skimmer for a nano?
 

I'm in the planning stages of setting up a 10 gallon nano, my
first saltwater tank. (Yes, I know, everyone at the LFS tells
me I'm insane too. ;) )

Reading about skimmers they sound like a Good Thing, but
my lfs don't have any for tanks smaller than 50 gallons. Can
anyone recommend a tiny skimmer available via mail order?

My plan so far:
10 gallon hagen (it was a cheap kit)
aquaclear mini filter with foam and charcoal until live rock is cured
then I'll just use it for circulation
30 watt incandescent lights (hope to fix this somehow)
15lbs live rock (can't get live sand here)

mushrooms, polyps, feather dusters, tube worms,
bumblebee, cerith, conch snails, little crabs, other
greebly little crawly things. :)
6 months to eventually soft corals and 1 clownfish-anemone pair

constructive criticism welcome!
Ivy

Welcome to the board!

You might want to get better lighting if you ever decide you want an anemone. Also, with a 10G, you'll find that you'll run out of room quickly, especially with an anemone.

As for small skimmer, I've heard that there is a really good one for small tanks called a Picclo. I've never actually seen one for sale new in Canada, but I do occasionally see them used. If you are interested and want to learn more, do a search on www.nano-reef.com. You might get lucky and find one in the classified section of that board.

Good luck and have fun!

Best sollution I can offer you is to do weekly 5 gallon waterchanges. You will not need a skimmer and will not have to have a skimmer in or outside your tank.

I am an advocate for skimming a tank but with weekly waterchanges it's not nessecary IMO :biggrin:

Other benifit's to these frequent waterchanges are happy inhabitants and consistant calcium and alk levels.

cheers

Thanks for the welcome and advice :)

I've been lurking on nano reef.com; it has super advice but
the members seem to be mostly in the US. I'll keep an
eye out for a skimmer less than 3 feet tall.

5 gallon water changes? Wow, that's half the tank. Won't
it shock the critters a bit?

Lighting- yea, I know. I'm completely useless at wiring
things and the lfs don't have any hoods for 10 gallon tanks.
Saskatoon really is a small town.

ivy

Well, if you have no other forms of aeration, a skimmer is a must if you want lots of livestock. A regular powerfilter will not produce enough aeration but a Millenium powerfilter with venturi would work well as long as you turn on the venturi. My Eclipse 6 right now is absolutely useless. I wish I could add a skimmer to it but don't want to mess with it in my office as I don't want any accidents. If you can't find a Picollo, a Coralife Skimmer I would work. Maybe see if Bob_I wants to sell his. If not, you can get it from Big Al's online.

Piccolo skimmer
 

Welcome Ivy:
Here is the manufactures site:http:
//www.aqua-sander.de/produkte/piccolo.en.html
They have several kinds of counter courent skimmers up to mumugious.
Several places in the site they state that for any info Please E-mail them......so use the link to get N.American suppliers....or check out getting it from the UK.
Also the design doesn't look complex...DIY might be the way to go ....but for 18 pounds Sterling the commercial one seems inexpensive.
Hope this helps

The smallest skimmer I have tried that stunned me with its performance was the one found in the link.

http://www.northcoastmarines.com/pics/jst1001.jpg

It was the best skimmer I have ever tried and impressed with it performance, as long as the water level is constant. It comes in a very small foot print it is only 31/2 dia reaction chamber unlike what is mentioned in the website.

If I have a nano someday, I'll use these for sure.

Venki

You could easily use a halide pendant over that tank - maybe a 175w unit. They are fairly easy to find used, or DIY yourself.

I've mailed the piccolo people, thanks.

I looked at northcoastmarine's skimmer, but I'm confused as to how
it actually works. Does it have to go into the tank?

Coralife ones all seem to be too tall, my tank is only 30cm tall.

How about prizm or skilters? Anyone using those? I'd really like
something I could hang on the back of the tank and plug in.
It's my first saltwater tank and I'm not confident about DIY. (I
nearly electrocuted myself once just painting a room *grin*)

I can't put a halide light on this tank as it's on my desk and the
output would be blinding. Also have pet birds which are free roaming
and worry about them landing on the hot light.

thanks
Ivy

Prizm is the debbil. You would probably save time doing water changes rather than skimming at all =)

JMHO :eek:

beth

I agree that the Prism sucks. Against everyone's advice, I went out and bought a brand new one for my brother's tank. It sucks. If we reduce the water flow, air gets trapped and accumulates in the water intake until it breaks the siphon and the filter completely stops working (in about 2 days). If we increase the water flow, the collector cup overflows in less than a day. I read a suggestion on RC that a good solution is to somehow raise the skimmer up higher by putting something underneath it and then I can increase the waterflow and prevent the air collection in the intake tube. If the skimmer was built properly in the first place, I wouldn't have to use this hack.

See this thread. It answers both questions. Coralife Super Skimmer I fits on the back of an Aquaclear 200. Using it this way also keeps the water level constant for the skimmer so that you don't have run an autotopoff system.

I guess a link would help. Sorry, forgot.

http://www.canreef.com/phpBB2/viewto...light=coralife

You already have the 10 gallon? If so, too bad - you could solve a lot of the problems you'll face with a 20 gallon setup instead. For one thing, a 5 gal water change makes more sense (good idea Can_Man), and a 24" PC light fixture can be had for cheapo. Esp if you find a used one - these range from 110-130 watts and will light up a 20 just fine.

