Good Filtering?

[Tito2491]

I have a 10 gallon reef aquarium that i set up yesterday, i have a powerhead with a little filter attached to it, a penguin mini biowheel , im goin to buy a skilter filter 250. Is That good enough for a 10 gallon reef??

 

[lando]

the skilter will be nice because of its skimmer, athough they come with mixed results. If you want a reef, your best filtration method is to use a 4in LS bed with 1.5-2l/gal of LR. That will provide you with more then enough biological filtration. the skilter will help with your mechanical and chemical filtration. I would skip the biowheel all together. They have a tendency to produce nitrates.

 

[loganj]

You could have all that...or not. One thing you want to watch out for is the tendency to apply FW filtering and maintenance techniques to a SW aquarium...especially a reef tank. With a 10g tank, you don't really need anything other than enough LR and good water flow. Doing weekly water changes...not really a problem with a 10g...will take care of dissolved organics and replenishment of trace elements. If you've already bought the Penguin, remove the biowheel and cartridge and use it for flow. You can run some AC in it occasionally. If it were me, I'd use the money I was going to spend on the Skilter for more LR and perhaps another small PH. What kind of lighting do you have? JMHO.

 

[spongeynip]

i agree, but in my tank, i use mostly LR and LS filtration, and a generic protein skimmer. I too got a fw filter that came with my tank, and i used it for a while, then the nitrate problem arose (but everyone lived through it). But just like he said, i took most of it out, sept for the carbon part, and use it for flow.

Good luck with ur tank
-Trent

 

[Tito2491]

Thanks for the info on the biowheel , would the skimmer make my tank clear?? would it b good for corals and fishes??

 

[malkore]

in a 10 gallon tank, you can really only keep 1 small fish, and some corals. skimmers will greatly improve the water quality, which the corals will appreciate.