The first thing that you need to know is that a 10 gallon tank is not the easiest thing to do with salt water. I would especially stay away from shrimp because they can easilly die of salinity shock. The larger the tank, the more room for error and less chance of a single sick fish whiping out your entire tank of livestock. A small tank is fien if you know what you are doing, but you would need to quarenteen all fish before enterring. Saltwater is addictive and you will eventually go bigger. I would recommend first putting down a 1" layer of natural arognite (crushed coral,) then another 1" of live sand. The arognite will naturally buff your PH to the point where you shouldn't have too big of PH problems with a smaller tank. Lay down the live sand and then live rock AFTER the arognite has been left to sit in the water for at least 24 hours. Two lbs of live rock per gallon is recommended in order to skip all but the very end of the nitrogen cycle. It would take a solid two months without it. An Emperor or Penguin filter with a biowheel and media catridge would be recommended for filtration. Fill the media cartridge with a carbon/amonia detox crystal mixture. Also needed is a pretein skimmer. I would use anything made by Red Sea but deffinately shop around for it. Research protein skimmers HEAVILLY if you questioning your knowledge of them/what they do. At least 2.5 watts should light every gallon of your aquarium. I have two 48" actinic lights and one 48" 10,000k super light over my main tank and a single 18" 50/50 light over mym 15 gallon quarenteen tank. I leave one actinic bulb on 24/7 on the main tank and turn the otehr two off at night. Unless you are keeping anemones or corals, lighting should not be a problem for you but do be warned that your conscious will eventually FORCE you to go reef/fish. Based on the same principals, the circulation of the filter and skimmer should be enough for fish, but once you go reef/fish, you may need more. The best way to test when you do decide on a reef/fish tank is to put a cheap anemone in the tank and see if his tenticles look lively and move in all places. YOu may have to watch him for a week or two for the test since he moves where he wants. Now for just plain advice, research, research, research. Before you purchase a fish, know the diet, the lighting requirements, its compatability with current tank mates, and be sure to select him wisely. Watch him a few days in the pet store to make sure he doesn't start to show any signs of ick (know your slatwater diseases.) The last thing about fish selection is the most important. Know the full grown size of your fish! Example, a 1/2" Domino damsel may look cute now, but imagine four of them at their full-grown size of 6" in length in your 10 gallon aquarium. The right purchases in the beggining will avoid dissasterous problems in teh long run. If you have any more questions or need any help with anything, drop a line.
Thanks!