Lighting a 10 properly is a bugger, and keeping it stable is a bugger, and running out of room is a bugger, believe me...

Had a 10, a 15, and a 20 - my new nan0 is a 29.

Aaahhh... room to breathe.
:biggrin:

Ahhh, Alan #2000 just down the road. I will agree lighting a 10 gallon is difficult, but not impossible. Anything with a 24" footprint is easier. At this time I have 20G high and an 11 gallon. The lighting in the 11 gallon is top notch thanks to Evan's inventiveness. For the 20H I have the choice of 2X65W PC, ot 175W MH. I am running the MH right now. As to skimmer, I would probably forget it. Water changes are far cheaper, and more effective IMHO. :rolleyes:

I wonder how a becket would do for a 10 or 20 gal tank :mrgreen:

Steve

Wow, lots of great advice :)

Ok, no Prism/Prizm skimmers.
The coralife skimmer in a filter sounds great, I will keep an eye out
for one used. I should be ok for a while with just the live rock
in the tank, though, shouldn't I?

Yes, unfortunately I have the 10 gallon. I would've preferred
a 20, but I can't possibly afford to pay $15/lb for 20 lbs of live
rock (the going price here), and the light hood upgrade was
going to be $150 for the fixture and..you get the idea. I'm a
university student (plant science) so am on a fairly limited
budget as long as I keep up silly habits like eating. :)


Ivy

You're at the U of S? Nice school. I attend a conference there yearly in May (undergrad psychology).

Hey boB ... are you selling that little skimmer ? ... I setup my daughters 15G nano a week ago and might be interested in a little skimmer for it.

Cheers

Sure. :mrgreen: We are talking big bucks here. The skimmer costs $20.00+ new. :eek:

Not sure I can cough up that much cash :razz: ... will you give me a deal ? :mrgreen: ... do you have a air pump for sale as well ?

Now it is beginning to sound more interesting :razz: I also have an Optima pump. The problem is that is somewhat too large for the skimmer. Then I purchased a valve to bleed off some air. That was too fiddley, so I parked everything. :rolleyes:

Yes, I'm at the U of S. doing plant sciences via the college of agriculture.
I started out in Arts and Sciences doing Classics then switched in
3rd year. I hope to graduate before I die of old age. :)

ob reef- set up the 10 gallon and bought a tiny piece of live rock
I keep watching it to see whether anything moves. :)

If Buk_A_neer can't swing the loan for the little protein skimmer,
I'm interested! ;)

Ivy

Well I am a honours graduate of the Horticulture Technology program at Olds College, so as a fellow plant and nano person, you have first refusal. :biggrin:

A 10 gallom tank is not that much water, I agree that water change would be more benefit. A skimmer is nice but you'll be hanging more things that just require more maintainence.

Bob_I that's cool :) Do you find your dry plant expertise carries
over? I'm definitely interested in the skimmer, how much
do you want for it? Will it run off a small pump?

Ken: I want the skimmer because I'm a beginner and it may
compensate for some of the mistakes I'm sure to make. I
will still do water changes of course.

Live rock has something weird on it! I will try to post a picture.
Ivy

Pictures posted in the pictures forum (with much difficulty) :)
I hope these aren't aiptasia as there're a LOT of them.


Ivy

For $15.00 I will pack it up and send it to you. It should run off a small pump.

Ken: I want the skimmer because I'm a beginner and it may
compensate for some of the mistakes I'm sure to make. I
will still do water changes of course.

Live rock has something weird on it! I will try to post a picture.
Ivy[/quote]

:confused: :rolleyes:

Heeeeeere we go again...

And I was just about to offer Steve an air pump to go with his new little skimmer. Did I miss the part where he didn't want it anymore?

:confused:

You missed nothing Alan. Steve did not say definitely that he wanted, or did not want the skimmer. Ivy said she wanted it, but at this time it is still sitting here. In brutal reality it is still available. Is it really worth getting very excited about this :question: I was just at Ocean, and they are hanging on the wall @ $21.99 brand new. :rolleyes:

Going to get one at Ocean :confused: ... just not worth the hassle :frown:

interested in that pump tho Alan :biggrin:

Cheers

Apologies for stepping on your toes, Buk_A_neer, I'm overexcitable
at the neatness of having a reef tank. :o

Ivy

No need to apologize ... it was not you ... I am better off with a new one anyway ... a reef tank is a awesome thing so enjoy setting it up :cool:

Steve, I've got a few air pumps around the house, mostly smaller. If you want to set something up just let me know.

:cool:

NE one else need one?
:smile:

What I would do...
 

Hello,

The easiest lighting would be coralife self ballasted bulbs. They come in two sizes: 10 watt and 20 watt (50/50 or daylight). The 20's fit in a 10 gal incadecent hood and they work great. They are about $30 a bulb. Second as for the skimmer, you can use a skimmer. I use one on my 5.5 gal nano with a 2.5 gal sump (it's so tiny!!) and it's great. Just remember that skimming is no replacement for water changes... changing water (as you know) does more than take stuff out, it puts stuff back too!

There are some really small skimmers by, again, coralife that you can get from Big Al's and other places around. You can easily make one though. What I did is I took the bottom part of a gravel vaccum (the large tube) and put a small zip lock container on the top hole and ran an air stone into it. It works great and it cost me under $10!! Hope this helps!