Protein Skimmer or Algae Scrubber on Nano ?

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

How many fish do you have in the 10g and how often/how much are you feeding? If doing a w/c is fairly common for you, I think you could get by with 5g w/c weekly if you didn't want to spend extra money on equipemnt. If you were looking for a skimmer, I would highly suggest the Tunze 9001. Great little skimmer for 20g or less.

I only have a pair of clowns and don’t plan on adding anymore any time soon.

this 1g is only a holding tank until I can fully plan out my build and save the $$.

i do 5G weekly WC currently, but do have quite the amount of phosphates that rise. My nitrates do come down to about 20ppm but my phosphates don’t budge.

i feed my clowns about 6 pellets each so it’s not heavy feeding. I have had a snail or two due on me so that has to be where I’m seeing a nutrient spike.

 

[Spare time]

I plan on keeping LPS in my nuvo, so a dirtier tank with >5 ppm NO3 <15 ppm NO3 would be desired.

this is a worry I’ve had as well. In my experience, when I start any tank there’s always high amount of nutrients in my tank, which is why I would opt for equipment to help from the beginning.

Keep in mind that there isn't any reason to think they prefer "dirtier" water. I think this is a misconception that somehow popped up in the past.

 

[Spare time]

I only have a pair of clowns and don’t plan on adding anymore any time soon.

this 1g is only a holding tank until I can fully plan out my build and save the $$.

i do 5G weekly WC currently, but do have quite the amount of phosphates that rise. My nitrates do come down to about 20ppm but my phosphates don’t budge.

i feed my clowns about 6 pellets each so it’s not heavy feeding. I have had a snail or two due on me so that has to be where I’m seeing a nutrient spike.

To add on to the person you are replying to, you could easily add carbon with a pinch of gfo in a bag to deal with phosphates

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I would be worried about.low oxygen levels in a sw mixed reef tank with out a skimmer. Id like to do some o2 testing on my tank actually at night to see where my levels are. Lol! Skimmer still goes but all my flow dies down at night and the surface water goes stagnant.
D

 

[PatW]

For a nano, getting a protein skimmer that is not way over sized and performs well is a bit of a heavy lift. You can try a scrubber but that can be a bit tricky. It is probably easier to just rely on regular big water changes to export nutrients. If you want to go with one, the skimmer is probably better. Algae works well on keeping down nitrates and phosphates but also removes certain trace elements. A skimmer will not do that.

 

[solitude127]

I only have a pair of clowns and don’t plan on adding anymore any time soon.

this 1g is only a holding tank until I can fully plan out my build and save the $$.

i do 5G weekly WC currently, but do have quite the amount of phosphates that rise. My nitrates do come down to about 20ppm but my phosphates don’t budge.

i feed my clowns about 6 pellets each so it’s not heavy feeding. I have had a snail or two due on me so that has to be where I’m seeing a nutrient spike.

interesting. you'd think doing a 50% water change should dilute your nutrients by 50% as well. So if your PO4 was at .06, it should drop down to .03 after a w/c since it's being diluted with water that should have 0 PO4 in it. Have you checked your w/c water to see if it has any PO4 in it?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

I don't doubt it can be done maintence heavy with wcs and lots of cleaning. I just prefer not to do that. Lol.
D

 

[Nano sapiens]

Hello R2R!

Would you guys go for a Protein skimmer, or an Algae Scrubber on a nano that does weekly water changes ?

Neither are typically needed in a small nano as regular water changes are enough as long as the bio load is reasonable.

I currently have a 10G holding tank with high nutrients, which are probably due to not have enough bio media.

Not necessarily (if you have a decent amount of live rock and a sand bed, that theoretically should be enough to process NO3 in a reef aquarium with a non-excessive bio load). PO4 is sequestered by calcareous surfaces (rock/rubble/sand, if not already PO4 saturated) and taken up by living/growing animals). In a properly cycled reef aquarium, high nutrients (assume you mean PO4 and NO3) can be caused by not enough/and or not healthy/growing consumers (corals, filter feeders, macro algae, etc.) and/or feeds that are too nutrient dense (pellets, especially)...or too much food/too often.

I am interested in building a DIY Algae Scrubber that I could use on my soon to be 20G Nuvo I already have.

