Skimmer for 12g nano

[jcallesano]

Whats a good recommendation for a skimmer for my tank


ive seen the smaller one they make for the bio cube--i can get it at petco for like $35 I think. This is just an air pump not an actual water pump.like this


then there is this one...JBJ 12g nano skimmer


and there is this one....skimmer



What do you think. My water seems to have a lot of tiny particles in the water ever since I started to use the forzen food for my yahsa. I reaplced everyhting in the back of my nano with live rock, but now its just collecting everyhting on it and when I touch it, it all comes off and re circulates throught the tank ....



a little help here please

 

[marine mike]

I would definitely recommend the tunze product for sure. That other one is brand new so probably not much out there on it yet. Not a lot of experience with nano skimmers, someone else will probably chime in, but Tunze makes a great product almost across the board so I would assume their small skimmers are good as well. Nice to meet you at the meeting by the way, hope to see you at the next one next week!

 

[jcallesano]

I just want my water to be crystal clear again. Maybe somehting with the LR had to be changed....should I take it out and wash it off ?

 

[jcallesano]

bump anyone ?

 

[marine mike]

It never hurts to get any ditrius off of the rock that you can. I would not imagine that you would have all that much at this point based on what is in your tank. I would feed a minimal amount with only one fish in the tank and get that skimmer going asap which should also help. This should help clear the water quickly if it is just suspended ditrius in the water column.

 

[JackTheReefer]

The tunze skimmers are great but, you might not be able to fit it in one of the rear chambers of your nano requiring you to place it in the main display.

Im not a big fan of the quality of JBJ products and am not familiar with that skimmer.

The Bio-cube skimmers perform well for their price and type.

Another option you might want to try in combination with a skimmer is to get a foam block and cut it to fit over your live rock to pre-filter the particulate materials, if you choose to do so make sure you clean the foam on a regular basis.

Also, watch out with how much you are feeding, you want to feed the fish not the filter.

 

[Snidgetless]

I have a nano sized sea prizm you can take for $50. I think my corals like the water a bit dirtier anyways.... It hides perfectly in the sump on that tank.

 

[jcallesano]

Another option you might want to try in combination with a skimmer is to get a foam block and cut it to fit over your live rock to pre-filter the particulate materials, if you choose to do so make sure you clean the foam on a regular basis.

I have this in there already. I can actually see how my stuff is on the rocks. And no matter how careful I am in taking out the pieces of live rock, some always comes off and makes a mess which I really hate. Its not that my water is necessarily dirty...its just not super clear like it used to be.

I mean im starting to a** corals here and there..like a have a hammer with two heads and some tiny xenia and some zoas, but they are all small, along with my shrimps crabs and snails and one yahsa. I dont want to remove everything from the water if thats what a skimmer does. Like everyone seems to state, that their corals like it a bit dirty and a skimmer would defeat the purpose of that correct ?


maybe ill try and rinse my LR in the back chambers

 

[jcallesano]

I have a nano sized sea prizm you can take for $50. I think my corals like the water a bit dirtier anyways.... It hides perfectly in the sump on that tank.

can i see what it looks like...



im def not down with anything going in my tank with the inhabitants.

its small enough as it is but too broke to get a big tank and then stock it with thousands of dollars of goodies

 

[marine mike]

I thought I was skimming enough with my old skimmer and I thought it was sufficient for my setup. I could never understand though why my polyp extension on my sps was so understated and my growth was stunted from what I would expect with my light level. I then chose to upgrade my skimmer and within one day, my sps looked 100 percent better, more polyp extension and the growth and color have exploded. One of the most important aspects of any reef system is a quality skimmer. Don't worry about what you are taking out of the water. Certain softies like xenia people will say prefer "dirty" water which really just means high nutrients, some nitrates, some phosphates etc. Most corals however will benefit a lot more by having water that is properly skimmed, has reduced levels of nitrates, phosphates, and nutrients. As you get further into your tank and expand your coral selection you will find that keeping these levels as low as possible is one of the most important things you can do for your tank.

 

[JackTheReefer]

I have this in there already. I can actually see how my stuff is on the rocks. And no matter how careful I am in taking out the pieces of live rock, some always comes off and makes a mess which I really hate. Its not that my water is necessarily dirty...its just not super clear like it used to be.

