goin witha 10gallon instead

[deezn7]

im goin with a basic 10 gallon right now with a fission nano skimmer and a fluval in tank filter and 2x18watt 50/50s . what should i use in the filter for media or is there a diff wAY i should be settin this up. should i use a hangon filter instead?

 

[ac7av]

Use live rock and sand for the filter unless your going with a fish only tank then I would get a HOB refrugium with built in skimmer and sand rock and macro algae. Just my thought on it since I would not want to take up much room in a tank of that size for a filter. Or heck you could go with a canister filter.

 

[deezn7]

if i use liverock in the filter does that catch the debri like the sponge or filterpad would?

 

[Krish]

if i use liverock in the filter does that catch the debri like the sponge or filterpad would?

Liverock will actuall shed the same stuff you want the filter pad orsponge to catch. If you are concerned about catching debri/detritus/waste then I wouldn't put liverock in your filter (what will be in the tank should be more than adequet for biological filtration purposes) and put your sponge/filter pad in the filter. You have to be careful with this though...Any waste trapped by the filter pad will begin to rott and degrade water quality if left too long so you will have to remember to replace or rinse out the pad/sponge every 3 days atleast to prevent any water quality issues. I know a lot of people like myself never use any sort of filter pads/sponges for this same reason. Just a few thoughts

 

[ac7av]

I think we really need to know what kind of tank you are planning on making to better answer the question. A fish tank and reef tank would call for different methods to best combat the type of waists you will be dealing with. If I were going to make a fish tank I would use filter pads or canister filter and clean them ofter but I would use nether for a reef tank.

 

[deezn7]

well im tryin to save my zoos,xenia,toadstool,and bubble coral although i know the light may not be strong enough.i have a 46 bow that has had serious algae and nitrates problems that all of a sudden started about a month ago that i cant defeat.thats why im tryin to set up this 10gal,i wanna clean my rock and all new water,i also have 2 clowns and a yellow goby, is all this goona work out???

 

[tike]

I would try to fix the 46 first, what type of algae are you fighting? What system are you running on it. I ask this because you said you wanted to run a fluval intank skimmer on the 10. if you are running something simular on the 46 then your nitrate problem can be targeted there. how high are your trates running?

 

[deezn7]

on the 46 i have a bak pak filter,seaclone150 skimmer and 2 power heads.light is 2x96, 250mh.ii tested it just now with a drop kit and the readings were:nitrate=5.0,nitrite=0,ph=8.4,ammonia=0.25
ive had the lights for three months.did like a 75%water change a week and ahalf ago.water stinks an the algae is hairy brown green and bubbly.its hanging from all rock causin everyone to not open . the sand bed turns really brown and bubbly too. this all of sudden started about a month ago.thats why i was thinkin the ten to save a few friends then maybe turnin the 46 into a fish only with a eel and others

 

[ac7av]

I would try and fix the 46 too. Maybe you can put some of the water from the 46 into the 10 so you don’t have to acclimate and put all your stuff you are saving into the 10 temporarily. Then start cleaning house in the 46. It sounds like something got into the tank maybe is it possible that a lot of food got spilled into the tank or did you have a die off of something when you put the new lights on? Anyway vacuum the substrate and scrub everything, rinse the rock in some fresh made saltwater and rinse every thing off before putting it back in the tank. You could probably do it in an after noon. Just my thoughts on it.

 

[DonW]

Not to be rude but why would you switch to an even smaller more difficult tank. Save your money on all the skimmers, filters and other junk and give it good flow and do lots of water changes. Tiny tanks are not like larger tanks they need to be tended differently.

Don

 

[deezn7]

i had an anenome that wast doin so well about three months ago that died and i never found him then my long tentacle died about a week ago.but does that really cause algae problems?the10 isgonna be temperary.the guy at the shop said to soak my rock in fresh water for 2 weeks??should i or just under salt water scrub them?

 

[DonW]

Yes anything that dies will cause what your seeing even a big snail. The best course would be large water changes and lots of them until its back to normal. Soaking the rock is not needed, the bacteria in the rock will catch up with the waterchanges. There is no quick fix.

Don

 

[moortim]

Don't give up on the 46! I agree with Don, it will be easier to fix than setting up a 10. I have a 10 and I tried lots of different filter setups and most did not work. Including a variety of nano skimmers. More water changes will help the 46 recover and more flow will also help. Use this as a chance to learn more about how salt water aquariums work and how to troubleshoot setups and you will come out on top in the end. As far as the 10 gallon, if you decide to do one research it to death first. In my experience running a nano type filtration system is not adequate. I use an octopus BH-100F filter/skimmer on my 10 and it works great. You will also need to do more frequent water changes (like weekly) and watch your parameters more often.

Tim

 

[ac7av]

That explains it. You got to look around and try and get all the decaying debris out of the tank. Water changes Water changes get the levels down and what Don said about the bacteria, it will catch up.