10 gal tank filtration

M

MrKyotoSahn

Reefing newb
I'm starting a new 10 gal tank. So far I have a Fluval Aqua clear 50 HOB filter, about 11 lbs of live rock and I have a Hydor Koralia 240 pump I will be putting in as soon as it arrives from EBay.. I also have 20 pounds of live sand, the one that comes in a bag that does the instant cycling. I put in 2 hermit crabs a peppermint shrimp and a fire shrimp 2 days after I started the tank. A week after that which was 2 days ago I put in a percula clown and a feather duster in there.. My nitrates went crazy high but I did about a 40% water change which brought the nitrates to about 80ppm..I know I need to do another water change this week. My question is, do you guys think that the Aquaclear 50 and the Koralia 240 along with my live rock and sand bed be enough filtration for my bio load? Thanks in advance for your input guys
 
First off, you need to do a water change now. 80 is enough to kill all of your stock. Second, I would get s couple more pounds of rock and a couple pounds of rubble rock for the filter. Take the media out and replace it with rubble or find the DIY on how to make those a refugium.
 
i would do a another 40% water nitrates need to stay under 20 this is a must but the lower you keep them the better off you are on my 55 gal i try to keep under 5ppm 0 ppm isthe best but with a 10 gal you will need to watch closely as you tank is small and a little means allot
 
thanks guys. I did another water change and the nitrates are still the same.. could it be that I'm getting bad water from my LFS... I never thought to check the water I got from them for nitrates before doing the water change.
 
I was also thinking about getting some coral later on.. Do you guys think it would be enough filtration with the koralia 240.. The aquaclear 50? I'm planning on adding the couple more lbs of live rock and putting the rubble rock in the filter media place
 
thanks Kyle...What's your opinion on adding a skimmer along with all the other filtration, do you think that it is REALLY necessary?
 
A skimmer would be nice and I think I'm gonna DIY one for my 20, but like Erin said, waterchanges are all you really need. That and topping off every day are the two keys that I've found for a healthy nano. And don't ever skip topping off because it's super easy to go "why's my water 3 inches low today?" because you "forgot".
 
Your tank just started, and you already have 80+ppm nitrates, or did I read that wrong? Are you using tap or rodi/distilled? Either your water source is bad or your test kit is bad. When I first started with a 45g, I filled it w/ tap water. My nitrates were at around 60ppm. I drained it and switched to rodi and haven't looked back.
 
I was getting my water from a LFS.. So my clownfish died today as the result of parasites the guy at a different LFS told me when I showed him the pix of the white slime that was building up on him... So I went to petco and bought their saltwater that comes prepared in a box as I read that's pretty good. Did about a 40% wc and I'll check my nitrates this morning. Also I read in another forum that those media that comes with the filter is sometimes a nitrate factory and that it's better to just put live rock in its place.. It sounded like a good idea so I threw out the lil crystals and the carbon filter pack and just left the lil sponge and filled the rest of the media chamber with live rock. I felt it would be good to at least leave the sponge under the rock so at least some of that beneficial bacteria will still be left in the filter. Did I do the right thing? Also I started seeing some brown algae growing on my sand..the guy at my new LFS said that's probably because I been running my lights too long,I been running them for about 9-10 hours.Is this true?
 
8 hours is about all you want for lights. Youu should wait atleast 6-8 weeks now for new fish so the disease dies off and yess, those filters are nitrate factories, but I would also ditch the sponge, too. The rock has all the bacteria you'll ever need.
 
If you just setup your tank, even with live sand, your tank can still cycle. It probably didn't help with your fish' survival. Wait a bit longer before adding another one--let your tank settle first.

How did you acclimate? The fish probably got stressed. Usually slime is a defense reaction. Did he have white spots? When getting a fish, have the lfs feed the fish and make sure it's eating. When you take him home, do a drip aclimmation. i usually do a 2-3 hour acclimation.

+1 on the filter media. Nitrate factories. Have your lfs check your nitrates. maybe your kit is bad. i once bought a brand new test kit, and nitrates kept testing wrong. i did a side by side test with the lfs'.

how are you topping off? and hopefuly you have a refractometer to check salinity.
 
Thanks Kyle... I'll go buy a bit more live rock for the filter... Wonton I did acclamation for about an hour on the fish, I will take your advice on waiting to add another fish. I'll keep checking those nitrates until they're close to 0ppm.. Thanks to everyone for their input
 
I top off with distilled water everything every day... I get a bottle of drinking water and poke a hole in the cap and slowly let it drip into my tank till I get it back to the right water level
 
Thanks for your advice everyone.. so I finally got my Koralia 240 and put it in my tank.. Not as strong a current as I thought it would be, but I guess it's fine since it doesn't seem to be stirring up any sand. I have it a couple of inches below water level, is that fine? I also tested my water this morning for nitrates and it was down to 40ppm so I guess the water change and me putting the live rock in the media chamber of my filter helped :) That reading was before I put another nice size piece of live rock in the filter chamber and took out the sponge I had left in there last night, when I took out the bio crystals and the carbon replaced it with about a pound's worth of live rock pieces in there. when should I check the nitrates again... My peppermint shrimp, red fire shrimp, and 2 hermits are doing fine. I see some brown algae growing on the sand. What can I do to get rid of it?
 

Similar threads

F
New to marine.
Replies
2
Views
1K
kbuser92
kbuser92
J
PULLING-OUT MY HAIR!
Replies
0
Views
2K
Jeff P.
J
Sashimi
75G LPS 2.0
Replies
2
Views
2K
Sashimi
Sashimi
R
Clowfish
Replies
0
Views
875
Reef aquarium time
R
Sashimi
75 gallon LPS 2.0 suggestions
Replies
0
Views
2K
Sashimi
Sashimi
Back
Top