Finally...

[Falconeer]

Ok, so it appears that this week, I will finally be purchasing the equipment, live rock and live sand to being my small reef tank.

It's going to be a 10 gallon tank (because of size limitations, i'm not too worried about parameters once it gets cycled and I start putting critters in though) and I'm compiling a list of the parts I need/want.

I figure your standard 10-20 gallon filter will do the job, so that's not what my question is about. Basically, I want your input on Heaters, Skimmers, and Powerheads. Keep in mind that this will be a 10 gallon tank (no sump).

Is an Ebo Jager heater good? Ive read they maintain temperatures within +-.5 degrees.

Is the Koralia 1 Centrifugal Pump a good choice? Do I need one or two?

I am almost completely lost on skimmers. They all seem to be marketed towards larger tanks, and I don't want to buy a crappy one just because it's made for a smaller tank. From experience, can anyone say what skimmer out there is good for a 10 gallon tank?

Thanks very much,
ZA

[Conrad25]

Alright. So as I have a 20 Gallon Hex Tank(pics in profile). I can give you some of IMO's. I would get a Red Sea Prizm Skimmer (Works fabulous for 40 Gallons and under) otherwise another good one is Aqua C Remora skimmer. Those are the two that most people stick too. I have the Red Sea Prizm. The Reg filter you are talking about will be good for running carbon(if its a hang on the back kind). Otherwise I would say they are only a nitrate factory for buildup on those filters. They arn't made for saltwater tanks. The koralia one will do fine, otherwise the best choice is the koralia nano as its so much smaller and takes up less space. It also has a good kick at 265gph. the Koralia 1 probably would blow your corals around too much. If you are going to go with a Koralia 1, probably only need one, if the Nano you can do two(But I would start with one to see how much flow you have going) and have better flow as you can put them in different directions. Most heaters work great as long as they are submersibles. Now what are you plans for a light? Also what kind of corals do you plan on having as that makes a large difference in the lights. If you want to be able to have any type of coral, than go with a 70w Metal halide Pendant style. If only softies, than probably can go with some pc's.

Conrad

[Falconeer]

Originally Posted by Conrad25

Alright. So as I have a 20 Gallon Hex Tank(pics in profile). I can give you some of IMO's. I would get a Red Sea Prizm Skimmer (Works fabulous for 40 Gallons and under) otherwise another good one is Aqua C Remora skimmer. Those are the two that most people stick too. I have the Red Sea Prizm. The Reg filter you are talking about will be good for running carbon(if its a hang on the back kind). Otherwise I would say they are only a nitrate factory for buildup on those filters. They arn't made for saltwater tanks. The koralia one will do fine, otherwise the best choice is the koralia nano as its so much smaller and takes up less space. It also has a good kick at 265gph. the Koralia 1 probably would blow your corals around too much. If you are going to go with a Koralia 1, probably only need one, if the Nano you can do two(But I would start with one to see how much flow you have going) and have better flow as you can put them in different directions. Most heaters work great as long as they are submersibles. Now what are you plans for a light? Also what kind of corals do you plan on having as that makes a large difference in the lights. If you want to be able to have any type of coral, than go with a 70w Metal halide Pendant style. If only softies, than probably can go with some pc's.

Conrad

Ok, in terms of lighting, I was thinking I'd get T5. I'm not looking to get SPSs, and one of the people at my LFS today (I spent a good two hours just looking at all the equipment they had, now that I have a time frame written down for when I can purchase ) said that I only needed metal halide if I wanted to do SPS. Everything else would be fine under a T5, or there was one more type of lighting he mentioned, but I can't remember it.

If you would suggest PC instead of T5, i'd have to ask what PC is, haha

The filter I have in mind is the generic Aqueon HoB filter. I have it on my FW tanks and it works pretty well, but obviously...those are FW, not SW.

For the powerhead, I can't find the Koralia Nano that you talk about (at least, not on the site i'm looking on).

Would this one suffice? http://www.aquariumguys.com/powersweep1.html
If the flow from a single one wasn't enough, I'd put a second one in.

[Conrad25]

Well I would say that T5 will work great for you if you can get one to fit the tank. Most nano tanks(meaning small) can't get them to fit. So sounds great on that. The Koralia Nano I'm talking about came out this year, about 2 months ago. I run them on my tank. Here is a site selling them, http://www.fishsupply.com/shy-nn0548.html . The HOB filter you have is just going to be issues if you run those standard filters for it. I would just buy a mesh bag and a container of quality carbon. Why those are bad is that the stuff gets stuck on the filter and the process of decaying starts on it and it becomes one of the saltwater NIGHTMARES called nitrates. There are nitrites, nitrates, and Ammonia to deal with in saltwater tanks.

Conrad

[Falconeer]

Originally Posted by Conrad25

Well I would say that T5 will work great for you if you can get one to fit the tank. Most nano tanks(meaning small) can't get them to fit. So sounds great on that. The Koralia Nano I'm talking about came out this year, about 2 months ago. I run them on my tank. Here is a site selling them, http://www.fishsupply.com/shy-nn0548.html . The HOB filter you have is just going to be issues if you run those standard filters for it. I would just buy a mesh bag and a container of quality carbon. Why those are bad is that the stuff gets stuck on the filter and the process of decaying starts on it and it becomes one of the saltwater NIGHTMARES called nitrates. There are nitrites, nitrates, and Ammonia to deal with in saltwater tanks.

Conrad

Ok, I understand the Nitrogen cycle (in fact, I had a test on it in school for Marine Biology, haha). So I would simply remove the filter bag and screen that comes with the tank and then put in a plain old mesh bag with some carbon in it?

Also, if that is the case about T5 being too large for smaller/nano tanks, what is PC lighting? I'll definately take a look at that if I can't find T5 in the right size.

[Conrad25]

Yes. Simply remove that stuff and put a plain old mesh bag in it. Also make sure you get a better quality carbon. Some carbon is crap, you get what you pay for and it usually last quite a while. PC's are power compacts which are basically florescent lights bent in half. They usually produce a good amount of light on small nano's. T5's are a step above PC's though. So if you can get away with t5's, go with it. But PC's will def. do the job as long as you get enough wattage. Here is a link for you on that, http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/lig...ctlighting.htm

Conrad

[Falconeer]

Originally Posted by Conrad25

Yes. Simply remove that stuff and put a plain old mesh bag in it. Also make sure you get a better quality carbon. Some carbon is crap, you get what you pay for and it usually last quite a while. PC's are power compacts which are basically florescent lights bent in half. They usually produce a good amount of light on small nano's. T5's are a step above PC's though. So if you can get away with t5's, go with it. But PC's will def. do the job as long as you get enough wattage. Here is a link for you on that, http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/lig...ctlighting.htm

Conrad

Ok, thanks very much. Later this week when it's (hopefully) set up with all my final purchases, I'll post pictures of the setup/aquascaping (though there won't be any critters/corals for a while of course).

[Conrad25]

OH, also a big tip would be not to run your lights during the cycle process as you will have major algae blooms if you leave them lights on

[Falconeer]

Originally Posted by Conrad25

OH, also a big tip would be not to run your lights during the cycle process as you will have major algae blooms if you leave them lights on

Ok, I actually read that about 10 minutes ago, but had already forgotten

Will room light or desk lamps be to much? I wouldn't think so, but I thought I might as well ask.