Help Picking Protein Skimmer 10g tank!!

nightmarepl · Aug 30, 2018

hey yall, im having some issues with Nitrates usually pretty high was looking into getting a protein skimmer i currently have a 10g reed tank ( long ) was looking into two different ones dont want anything too expensive

https://www.amazon.com/Coralife-Bio...d=1535650194&sr=1-13&keywords=protein+skimmer
OR
https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life...id=1535650194&sr=1-8&keywords=protein+skimmer

one of these need help both have mixed reviews any advice? please let me know.

Mrx7899 · Aug 30, 2018

I had the aquatic life skimmer on a 10 gallon it worked pretty good. I would do the air line mod for it.

madweazl · Aug 30, 2018

I think you'd be better off with water changes for nutrient control on such a small tank.

cloak · Aug 30, 2018

I have the AquaticLife skimmer on my 20 gallon long and couldn't be happier with it. (especially for the price) The only downside though is that it will put some bubbles in the tank. Not so much micro bubbles throughout the tank, just bubbles on the top of the water. The Venturi can make a little noise too, but it's really not that bad IMO. I have the tank placed about 3' from my bed and I sleep like a baby. It's kind of soothing actually. GL.

nightmarepl · Aug 30, 2018

cloak said:
I have the AquaticLife skimmer on my 20 gallon long and couldn't be happier with it. (especially for the price) The only downside though is that it will put some bubbles in the tank. Not so much micro bubbles throughout the tank, just bubbles on the top of the water. The Venturi can make a little noise too, but it's really not that bad IMO. I have the tank placed about 3' from my bed and I sleep like a baby. It's kind of soothing actually. GL.

mm maybe ill just get that one and call it a day

nightmarepl · Aug 30, 2018

Mrx7899 said:
I had the aquatic life skimmer on a 10 gallon it worked pretty good. I would do the air line mod for it.

any links to how to do the mod? or a brief explanation

cloak · Aug 30, 2018

Luke iskra said:
mm maybe ill just get that one and call it a day

I think I paid $49.99 about a year ago, but that link you posted say's $37.13 I believe. I would definitely give it a shot for that price. It's compact, real easy to clean and quite efficient IMO. Even if it turns out to be a lemon your only out $40 bucks. GL.

DesertReefT4r · Aug 30, 2018

Sounds like you need to be doing more water changes. Should be all that is needed for nutrient control in a small tank.

nightmarepl · Aug 30, 2018

DesertReefT4r said:
Sounds like you need to be doing more water changes. Should be all that is needed for nutrient control in a small tank.

I’ve been doing one every week to two

Flexin · Aug 30, 2018

Small skimmers really don't work well, not when you see a larger one in action. See that light skim-mate in that picture, not really doing much. The small ones don't have fine tuning to allow for a good thick skim to be removed. Waist of money unless you just want to check the box like I did to say I had one on my smaller tank, and that is now on a shelf. I now plan on tossing it after this conversation because I won't even sell it since I think it's a waste. On my larger tank, once I saw a skimmer in action, changed everything.

If you want to in a small tank use Purigen, a chemical skimmer, comes in a small bag to include in your media basket or somewhere the water can flow through, just like your charcoal. However, as noted above for your tank, a decent size water change is your best friend. Takes the guess work out of it and allows you to reset.

How high are your nitrates?
Do you overfeed (I know I have )
Vacuum your sand during the water changes if you don't already. Or, stir the sand up during the week to allow the filter floss to do it's job.
Change out the filter floss more often.
Find a schedule that works. Every two weeks? Doing it one week, then going two or three can lead to instability (just an example).
You may have to increase the amount of water you are changing out. What size are your water changes now?

