Can you use an internal filter in salt water tank

[zephyr]

Can you use an internal filter in a sewater aquarium of aprox. 5 to 10 gallons?
thanks
Justin

 

[Toomanyfish]

Personally, I wouldn't do it. First off, you're talking about a small tank. The less amount of room you take up with equipment, the better. You have to put in there a heater and a powerhead too, so adding an in-tank filter is really going to crowd things. Another point is that those filters are a pain to clean (I've used the fluval in freshwater tanks) so you might not be inclined to clean it as much as you will need to. Better to go for a cheap hang on the back filter (HOB) that is easier to get to and maintain.
Just my 2¢

 

[fishfreek]

Why use a filter at all?

I mean get a 3-4" sand bed and 5-10lbs of LR and thats your filter. Its not like your gonna be able to load this tank up with more than 1 fish.

Basicly a 5 gal would make a nice little invert tank.

Maybe some peperment shrimp and a small coral or two.

 

[michealprater]

i agree with freak. its pretty easy to just slap a airstone under the live rock, and it works great in small tanks.

 

[loganj]

small tank

The equip does take up lots of room in a small tank. I have a Maxi Jet 400 PH tucked in behind the LR for circulation in my 10. You hardly know it's there and it creates great current in the small tank.
Logan J

 

[zephyr]

Basicly a 5 gal would make a nice little invert tank.
Maybe some peperment shrimp and a small coral or two.

What invertabrates could i keep in it. The thing is i'm not going to have very strong lighting. I hear you can keep button corals without much light? I wanted to put in a percula clown.
ne way thanks

 

[Toomanyfish]

A percula clown would do well in that tank , mushroom corals don't require a huge amount of light, and like suggested before, shrimp can be a nice addition. Featherdusters don't require any special lighting either and can make a very nice display!

Almost forgot....I run a filter on all my tanks, even my little 5g. Why? Because it's a good place to run some carbon and/or other material (I also use Phos-zorb), it will get some of the detrius out of the water column, and it will also provide current. You just have to clean it regularly.

 

[fishfreek]

When I spoke of inverts I ment more like srimp or crabs.

a little Coral Banded Shrimp and some rock and some sand and maybe a mushroom would look nice in a 5.

JUST keep a very big eye on your evaporation. In small tanks evaporation will change the salinity much quicker than in larger tanks.