for a 10g at all. They spook easily and when they do they dash in whatever direction they think will work. In a small tank that often means into the glass, the top, or out a tiny gap in the top. Make sure he has a good hole or 2 in the rock to hide in either near the middle of the tank or one near each edge. That way he's more likely to go for a hole and less likely to smash into things.

If you didn't have the firefish I would say 2 small gobies or similarly sized fish would be quite possible. I'm actually making posts on nano-reef.com about setting up a 5g with a breeding pair of neon gobies and there are a few others that breed various small goby species in 5-10g tanks. First I need to finish my 20g though. In that tank I was thinking of trying a firefish, a little tailspot blenny, and maybe a small goby but probably just the first 2. I've got rock going all along the back of the tank with lots of caves setup for the firefish and blenny to hide in.

You just have to remeber marine fish aren as use to fluxes in water quality as FW.
FW quite often live inlakes and rivers which get dry and wet season which flux temp, chemistry etc.

SW there is very little that flux if at all since its such a huge body of water.

I have seen a 55g display tank stacked with about 15 community SW fish. He was doing daily water changes of about 40%.
so it can be done its just not recommended.