Nano Filtration

[howejeremy]

So, I'm setting up a 15 gallon nano tank to house a few smaller fish and some soft corals, not entirely sure yet. As for filtration I have around 15lbs of live rock and two koralia nano powerheads. One at 425-gph and the other at 240-gph. Would a Rena xp3 canister filter with the spray-bar attachment be overkill on this size tank?

 

[Scooterman]

I just do lots of wc's on my little 12g tank. It doesn't take much to clean!

 

[10gnano]

I would say the two powerheads is plenty flow, But it doesn't hurt to hook the canister filter up and see what happens. If its to much fkow you can always take the canister filter off or a powerhead. I would also recomend getting a simmer, it will help out alot with water quality.

 

[Cwazy Clown]

With the type of corals you're planning to keep, I'd say that your two powerheads is fine in terms of flow.

I honestly don't know what you mean by overkill... A canister filter is packed with filter floss and carbon and etc. But the main 'rating' that is given to those things is how well it handles the bioload of a freshwater tank. If you do buy that thing, you're going to have to take out of the floss every week and clean it because of the build up of nitrates.... I don't know why anyone would get one of those things for a saltwater tank... unless you want to hide a heater and add little bit of flow.

Also, spray bars dont add direct flow to your tank. all they do is add surface agitation.

If I were you, I'd skip the canister filter and either buy a small fuge or a skimmer.

 

[Krish]

Personally, I'd skip the canister filter unless you plan to run just carbon in it (atleast that's what I would persoanlly do). If you plan to run filter floss, you will need to either replace or clean it every 3 days or so otherwise the waste it traps will only rott and degrade water quality if left in there too long. Any bio-media is not necessary as your liverock will provide you will all of the biological filtration you will need as well as denitrification. In addition to that, any bio-media used in a canister filter (like bio-balls, ceramic tubes etc) do to being in a highly oxygenated envirenment, it's end result will be nothing, but nitrates which you don't want or need in your aquarium. Only thing I would add is maybe a little hang on style skimmer if you can as they are very beneficial IMO to any aquarium (especially smaller ones like these that can be so easily influenced due to its limited water volume).

Just a few personal thoughts of mine. Many ways to do things in this hobby so weigh out your options and do what works best for your application. Good luck!!

 

[howejeremy]

Thanks for all the feedback!! I already have the canister filter from a previous tank is the reason I ask about putting it on. It sounds like I'd be better of getting rid of that and buying a good HOB protein skimmer. Any suggestions for a 15 gallon tank that isn't hideous?
-Thanks a ton.

 

[Krish]

Thanks for all the feedback!! I already have the canister filter from a previous tank is the reason I ask about putting it on. It sounds like I'd be better of getting rid of that and buying a good HOB protein skimmer. Any suggestions for a 15 gallon tank that isn't hideous?
-Thanks a ton.

There are quite a few nice ones out there. All depends on how much you don't mind spending. Octopus has a few nice hang on skimmers, but your best bet would probably be to start a skimmer thread in the skimmer section/forum here as Mark (skimmy) is our skimmer guy here who would be the best at recommending something for this tank. He trolls that section everyday

 

[Cwazy Clown]

Haha, well that depends on how much money you're trying to spend/not spend.

If you have about 200$ to spend on a skimmer, you should wait for a member here named 'skimmy' to post... I'm sure he'll see this soon and recommend some crazy HOB skimmers.

If you have about 100, I'd get an eshopps psk-75H [new]... it has a very minimalist look to it and it works very nicely... the pump is also outside of the tank. (you never really see these for sale used)

If you have less than 100, more like 50-60, get a used cpr bakpak or an aquac remora. I personally feel that these two less powerful skimmers are more worth your money than anything else for a tank your size. (these guys are for sale everywhere)

I've always had remora's on my nanos... I ran a remora on my first 10g, my old 40g, and my current 8g, and I've always had only sps in them.. they work.

 

[Cwazy Clown]

dang it krish, you beat me to it.

 

[Krish]

dang it krish, you beat me to it.

Haha!! You made some really great skimmer suggestions anyways especially coming from the guy who keeps the smallest nano probably on the planet!

 

[Cwazy Clown]

if only I could make a skimmer that would work for that.. haha... DIY tiny skimmer?

i see skimmy is viewing this thread as i'm typing this... quick gotta post this before he does.

 

[Skimmy]

a 15g nano has several options for a skimmer...

for hob skimmers, i would look at the CPR bakpak over the Aqua C remora, probably twice the skimmer...
even better than that would be the SWC mini hot skimmer, and the aquamaxx hob skimmer
for small in-tank, you should look at the hydor slim-skim that is a 3"x3"12" black box that looks like an overflow box,
and the tunze 9002 in tank skimmer.
CPR-BAKPAK Premium Aquatics - CPR-BAKPAK Aquarium Supplies
SWC Mini HOT Protein Skimmer SWC BH 100F [Mini HOT] - $169.99 : SWC - Salt Water Connection, Protein Skimmers, Calcium Reactors, Filters & Lights
AquaMaxx HOB-1 Hang-On-Back Protein Skimmer
HY-S03201 Premium Aquatics - HY-S03201 Aquarium Supplies
T9002_000 Premium Aquatics - T9002_000 Aquarium Supplies

as cwazy clown mentioned, you could prolly scoop up a used bakpak for like $50-60

 

[Cwazy Clown]

I remember back in the day aquac's were better than bakpaks... what happened?

 

[10gnano]

Thats what I had always thought. I have a Bak pak and I'm pretty happy with it and you can get a used one for around $60.

 

[Krish]

I think whenever someone types the word "skimmer" a signal is sent to Mark and he rushes here :lol:

On the skimmers, yea I remember when AquaC's Remora's were the skimmers to get and now, they aren't even really considered. Not that they suck, but the newer skimmers have gotten so much better that they fail in comparison. In another year, the same thing will probably happen to the skimmers that are recommended today.

 

[Skimmy]

I remember back in the day aquac's were better than bakpaks... what happened?

well, when the remora first came out the back pak was powered by a POS rio 600 w/rejuvenating venturi, ...total garbage,
so yeah, it was prolly better than that model bakpak, but then CPR started using maxi-jet pumps and that was a significant improvement.
now they use an acclea pump with a much better aspirating venturi, another improvement in power...
and of course, you can mesh mod a bakpak to almost double tha air injection and decrease bubble size,
but you cant mod a remora other than putting a larger, ugly pump in your tank to overpower it, that will also make a louder sucking sound.
and remoras are more expensive new, for less power.

 

[Cwazy Clown]

Woah thats interesting... I actually have one of those acclea pump on my aquac, but I dont have the air line connected to it... Would it make the skimmer better if I had the air line connected to the pump in addition to the aquac's air injection system?

 

[Skimmy]

no because you'd be robbing gph from the injector...,
and the injector would greatly decrease the power from any mesh modded/needlewheel pump.

 

[howejeremy]

Thanks everyone for all the feedback!! This will be very helpful. I wasn't looking to spend a whole lot on a skimmer so the 50-100 price range is pretty good. This was very very helpful!
-Jeremy

 

[Cwazy Clown]

here you go

CPR backpack skimmer