I am curious however, what investment would I be able to get my bang for my buck. I’m a water changing guy as I only have experience and plan to stick to Nano reefs for my years to come, as I can’t yet afford bigger tanks and truthfully, enjoy the aesthetic a small tank gives.

Also for those of you that say skimmer, would you guys go external or internal? This would also dictate whether I get a sump, or a nano frag tank. I also have a goal to grow propagate corals to be able to maintain expenses in the hobby, so I would really like ‘sump space’ for a frag tank! Post away with thoughts !

One thing to note is that R2R is mainly a 'medium to big tank' group of aquarists that often run skimmers, algae turf scrubbers, etc. to combat rising nutrient loads since larger water changes are often too laborious and/or expensive over the long run. Picos and small nanos can easily handle a reasonable bio load with regular water changes and some regular detritus removal.

For visual reference, since this one is similar in scope to yours, this was my system many years back (it's now 14 years old). 12g, two adult Ocellaris Clownfish with 10% water change/week, weekly gravel vacuuming and literally no mechanical or chemical filtration other than live rock/live sand:

While not a problem for your future 20g, after a few short years and growing to adult size, I had to move the Clown on to larger quarters.

 

[MoreReef]

Hello R2R!

Would you guys go for a Protein skimmer, or an Algae Scrubber on a nano that does weekly water changes ?

I currently have a 10G holding tank with high nutrients, which are probably due to not have enough bio media.

I am interested in building a DIY Algae Scrubber that I could use on my soon to be 20G Nuvo I already have.

I am curious however, what investment would I be able to get my bang for my buck. I’m a water changing guy as I only have experience and plan to stick to Nano reefs for my years to come, as I can’t yet afford bigger tanks and truthfully, enjoy the aesthetic a small tank gives.

Also for those of you that say skimmer, would you guys go external or internal? This would also dictate whether I get a sump, or a nano frag tank. I also have a goal to grow propagate corals to be able to maintain expenses in the hobby, so I would really like ‘sump space’ for a frag tank! Post away with thoughts !

I don't have either on my 6gal sps nano... doing fine

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

interesting. you'd think doing a 50% water change should dilute your nutrients by 50% as well. So if your PO4 was at .06, it should drop down to .03 after a w/c since it's being diluted with water that should have 0 PO4 in it. Have you checked your w/c water to see if it has any PO4 in it?

I have not but this is a great point you have brought up.

last time I tested was this Sunday, 6/5/22. My phosphates tested at .63 with a Hanna Checker and my Nitrates at around 25 ppm using a Salifert. I would think my nutrients would drop. I am using a 6 stage BRS RODI unit that utilized twin DI canisters. Water reads at 0 TDS with a handheld meter and an inline meter on the output of the RODI unit. I need to mix up SW this week so I will test the freshly mixed SW and report back

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

Neither are typically needed in a small nano as regular water changes are enough as long as the bio load is reasonable.



Not necessarily (if you have a decent amount of live rock and a sand bed, that theoretically should be enough to process NO3 in a reef aquarium with a non-excessive bio load). PO4 is sequestered by calcareous surfaces (rock/rubble/sand, if not already PO4 saturated) and taken up by living/growing animals). In a properly cycled reef aquarium, high nutrients (assume you mean PO4 and NO3) can be caused by not enough/and or not healthy/growing consumers (corals, filter feeders, macro algae, etc.) and/or feeds that are too nutrient dense (pellets, especially)...or too much food/too often.



One thing to note is that R2R is mainly a 'medium to big tank' group of aquarists that often run skimmers, algae turf scrubbers, etc. to combat rising nutrient loads since larger water changes are often too laborious and/or expensive over the long run. Picos and small nanos can easily handle a reasonable bio load with regular water changes and some regular detritus removal.

For visual reference, since this one is similar in scope to yours, this was my system many years back (it's now 14 years old). 12g, two adult Ocellaris Clownfish with 10% water change/week, weekly gravel vacuuming and literally no mechanical or chemical filtration other than live rock/live sand:

While not a problem for your future 20g, after a few short years and growing to adult size, I had to move the Clown on to larger quarters.

Amazing tank ! Kudos for your journey!

