Help needed for filtration for pico or small nano (<8g)

[F4TALREEFER]

Feel that, got back in a little over a year ago. In high school had 2 sw and a fw in my room. Living room parents let me do a nice sized fw.

For the piece by piece I'd do something like this

10 gallon or so tank
XP Aqua Flexi
Autoaqua ato
hydor koralia nano 240gph if you want more flow
any heater for sized tank on an inkbird temp controller
kessil a80 or a160 depending on corals you want to keep
probably run you about 500 bucks or less with out looking up current prices

AIO Rabbit hole
Tank
light
Heater
nano wave maker
media basket
oh wait i wanna upgrade my return pumps
oh wait i want a fuge so buy basket and light
oh they make a skimmer that fits
oh theres a media reactor that fits
oh hang on back cal reactor '
oh hang on back cheato reactor
Price range 500-1000+

Add a kamoer x1 bluetooth doser hooked up to a decent ups or battery backup (dang thing doesnt resume doesing after powerloss) and dose Tropic Marin All for Reef.

With a nano honestly all you need is 25ish% water changes, run chemipure blue, and purigen.
currently i run my own mix of BRS Carbon, GFO, and Purigen in a reactor in the back of my nuvo. I do plan on removing GFO once i get my GHA moslty eradicated. You could do the same in a bag in the the XP Aqua filter.

I am loving my nuvo, but plan on setting back up the 7.5 gallon soon just something about it was so fun and unique wish i had pictures. Lost my phone and apparently 6mo of photos didnt sync to google...

 

[Karen00]

Feel that, got back in a little over a year ago. In high school had 2 sw and a fw in my room. Living room parents let me do a nice sized fw.

For the piece by piece I'd do something like this

10 gallon or so tank
XP Aqua Flexi
Autoaqua ato
hydor koralia nano 240gph if you want more flow
any heater for sized tank on an inkbird temp controller
kessil a80 or a160 depending on corals you want to keep
probably run you about 500 bucks or less with out looking up current prices

AIO Rabbit hole
Tank
light
Heater
nano wave maker
media basket
oh wait i wanna upgrade my return pumps
oh wait i want a fuge so buy basket and light
oh they make a skimmer that fits
oh theres a media reactor that fits
Price range 500-1000+

With a nano honestly all you need is 25ish% water changes, run chemipure blue, and purigen.
currently i run my own mix of BRS Carbon, GFO, and Purigen in a reactor in the back of my nuvo. I do plan on removing GFO once i get my GHA moslty eradicated. You could do the same in a bag in the the XP Aqua filter.

I am loving my nuvo, but plan on setting back up the 7.5 gallon soon just something about it was so fun and unique wish i had pictures. Lost my phone and apparently 6mo of photos didnt sync to google...

This is great! I'm hitting up the fish store this weekend and will bring this list. You saved me a bunch of time!! Haha Don't get me started on losing pics. I didn't realize my phone wasn't syncing my pics and I lost about 2yrs worth (and vids) when my phone decided to not startup one day. I think it was after an android update. Ugh!!

 

[F4TALREEFER]

Glad I could help. I've spent far to long lurking across multi forums over the years and it's time to get active.
Gotta sit down and spend some time getting a tank log together. Almost at the ennnummmmm i wont say it 3-4 month battle with GHA algae.
Good luck on the new set up.

 

[NewCaliCaptives]

Hello fellow reefers,

Due to space restrictions I have pretty much settled on my first reef tank as being a pico or small nano. Most likely less than 8g but I might be able to do a 10g. There will be no extra water volume like from a sump, etc. There will only be the DT with manual water changes.

So... I'm stuck on how to do filtration on these small spaces. On the larger tanks I see folks have their filtration/pumps and then extra power heads to ensure water is moved around the tank for proper flow but I'm not sure if this extra flow is needed for the smaller tanks.

My question is for the vase style and the regular rectangular type tanks so....

