10 gallon filter

[stickman87]

Hello I have a 10 gallon reef tank and have 2 aquaclear 20 hob filters on it now and I was wondering if I could put a fluval 406 canister filter on instead I was just worried about the flow rate being to high for my soft corals

 

[Jimbo662]

A canister will probably be more work than it's work. You'll need to make sure you clean it on a very regular basis...most people refer to them as nitrate factories.

 

[stickman87]

Ya thats what I thought and my nitrates do get high sometimes is there any alternative for filtering a small tank like that

 

[cloak]

With that size tank your soft corals should be able to handle the flow from two HOB filters IMO. You should probably add a small power head to the tank as well if you don't have one already. Also, the rock you have will be your primary biologic filter, so there's really no need to run a HOB or a canister filer unless it's for mechanical or chemical filtration. (sponges, GAC, GFO). Sometimes these are not even needed though. GL.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rs/feature/index.php

 

[stickman87]

Yes I have a couple corals in there now and they do fine I have a power head in there already I just wanted to see if I could keep nitrates down other than water changes every week

 

[cloak]

When your doing these water changes are you stirring up or vacuuming the sand bed? Do you blast the rocks with a power head on a regular basis? What kind of water are you using? (RO/DI or tap) Your nitrates are probably high because your tank is struggling to process all the crap within it. Remove this and you'll lower that. Not overstocking, not overfeeding is also very important too though. GL.

 

[stickman87]

I vacume the sand and use jugs of distilled water but I don't blow off the rocks I do 3 gallon water changes every week and nitrates are getting better but I will try blowing off the rocks too. Thanks