My Current 10G is a breeder with no sand or rock, just a bag of Seachem Matrix and and some extra bio media in the HOB filter. Reason why my set up is as such is due to this tank only being a holding tank for now for my clowns, and corals.

I agree I don't need a skimmer, nor a scrubber as when my nuvo was running before its crash, I would stick to weekly water changes ( honestly, to keep nutrients in about .03 PO4 and 15 ppm NO3 I would have to change out about 30% of the water weekly). After some time doing this, I did notice my nutrients beginning to fall and become nearly undetectable.

I began to even go as far as dosing nutrients into my system. I should perhaps Invest in a reactor for my GFO and stick to WC to maintain low levels of NO3. Maybe if I begin to feed heavier and or increase my bio load, a HOB Skimmer could do the trick !

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

I don't have either on my 6gal sps nano... doing fine

kuddos ! Would like to have a nano SPS reef in the future. How has your journey been without any equipment?

 

[Angel_V_the_reefer]

I don't doubt it can be done maintence heavy with wcs and lots of cleaning. I just prefer not to do that. Lol.
D

I would like to have a low maintenance reef in my next build. As I come into my 20's, life is beginning to become, well, HARDER and HARDER. I would like to be able to go at least 2 weeks without a WC.

 

[MoreReef]

kuddos ! Would like to have a nano SPS reef in the future. How has your journey been without any equipment?

 

[Nano sapiens]

Amazing tank ! Kudos for your journey!

My Current 10G is a breeder with no sand or rock, just a bag of Seachem Matrix and and some extra bio media in the HOB filter. Reason why my set up is as such is due to this tank only being a holding tank for now for my clowns, and corals.

Thanks.

Ah, I see now, what I wrote doesn't really apply to your current situaation

 

[FreshCoastReef]

Neither are typically needed in a small nano as regular water changes are enough as long as the bio load is reasonable.



Not necessarily (if you have a decent amount of live rock and a sand bed, that theoretically should be enough to process NO3 in a reef aquarium with a non-excessive bio load). PO4 is sequestered by calcareous surfaces (rock/rubble/sand, if not already PO4 saturated) and taken up by living/growing animals). In a properly cycled reef aquarium, high nutrients (assume you mean PO4 and NO3) can be caused by not enough/and or not healthy/growing consumers (corals, filter feeders, macro algae, etc.) and/or feeds that are too nutrient dense (pellets, especially)...or too much food/too often.



One thing to note is that R2R is mainly a 'medium to big tank' group of aquarists that often run skimmers, algae turf scrubbers, etc. to combat rising nutrient loads since larger water changes are often too laborious and/or expensive over the long run. Picos and small nanos can easily handle a reasonable bio load with regular water changes and some regular detritus removal.

For visual reference, since this one is similar in scope to yours, this was my system many years back (it's now 14 years old). 12g, two adult Ocellaris Clownfish with 10% water change/week, weekly gravel vacuuming and literally no mechanical or chemical filtration other than live rock/live sand:

While not a problem for your future 20g, after a few short years and growing to adult size, I had to move the Clown on to larger quarters.

Really nice mix of textures, colors and composition with your corals there. Well done!

 

[Steven Garland]

Neither is needed. What you need to do is add a piece of established live rock to your tank to boost your beneficial bacteria to help rid you of high levels of nutrients.

Possibly add a small amount of pods to eat whatever leftover food,poo and junk is stuck in the rocks and feed phyto to keep the pod population going.

Did you start the tank with dry rock ?

 

[HBtank]

I don’t think either can be effectively supported on most nanos.

 

[Steven Garland]

I don’t think either can be effectively supported on most nanos.

I feel like they can be,not say a tank that is 20-30g sumped and stocked to the gills with acro's and fish. Most smaller tanks nutrients can be handled with weekly water changes and 2 deep cleanings a month.

Most time people have high nutrients because stuff is trapped in the rocks,didn't use live rock to start a tank and have barely any beneficial bacteria to consume gunk in the tank.

 

[john92708]

I use both on my 14 AIO softie to avoid WC. You might not need either if you're doing weekly WC unless you have high nutrients /algae issues in the display. my algae problem in the display went away after the algae in one of the back chamber takes off and the skimmer doesn't do anything other than oxygenate the tank now.