Vase style:
- I really like the look of these and I have the perfect spot for one but I'm at a total loss as to how a filter/pump is hooked up to one of these because they are round. I have looked at a couple build threads but the pictures I saw didn't show the filters (although it's possible I didn't scroll far enough). Does someone have a build thread link that describes the equipment used as well as placement or can someone describe to me how to do this? Also.... I'm assuming because these are so small that extra flow from power heads is not needed?

Standard rectangular tanks:
- Obviously because of the shape adding a filter is much easier but I'm at a bit of a loss as to whether an internal filter or HOB would be best. Obviously a HOB means more space is available in the tank for corals so I'm leaning toward a HOB if I go the route of a regular tank. Having said that the internal pumps not only act as filters but almost like power heads by directing the flow across the tank unlike HOBs that only direct the water down in one location which could cause dead spots.
- Given a nano is considered 5g - 30g (approx) at what point do you need power heads for extra movement/flow? Is it generally found that 10g and above would most like need flow or maybe 8g and above? I have an 8g freshwater and when I look at the length of it at about 18" I think it would need power heads to avoid dead spots if I were to do a similar size for a reef but maybe not especially if an internal filter is used.

Coral types:
- My last question is... What are the best beginner corals for these small environments where space is restricted and flow might be slightly compromised? I think I read acans in one thread.

More questions might come to mind depending on replies.

Thanks in advance!

I would say get a AIO Cube tank. I have the Waterbox 10 Cube and I love it! I personally wouldn't go any smaller than that, since total water volume when you add LR is even less. I too am limited on space (also a rental) so we are kinda in the same boat! the internal filter chamber is good for all your filtration needs, you have a filter sock and can run carbon, or whatever else you want even a tiny skimmer if you wanted to, I dont. As of right now the size hasn't held me back as far as stocking goes. I have 2 fish a maroon clown and a yellow watchman, 1 pistol shrimp, 5 hermits, a turbo snail, and GBTA. As for coral I have a Ricordea, 4 zoanthids, acan, chalice, anthelia, a Monti and a birds nest. Everything is doing great and my nitrates are quite low, 1-2 ppm. I dont even have a skimmer, so if you take it slow and have ample surface area for bacteria you should be fine. In addition to the return pump I have a Jebao OW-10 which is perfect for keeping the water moving.
All in all you can still get a nice reef with want you want in a nano size like this! Just take it slow, wait a good amount of time in between adding livestock, and dont add more than 2 fish! Most importantly dont overthink it! So many mistakes ive made but that's how you learn!

 

[NewCaliCaptives]

Glad I could help. I've spent far to long lurking across multi forums over the years and it's time to get active.
Gotta sit down and spend some time getting a tank log together. Almost at the ennnummmmm i wont say it 3-4 month battle with GHA algae.
Good luck on the new set up.

If you say it it will come back!

 

[Karen00]

I would say get a AIO Cube tank. I have the Waterbox 10 Cube and I love it! I personally wouldn't go any smaller than that, since total water volume when you add LR is even less. I too am limited on space (also a rental) so we are kinda in the same boat! the internal filter chamber is good for all your filtration needs, you have a filter sock and can run carbon, or whatever else you want even a tiny skimmer if you wanted to, I dont. As of right now the size hasn't held me back as far as stocking goes. I have 2 fish a maroon clown and a yellow watchman, 1 pistol shrimp, 5 hermits, a turbo snail, and GBTA. As for coral I have a Ricordea, 4 zoanthids, acan, chalice, anthelia, a Monti and a birds nest. Everything is doing great and my nitrates are quite low, 1-2 ppm. I dont even have a skimmer, so if you take it slow and have ample surface area for bacteria you should be fine. In addition to the return pump I have a Jebao OW-10 which is perfect for keeping the water moving.
All in all you can still get a nice reef with want you want in a nano size like this! Just take it slow, wait a good amount of time in between adding livestock, and dont add more than 2 fish! Most importantly dont overthink it! So many mistakes ive made but that's how you learn!