I mean im starting to a** corals here and there..like a have a hammer with two heads and some tiny xenia and some zoas, but they are all small, along with my shrimps crabs and snails and one yahsa. I dont want to remove everything from the water if thats what a skimmer does. Like everyone seems to state, that their corals like it a bit dirty and a skimmer would defeat the purpose of that correct ?


maybe ill try and rinse my LR in the back chambers

It sounds like your overfeeding, I don't know why you would have so much build up otherwise.

Why are you taking out your live rock?

You are not going to remove everything from your water while skimming.

One of the biggest advantages of a skimmer in a nano is the aeration you get along with it.

How often do you change your water?

I have found weekly water changes on nano tanks are of huge benefit.

I have my sister do almost a 50% water change on her tank weekly.

I found it to be easier to maintain calcium, magnesium, ect... instead of trying to maintain them by individual dosing of each product.

 

[Snidgetless]

I thought I was skimming enough with my old skimmer and I thought it was sufficient for my setup. I could never understand though why my polyp extension on my sps was so understated and my growth was stunted from what I would expect with my light level. I then chose to upgrade my skimmer and within one day, my sps looked 100 percent better, more polyp extension and the growth and color have exploded. One of the most important aspects of any reef system is a quality skimmer. Don't worry about what you are taking out of the water. Certain softies like xenia people will say prefer "dirty" water which really just means high nutrients, some nitrates, some phosphates etc. Most corals however will benefit a lot more by having water that is properly skimmed, has reduced levels of nitrates, phosphates, and nutrients. As you get further into your tank and expand your coral selection you will find that keeping these levels as low as possible is one of the most important things you can do for your tank.

This is true, but keep in mind we are talking about a 12 nano with PC lights. Anything he keeps in there is not going to consists of the SPS type corals you are talking about. I think for this set-up a skimmer isn't really even needed.

 

[marine mike]

Agreed, but there was also a very noticeable difference in the color, expansion etc. of all of my zoa colonies with the new skimmer also. I think as some have said in this thread, the heart of the problem right now is overfeeding. One fish requires almost no food, and if there is that much ditrius suspending itself and covering rocks, there is definitely too much food going in. As with anything in a nano, a little of something means a lot. Most don't realize how tough a nano is when starting up in the hobby, smaller usually means easier but not with a nano reef. I went for months with no skimmer in a 20 gal. when I first started, they are not absolutely necessary in small tanks, but make life a lot easier IMO.

 

[jcallesano]

to reply to some questions---

It sounds like your overfeeding, I don't know why you would have so much build up otherwise.

Why are you taking out your live rock? i was going to take out the LR and rinse it off that I replaced everything in the back chambers with-I got rid of the bio balls ceramic rings and sponge filter

You are not going to remove everything from your water while skimming.i just wanted to make sure i was not going to be messing with the tank too much while skimming such a small gallon amount

One of the biggest advantages of a skimmer in a nano is the aeration you get along with it.

How often do you change your water?id say 3-4 gallons per week maybe more

I have found weekly water changes on nano tanks are of huge benefit.

I have my sister do almost a 50% water change on her tank weekly.

I found it to be easier to maintain calcium, magnesium, ect... instead of trying to maintain them by individual dosing of each product.

 

[jcallesano]

I might be overfeeding, i feed my yasha directly and I have to feed the shrimp directly too cuz there are little $hits if you ask me, some of my bigger hermits take the food right out of the dropper thing i use to feed the tank

 

[jamesdong009]

Once you have your LR in the tank, display and rear section, you shouldn't be taking it out and cleaning it. Kinda defeats the purpose of having LR if you're constantly cleaning it.

If detrius (sp) accumulates on your rocks, try pointing a powerhead on it.

 

[jamesdong009]

I might be overfeeding, i feed my yasha directly and I have to feed the shrimp directly too cuz there are little $hits if you ask me, some of my bigger hermits take the food right out of the dropper thing i use to feed the tank

How often do you feed your fish. I only feed mine like every other day. And they still look fat and happy.

 

[jcallesano]

Once you have your LR in the tank, display and rear section, you shouldn't be taking it out and cleaning it. Kinda defeats the purpose of having LR if you're constantly cleaning it.

If detrius (sp) accumulates on your rocks, try pointing a powerhead on it.

i clean off the rocks in my displays not the rear....yet. but theres a lot back there and I feel like that why my water has so many tiny particles in it because they have no where to go.


I feed once a day, and everytime I feed them it looks like they've never been fed ever

 

[afboundguy]

Or just blow it off with a turkey baster...

 

[jcallesano]

Or just blow it off with a turkey baster...

but then it will accumulate in the display and then ill be going back and forth blowing off the read and the display....lose-lose situation for me here