10 gallon nano questions!?!

[TXnano]

I am about to set up a 10 gallon nano and i was wondering if anyone has any experiances... good or bad... with a cpr backpack style skimmer. And i would like some ideas on how to hide as much "stuff" as possible.
Thanks,
JAy

 

[UnderGrad]

Best way to "hide" stuff, IMO, is to plumb a refugium/sump to your system, hide it in your stand, and put as much equipment that'll fit into it. Don't try to hide things under rocks or places in your tank that will be difficult to get to... it makes regular maintenance of this equipment a PITA.

-AM-

 

[ricky1414]

definitely a refug or sump. wish i started of that way. began my tank, then saw the boards...grr. i would have drilledmy tank to run the plumbing for all that stuff. definitely wanna build a sump to stash skimmer in.

 

[Zachreligious]

totally agree with the above....

I'm am in the process of moving my 10 gallon nano (first saltwater tank) to a 29 gallon, and I'm doing it "right".

...as soon as I can afford it.

I want a show quality display tank, and to do so is more complex and expensive, but imho, worth it.

Drill it, Plumb it, and hide everything in the stand, if you are concerned with the appearence of the display tank.

I wasn't concerned when I set the system up initially, but I am moving it into my newly remodeled home office that I spent a lot of time building, and I want everything to look fantastic, so I am going the extra mile to ensure that I achieve that goal.

BTW .... you can have a nice tank that doesn't look great(on the exterior), and there is nothing wrong with that, if the inhabitants are healthy. I have seen plenty of examples of these on this board and others, and this is the category my current nano is in. I can stare at my current tank for hours and never notice the lights hanging over it, the exposed wires, the powerheads and skimmer intake/return, but there is something to having the equipment hidden as much as possible.

At the very least, the spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/roomate/etc... will have less objections.

 

[anemonelover]

Personally, I feel that as long as you don't overpopulate your 10g, you shouldn't need a skimmer at all. There are big proponents for skimmers, but IMO, those should be reserved for tanks with large sumps or large tanks.

The reason for this is because you're removing a lot of nutrients that a lot of filter feeding animals need. You can suppliment them of course, but just as long as you can keep a handle on the ammonia and nitrate (which sort of naturally occurs with small and regular water changes), you should be golden. In my 10 gal, everything has been really really stable and the everything is thriving.

^ Hope that's been helpful. If you haven't bought a skimmer yet, I say don't and test your waters religiously. If after adding some basic animals and whatnot you think you need one, then go for it.