Thanks so much for this and your reply in the skimmer thread. I was looking at the 10g cubes but will probably have to rearrange some furniture to be able to fit it in. The current spot is perfect for a standard tank but I don't have the room for a 10g standard without.... Wait for it.... Rearranging furniture. Haha. I guess nothing in life is easy. Haha. Thanks also for suggestions on the additional equipment and the stocking. I have started making a list for both but still had to go into more detail with the stocking (fish, CUC and corals).

Question: Once the tank has cycled and the CUC have been established can fish and corals be added at the same time (slowly of course) or should the fish be added first to establish more nutrients? When it comes to this hobby slow and easy wins the race!

 

[NewCaliCaptives]

Thanks so much for this and your reply in the skimmer thread. I was looking at the 10g cubes but will probably have to rearrange some furniture to be able to fit it in. The current spot is perfect for a standard tank but I don't have the room for a 10g standard without.... Wait for it.... Rearranging furniture. Haha. I guess nothing in life is easy. Haha. Thanks also for suggestions on the additional equipment and the stocking. I have started making a list for both but still had to go into more detail with the stocking (fish, CUC and corals).

Question: Once the tank has cycled and the CUC have been established can fish and corals be added at the same time (slowly of course) or should the fish be added first to establish more nutrients? When it comes to this hobby slow and easy wins the race!

I feel ya! I actually bought it because it would fit on my counter perfectly and I’m currently building a stand for the storage space! The old lady can’t stand the clutter and I don’t blame her!
I started my tank with all live rock out of my LFS tank, so the cycle was pretty minimal but I still waited a month to add anything. I added a small CUC at the same time that I added the first fish, my reasoning was now theyll actually have something to clean up, but it probably would have been best to add the CUC and wait a week to add a fish.

As for corals, I added the Richordea just 1 week after starting the tank! IMO contrary to popular belief corals can be added before anything else and almost immediately, they don’t have hemoglobin or blood for that matter meaning ammonia doesn’t affect them like it does inverts and fish. That said still start cheap and hardy, mushrooms and zoas are perfect for that! I wouldn’t chance anything expensive though theoretically it should be a-OK! Big thing with coral is alk (and ph) and STABILITY. Your ATO should help out with that more than anything else!
I contribute the early success and being able to stock it rather quickly with using all cured LR from an established system! Just make sure it is a clean system, you don’t wanna start off with pests and disease! Along with that I actually got my tank up to temp before adding the rock, I didn’t scrub it at all, and I kept transit time for the rock within 30 minutes from out of old tank into new tank. I think by doing this I negated any bacterial die off a lot of people experience.

Corals don’t really add to the bio load much and I think there’s no harm in adding them whenever you want! your salt should provide all the nutrients they need and you will already have levels of phos and nitrate.

Honestly, I think a lot of people get really frustrated and ultimately fail by OVERTHINKING everything. Get a solid understanding of how corals work, and how the nitrifying bacteria work, and you should be able to conquer most things! And be observant! As long as your levels are good nothing is going to go crazy wrong crazy fast! JUST DO IT!!!! I’m so excited for you;Happy

 

[Karen00]

I feel ya! I actually bought it because it would fit on my counter perfectly and I’m currently building a stand for the storage space! The old lady can’t stand the clutter and I don’t blame her!
I started my tank with all live rock out of my LFS tank, so the cycle was pretty minimal but I still waited a month to add anything. I added a small CUC at the same time that I added the first fish, my reasoning was now theyll actually have something to clean up, but it probably would have been best to add the CUC and wait a week to add a fish.

As for corals, I added the Richordea just 1 week after starting the tank! IMO contrary to popular belief corals can be added before anything else and almost immediately, they don’t have hemoglobin or blood for that matter meaning ammonia doesn’t affect them like it does inverts and fish. That said still start cheap and hardy, mushrooms and zoas are perfect for that! I wouldn’t chance anything expensive though theoretically it should be a-OK! Big thing with coral is alk (and ph) and STABILITY. Your ATO should help out with that more than anything else!
I contribute the early success and being able to stock it rather quickly with using all cured LR from an established system! Just make sure it is a clean system, you don’t wanna start off with pests and disease! Along with that I actually got my tank up to temp before adding the rock, I didn’t scrub it at all, and I kept transit time for the rock within 30 minutes from out of old tank into new tank. I think by doing this I negated any bacterial die off a lot of people experience.

Corals don’t really add to the bio load much and I think there’s no harm in adding them whenever you want! your salt should provide all the nutrients they need and you will already have levels of phos and nitrate.

Honestly, I think a lot of people get really frustrated and ultimately fail by OVERTHINKING everything. Get a solid understanding of how corals work, and how the nitrifying bacteria work, and you should be able to conquer most things! And be observant! As long as your levels are good nothing is going to go crazy wrong crazy fast! JUST DO IT!!!! I’m so excited for you;Happy

Thank you for this very detailed reply!! It helps a lot in determining the "steps to success". Haha. Getting LR that is clean and free of pests is my next hurdle. I'm in Canada and we don't seem to have as many choices up here but I have only started to look. I know a lot of people embrace pests as part of the diversity of a tank but for my first setup I would prefer not to have that headache. I've seen more than a few threads that scare the heck out of me. LOL

Thanks for being excited for me!! I'm excited for me as well but admittedly I sometimes become paralyzed with everything. I have a thousand browser windows open. Everything from water chemistry to equipment to meds to pests to rock/corals/livestock and the list goes on. Obviously it's a radically different world from FW. Haha.

 

[F4TALREEFER]

Thank you for this very detailed reply!! It helps a lot in determining the "steps to success". Haha. Getting LR that is clean and free of pests is my next hurdle. I'm in Canada and we don't seem to have as many choices up here but I have only started to look. I know a lot of people embrace pests as part of the diversity of a tank but for my first setup I would prefer not to have that headache. I've seen more than a few threads that scare the heck out of me. LOL

Thanks for being excited for me!! I'm excited for me as well but admittedly I sometimes become paralyzed with everything. I have a thousand browser windows open. Everything from water chemistry to equipment to meds to pests to rock/corals/livestock and the list goes on. Obviously it's a radically different world from FW. Haha.

Might I recommend going dry rock then? And brightwells cycle method. I can't recall the exact name but they sell ammonia in a bottle called quickcycle and microbacter start xlm. Add some coraline in a bottle or let snails and frags bring it in on it's own. Best way to start a pest free tank. You can always add biodiversity little by little in terms of pods, brittle stars, and other detrivours

 

[F4TALREEFER]

Stocking I'd go a bonded pair of gobies paired with a pistol shrimp. Maybe a deep water basslet.
Go slow. Let the aquarium cycle then add some inverts, feed the tank once a week for a month then go for fish. Its longer then necessary but if you choose to go goby pair then you will be best to add them at the same time so it's a larger bioload then one fish. Although small so will is your system. Better safe then sorry, but also nice thing is small systems 50-100% water changes are easy in an emergency.
Also it'll give you time to build some nutrients to help prevent dinos in a new system from my understanding.

 

[Karen00]

Might I recommend going dry rock then? And brightwells cycle method. I can't recall the exact name but they sell ammonia in a bottle called quickcycle and microbacter start xlm. Add some coraline in a bottle or let snails and frags bring it in on it's own. Best way to start a pest free tank. You can always add biodiversity little by little in terms of pods, brittle stars, and other detrivours

