Nano Reef ?'s

[Henry]

I'm thinking of setting up a ten gallon tank as a small nano reef. What type of filter should I run. I was thinking of running a 32watt pc retro over the tank. I'll probably keep some mushrooms or something like that. My main concern if the filter if any that I will need.

thanks

Henry

[Gin_Tseng]

You don;t really need any filtration system since it is only ten gallons. All you really need to do is weekly 10-15% water changes.

[MikeP]

Henry. Youcan go simple or all out. Most people if they use a small filter it's mostly for water movement or to run carbon. I use just live rock and sand for filtration in mine (18 gallon) plus I have a small refugium in the sump area with additional live rock - have a gravity fed refugium I'm moving over this tank just trying to find a taller shelf. Even with a moderatelyhigh bioload for a small tank like this I have under 10ppm nitrates average (2 small skunk cleaners, pair of yellow watchmen gobies, 6 line wrasse, percula clown - getting moved in a month, small hippopus clam, 2 hermits and about 6 snails and about 20 different corals - lps, polyps, gorgonians, shrooms, a few leathers.)

Feel free to post questions here or check out www.nano-reef.com.

32 watts per gallon should be plenty for shrooms, you could even keep some leathers in that light. A 10 gallon gives you lots of lighting options.

Once you get it rolling you'd be amazed at howlow maintenance it is. I'm getting a few ricordea tomorrow once I get them settled in and tank cleaned I'll post some new pics of my setup.

[witecap4u]

You could also run a skimmer like a bakpak or a prism, as a source of filtration and water movement.

[Henry]

technoshaman

How big is your sump/refuge? I was thinking of making a small one to place above this tank, just not sure what size (maybe 5-7gal). What are your thoughts?

Thanks
Henry

[minimasterflash]

Henry, Most nano-reefers don't run skimmers, and instead do regular water changes ( ~ a gallon for every 5-7 gallons of your tank). Is your 32W pc a 50/50, if you plan to keep photosynthic corals you'll probally want to get an actnic (sp) light also. But like techno said, check out nano-reef.com they have material out the wazoo, every question you have has already been anwsered there somewhere. They are the authora-tie!


Hey Techno, what color/type of ricordia are you getting? And from where? post some pictures if you can, I'm really intreasted in getting some ricordia myself.

[Reefdude]

Henry, just thought I would throw my two cents in. I use a prizm skimmer on my 10 gallon and it pulls out plenty of gunk. Its hard to do weekly water changes if you have multiple tanks, children, work, etc..... and a skimmer allows you to stretch out a water change. I had a problem with surface scum also and I added the surface skimming attachment for the przim and let me tell you..it makes for a crystal clear surface. I use a 36 watt 50/50 light that i got at fintique for 49.99. Its a no name brand and plenty powerful. I have shrooms, polyps, a pagoda, and some xenia that pulse like mad in there. hope this helps :D

[matt]

Hi;

I have a great 10 gallon set-up that you could check out. I'm thinking of selling it, but you could probably build a similar set up for about what I'd take for it. It's a drilled 10 gallon, with a small overflow and a 5 1/2 gallon sump/refugium. I have a 2X36 watt PC hood, a prizm skimmer hanging on the sump, and a lot of caluerpa in the refugium. It's a nice system. Return is a mj 1200, with a micro jet powerhead for some additional flow. I've successfully grown acropora, montipora, hydnophora, lots of lps, and there's a healthy E quadricolor anemone.

BTW, I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but I really disagree with those who say don't use a skimmer on a nano. The skimmer really helps; as nutrients can build up in such a small system very quickly. It also helps with ph, as flow is typically a problem in such a small and crowded space. (O2 level is stabilized with a skimmer) Plus, a nano is simply not big enough to keep a working deep sand bed for nitrate reduction. Trying to keep any amount of livestock healthy for the long run in such a small tank requires every form of nutrient export you can muster. My system has been running for about 2 years, and despite the good filtration/circulation, there's still been a cyano and turf algae battle for a good part of that time.

I suppose you could do a 50% water change every week or two; but any system that needs that kind of water change is not really functioning, IMHO. I even have a KW auto-top off that keeps calcium/alkalinity levels pretty stable. Maybe as a next project, I'll try building a nano-calcium reactor.... it's endless

Matt

[RedDragon]

well when I had more than a couple of corals in my 10g I had and still
do have a marineland 125 it works great and filters out 125g I think it's I
good bio filter I would give it 2 thumbs up :-D

[Reefdude]

matt,
i have to agree with you on the skimmer. I feel that it allows for a margin of error if you should overfeed or if something should die off without you knowing about it. My 10 gallon is free of algae and i only scrape the glass every few days..and i feed kinda heavy when i feed..i want all those polyps to scarve down!!! :twisted: