Too Skimmer or Not

[TimberTDI]

OK so my nano (6 gallon fluval edge) has been up and running for well over a year and it's doing really well. I must say that this is probably the most successful tank I've had, as far as coral propagation.

My only complaint is that my water is never crystal clear. There is always suspended detritus floating in the water column. I'm currently running the aquaclear 70 filter with 2oz of gfo and 2oz of carbon. I change out the media every two weeks along with about 2 gallons of water.

I'm debating taking the filter off and adding a Remora Nano skimmer. My concerns are what will happen if I take the media offline and would there be any negative drawbacks from skimming on such a small system? I don't have another tank to drop inhabitants in if things go awry.

So should I try it? Any other ideas on how I can get that invisible crystal clear look?

Thanks,
Steven

 

[TimberTDI]

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[Dre]

It sounds like your water is crystal clear with some detritus.We all have detritus from time to time from the live rock and sand. It's more visible in a very small setup like yours. A little detritus won't hurt and a skimmer is not sufficient for removing detritus. Continue to do what you're doing before you mess things up, it's not broken.
BTW how is the hammer coral doing ? Remember the one you got from me ?

 

[KathyC]

Steven - does the Fluval edge have any floss type material in it to capture the small particles?
If it does and it's not capturing them maybe you dont have enough flow to keep them in suspension enough to get them to go into the filter?

On a tank that small and your experience level you should easily be able to maintain it with just water changes. Also, how about a little more carbon than 2 oz, there is a growing school of thought that carbon does near as well a job at keeping a tank clean as a skimmer.

 

[TimberTDI]

You're right. The water is crystal clear with detritus.


fluval has a re-branded aquaclear filter. It did come with some kind of sponge thing but I tossed it. In it's place I use 2 & 2 in seperate media bags. It's all I can fit in the filter. So either I can go with 3:1 ratio of carbon:gfo or 4:0.

I will post a FTS later tonight (have an afternoon full of soccer games). There are "clouds" of fog where the leds penetrate.


Dre,

The hammer's doing great. I think I can see heads popping out from underneath. I finally glued down about two weeks ago, before that it kept getting knocked over. Hopefully growth will kick into high gear.

Steven

 

[KathyC]

There must be enough room in there to even put in a thin layer of floss..no?
Or you can slice a sponge very thinly with a razor..just enough to catch the crud maybe?

I'd definitely up the carbon.

Have fun at soccer!

 

[NYreefNoob]

or let the water coming out of the filter run over the floss

 

[TimberTDI]

So what to do?

Not exactly sure how I can set the filter up differently? There is one bag with gfo and another bag with carbon.

BTW if anyone is looking for a pair of clowns that will get in the way of every pic let me know. These two know when the camera comes out!!

Steven

 

[NYreefNoob]

where the overflow is coming out of the filter put the floss mat there is wil catch most of the stuff

 

[TimberTDI]

What product should I use? Btw Rick the orange zoos & yellow by the clam are from Manhattan Aquariums, $30. Clam too $80.

 

[NYreefNoob]

tank looks really good, i was down there today, the filter pad you threw out would have worked