Thank you for this!! Yes, I have been considering dry rock but I was reading so many threads with people seeming to have great difficulty getting a good start with dry rock (maybe because of the initial lack of biodiversity) or their tanks just seemed to take so long to get started that I flip back to starting with live. Flip, flop, flip, flop... more than a fish out of water. This is one area that absolutely has me paralyzed. I have to start researching where I can get clean live rock in my area and if I can't find any then I will be dry starting because things like aptasia and bristle worms would make my head explode if I saw them in my new tank, especially one that will be 10g or smaller!! Haha. Your suggestions are being added to the dry start section of my voluminous sized document with all of my notes. LOL

 

[F4TALREEFER]

I did it on my 20 nuvo I kind of followed the directions from brightwell but was a bit generous in my measurements. If I recall took under a month to get cycled. I did battle gha 6months in but month 9 now and it seems to be gone for the most part after upping my clean up crew.
I did feed that tank frozen food with filter socks in place near end of cycle to insure it was complete for a week because I was adding clowns that I've had since I got back into reefing 2 years ago. But wanted a fresh start to avoid pests that I dealt with in my first jump back in. And so far so good

 

[Karen00]

Stocking I'd go a bonded pair of gobies paired with a pistol shrimp. Maybe a deep water basslet.
Go slow. Let the aquarium cycle then add some inverts, feed the tank once a week for a month then go for fish. Its longer then necessary but if you choose to go goby pair then you will be best to add them at the same time so it's a larger bioload then one fish. Although small so will is your system. Better safe then sorry, but also nice thing is small systems 50-100% water changes are easy in an emergency.
Also it'll give you time to build some nutrients to help prevent dinos in a new system from my understanding.

Thanks also for this!! I absolutely love gobies so I have to have at least one in my sw tank. Gobies are pretty much all I keep in my fw tanks now. They are my favorite of all fishes (that and seahorses). I love the whole shrimp/goby pairing because obviously that's something you don't get in fw. I have never heard of basslets so I guess that will be the 1001 browser window I have open. Haha!! It's so cool to have this new world of livestock to experience. I also agree that doing water changes is a lot easier in tanks this small, especially in emergencies.

 

[Karen00]

I did it on my 20 nuvo I kind of followed the directions from brightwell but was a bit generous in my measurements. If I recall took under a month to get cycled. I did battle gha 6months in but month 9 now and it seems to be gone for the most part after upping my clean up crew.
I did feed that tank frozen food with filter socks in place near end of cycle to insure it was complete for a week because I was adding clowns that I've had since I got back into reefing 2 years ago. But wanted a fresh start to avoid pests that I dealt with in my first jump back in. And so far so good

Nice!! A dry start is looking quite appealing. Like you mentioned I think it was mostly algae problems that people were dealing with after dry starting in the other threads I read. Most of those were "in progress" tanks so I am still waiting to read how they have turned out. I'm really glad to read you got it under control because some of those threads were looking beyond challenging and I think some of them were about to throw in the towel before even getting their first creature in the tank.

 

[NewCaliCaptives]

Thank you for this very detailed reply!! It helps a lot in determining the "steps to success". Haha. Getting LR that is clean and free of pests is my next hurdle. I'm in Canada and we don't seem to have as many choices up here but I have only started to look. I know a lot of people embrace pests as part of the diversity of a tank but for my first setup I would prefer not to have that headache. I've seen more than a few threads that scare the heck out of me. LOL

Thanks for being excited for me!! I'm excited for me as well but admittedly I sometimes become paralyzed with everything. I have a thousand browser windows open. Everything from water chemistry to equipment to meds to pests to rock/corals/livestock and the list goes on. Obviously it's a radically different world from FW. Haha.

Yes I’m EXACTLY THE SAME! Browsers open on every topic, if I even learn about something it’s all of the sudden an “issue” that I need to fix loll. I think just start and go, learn on the way! Take the small amounts of advice you get now and incorporate it! Use what works for you and phase out what doesnt. Just don’t get sucked into the equipment trap! Bio filtration is most of our filtration, and in our nanos we have the unique ability to make water changes enough a nutrient export to not need Much filtration. Bottom line buy that live rock and get it In water!! You won’t regret it!