One thing for sure, adding a nano skimmer will not make a huge difference. You will need to consider a few changes in order to get nitrates under control. But like I said, your best friend is a decent size water change.

nightmarepl · Aug 30, 2018

Flexin said:
Small skimmers really don't work well, not when you see a larger one in action. See that light skim-mate in that picture, not really doing much. The small ones don't have fine tuning to allow for a good thick skim to be removed. Waist of money unless you just want to check the box like I did to say I had one on my smaller tank, and that is now on a shelf. I now plan on tossing it after this conversation because I won't even sell it since I think it's a waste. On my larger tank, once I saw a skimmer in action, changed everything.

If you want to in a small tank use Purigen, a chemical skimmer, comes in a small bag to include in your media basket or somewhere the water can flow through, just like your charcoal. However, as noted above for your tank, a decent size water change is your best friend. Takes the guess work out of it and allows you to reset.

How high are your nitrates?

Do you overfeed (I know I have )

Vacuum your sand during the water changes if you don't already. Or, stir the sand up during the week to allow the filter floss to do it's job.

Change out the filter floss more often.

Find a schedule that works. Every two weeks? Doing it one week, then going two or three can lead to instability (just an example).

You may have to increase the amount of water you are changing out. What size are your water changes now?

One thing for sure, adding a nano skimmer will not make a huge difference. You will need to consider a few changes in order to get nitrates under control. But like I said, your best friend is a decent size water change.

Hmm currently I’m running a tidal 55 it’s a big hang on filter running it at max power i have purigen thag needs replacement / matrix / and a sponge should i take them all out replace them clean the sponge? Purigen bag been in there liek 5ish months and matrix maybe 2? Was told Purigen replacement is every 6 months and 3 months on matrixs maybe i should try thag first? I also change about 2.5 gallons every week or two gotta get more scheduled like you said

Flexin · Aug 30, 2018

If you are, overfeeding is easy, I have to restrain myself

Purigen will get tan and darker, then you replace it. The number of months is just a gauge, it depends on how hard its working.

Can you take a pic? If there is a sponge, you need to rinse that out each water change. Some remove sponges as they can be considered a nitrate factory. I think matrix is another type of skimmer.

First, we have to be careful not to make huge changes too quickly, especially in a 10G.
Second, I would check the purigen and see if it's a dark tan. If so, change that.
Third, follow the directions for cleaning the filter. I just grabbed a excerpt from the manual online. If you were not cleaning that sponge, that can be a major cause for high nitrates.

"Turn the cover over (Figure 9-A) and set the filter media basket into the slots on the cover (1). You can now carry the filter media basket to a cleaning area without spilling or dripping water. Remove the bag of Matrix™ biological media, any chemical filtration media and the foam filter (Figure 9-B). Rinse the foam filter thoroughly. Do not use any soaps or detergents as these can harm aquarium inhabitants. Rinse or replace any chemical filtration media as necessary. Replacement filtration packs designed specifically for Tidal™ Filter units (Matrix™, MatrixCarbon™, and Zeolite) are sold separately. The bag of Matrix™ biological media contains important bacteria for the stability of the aquarium environment. Do not allow the media to dry out. The media can be rinsed gently in a container with some of the water from the aquarium to remove any slime coating that may build up on the media over time. If the Matrix™ media is replaced it is advisable to replace no more than half of the media at any time so as to protect the bacteria culture that allows for a stable aquarium environment. At this time we would suggest re-seeding the aquarium with Seachem Stability™. Rinse the filter media basket. Reassemble media and all components in reverse order"

https://www.seachem.com/downloads/instructions/Tidal-Filter-Instructions.pdf

They are suggesting to use stability if you rinse the matrix. This can prevent a cycle in the tank. For the matrix, don't be rough when you rinse it, just rise off the big stuff.

Flexin · Aug 30, 2018

And by the way, share a pic of the tank

dmh41532 · Aug 30, 2018

I used reef octopus nano skimmer on a 10 and 20 gallon and it worked really well. The only downside to it, and I have the same problem with other in tank skimmers is the mounting was cheap, so it would constantly slide into the tank. Eventually I got tired of that and just did a sump and an in sump reef octopus skimmer. Don’t remember the model but it was rated up to 50 galloms