10g skimmer necessary?

tljokerst

New member
I have had a 10 gallon up for a little over six months with a fairly high level of success, but I get the feeling that my nutrients are not being removed as effectively as they need to be through just water changes. I do 2 gal once a week for PWC. I currently have an ocellaris clown, emerald crab, snail, and 3 different corals in the tank. Would putting a skimmer on this tank be necessary or helpful?
 
When your doing these water changes are you stirring up or vacuuming the sand bed? Do you blast your rocks with a power head? Are you cleaning any sort of mechanical filtration on a regular basis? Having a skimmer will definitely help, but before you spend the money you might want to switch up your water change routine a little and see if that helps.

Just out of curiosity, what are your Nitrates at?
 
When I do water changes, I stir up the detritus that has settled on the rocks as well as vacuum the sand to prevent nitrates from going too high. My nitrates usually fluctuate somewhere around 5 ppm which I know is high, I have lately gotten it down closer to zero. I am also going to get a higher resolution test kit so I can know exactly where my nitrates are rather than having a ballpark idea. In a tank like this, would it be better to do bi-weekly one gallon changes or stay with weekly changes and up the water volume?
 
When I do water changes, I stir up the detritus that has settled on the rocks as well as vacuum the sand to prevent nitrates from going too high. My nitrates usually fluctuate somewhere around 5 ppm which I know is high, I have lately gotten it down closer to zero. I am also going to get a higher resolution test kit so I can know exactly where my nitrates are rather than having a ballpark idea. In a tank like this, would it be better to do bi-weekly one gallon changes or stay with weekly changes and up the water volume?

Also, I have a hob filter that I run mechanical filtration and a small bag of carbon in. I change these both out once a week.
 
Maybe stirring the detritus up and sucking it out during water changes you may be able to keep up on the nutrient levels that settle but a skimmer can definitely help to remove nutrients from the water column. Even a small air power skimmer could make a difference.
 
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