 

[Karen00]

Yes I’m EXACTLY THE SAME! Browsers open on every topic, if I even learn about something it’s all of the sudden an “issue” that I need to fix loll. I think just start and go, learn on the way! Take the small amounts of advice you get now and incorporate it! Use what works for you and phase out what doesnt. Just don’t get sucked into the equipment trap! Bio filtration is most of our filtration, and in our nanos we have the unique ability to make water changes enough a nutrient export to not need Much filtration. Bottom line buy that live rock and get it In water!! You won’t regret it!

Yes, it's time I jump in because it's easy for me to get stuck in all the research and I can't get beyond it. I totally agree about knowing the basics and then it's about learning as you go otherwise you never get going!! Haha. That's why communities like this make the learning so much easier! I read the threads of some reefers with tanks going on 30+ years or they were in it that long ago and are getting back into it again and I think "how did you do it prior to the internet"? I think it's incredible the successes they had/still have with the limited knowledge and limited access to knowledge back then beyond that of the clubs. Isn't there a member on here with a reef that is about 50 years old! That's is mind blowing to think about!

 

[Tired]

I would say get a AIO Cube tank. I have the Waterbox 10 Cube and I love it!
.....I have 2 fish a maroon clown and a yellow watchman.

I hate to tell you this, but that's going to go bad at some point. Maroon clownfish are very aggressive and get 5-6" long as adults. An ocellaris clown would work great in the setup you're describing, which sounds really nice, but maroons are not for nano tanks. The bare minimum size for one is more like 30 gallons, and a maroon in a 30gal will probably kill just about anything else in the tank. In a 10, that goby is either going to be killed or permanently driven into hiding, once the maroon matures a bit more and its hormones kick in. You should either rehome the maroon or upgrade the tank considerably.

 

[Karen00]

I hate to tell you this, but that's going to go bad at some point. Maroon clownfish are very aggressive and get 5-6" long as adults. An ocellaris clown would work great in the setup you're describing, which sounds really nice, but maroons are not for nano tanks. The bare minimum size for one is more like 30 gallons, and a maroon in a 30gal will probably kill just about anything else in the tank. In a 10, that goby is either going to be killed or permanently driven into hiding, once the maroon matures a bit more and its hormones kick in. You should either rehome the maroon or upgrade the tank considerably.

Thanks for adding your input!! I know you were replying to NewCaliCaptives but I would like to ask you about clowns for a 5g to 10g because I'm making note of fish that will be fine in a smaller tank and at this point it's looking like a 5g, maybe up to 8g. Will an ocellaris clown be fine in that or are there other clowns? And... Are there any other mid to upper water column fish? I am more of a goby person and have a fair number of suggestions for them but it's also nice to have some movement in the mid to upper range if possible but not if they won't do well in a 5-8g.

 

[Tired]

An ocellaris clownfish might work in an 8gal, if it has something (not necessarily an anemone) to host and stay in, but I wouldn't go any smaller. 10+ would be better.

There aren't very many midwater fish suitable for such small tanks. Midwater fish tend to be active, after all. If you can get ahold of one, an urocaridella genus shrimp will actually hover in midwater a decent amount of the time, which is cool. Alternately, you can have fairly tall rockwork, and then your perching gobies will be kinda midwater.

 

[Karen00]

An ocellaris clownfish might work in an 8gal, if it has something (not necessarily an anemone) to host and stay in, but I wouldn't go any smaller. 10+ would be better.

There aren't very many midwater fish suitable for such small tanks. Midwater fish tend to be active, after all. If you can get ahold of one, an urocaridella genus shrimp will actually hover in midwater a decent amount of the time, which is cool. Alternately, you can have fairly tall rockwork, and then your perching gobies will be kinda midwater.

Awesome, thanks! I pretty much figured regular fish wouldn't work. I love the idea of that shrimp so that's something and I was thinking about the rockwork for a perching goby if upper level fish were a no-go.