Filtration for 10 gallon

[FewestKitten896]

I have been lurking and researching for about 2 to 3 years and have decided to think about setting up a 10 gallon reef. I have seen a lot of builds either partition a space to convert to an aio or have seen a modified hob with an overflow box where the inlet of the hob goes in, more or less for surface skimming. Anyways, which one is preferred. I would love to just buy an aio already built but unfortunately it is way out of the question. This will be my first salt setup and i do understand that bigger is better for beginners but i don't have the space or funds to properly set up a larger system.

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[BeachVacationer]

I have a reef 20 gallon long on the cheap, I mean dirt cheap. No sump, HOB, no skimmer. Live rock provides all the bio filtration you need. So you just need a bit of mechanical filter to keep the water clear of particulates and flow, lots of flow.

I'm my setup which has been running for over a year, I just have a mag pump with a filter on the intake. It provides great flow and provides mechanical filtration. Do big WC every 2 weeks for nutrient export instead of a skimmer. I do have a very small airstone to prevent biofilm from forming on the surface of the water. Dirt cheap to setup with minimal equipment needed. I don't even need a heater as the pump provides enough heat even in winter. I do run a small fan across the top of the tank to keep it below 80 degrees. Your biggest cost will be a RO/DI filter, refractometer, and salt.

 

[FewestKitten896]

I have a reef 20 gallon long on the cheap, I mean dirt cheap. No sump, HOB, no skimmer. Live rock provides all the bio filtration you need. So you just need a bit of mechanical filter to keep the water clear of particulates and flow, lots of flow.

I'm my setup which has been running for over a year, I just have a mag pump with a filter on the intake. It provides great flow and provides mechanical filtration. Do big WC every 2 weeks for nutrient export instead of a skimmer. I do have a very small airstone to prevent biofilm from forming on the surface of the water. Dirt cheap to setup with minimal equipment needed. I don't even need a heater as the pump provides enough heat even in winter. I do run a small fan across the top of the tank to keep it below 80 degrees. Your biggest cost will be a RO/DI filter, refractometer, and salt.

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For being a smaller tank half the size yours is, would it make more sense for me to get my saltwater and rodi from a lfs that specializes in saltwater aquariums? Not sure how much premixed is but if i am only changing a couple gallons per week. Over time it might make more sense to have my own but really wouldn't need much. Or get rodi and mix my own?

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[BeachVacationer]

Guess buying water from LFS is ok. I would have extra on hand at all times in case of emergencies and needing more than you thought for WC and during routine cleaning of your tank. And you'll need distilled water for manual top offs. But get a refractometer and basic testing kits for kh and ca.

 

[ReefsandGeeks]

Having a smaller tank will of course make buying your own RODI seem less necessary. Although buying LFS water is always an option, there are some benefits to having your own, even with less usage. For one, you save on gas money from driving back and forth. you don't have to lug around 5 g buckets of water. You always have RODI on tap, without a need to find a LFS that is open in the event of a midnight emergency (which is inevitably when you will need your emergency water supply). And you will be the one maintaining the filter, so no need to wonder if the LFS is actually changing their filters out on schedule, or mixing their salt to the wrong salinity...etc.

you can find some RODI setups on the cheap for like $80 or so if needed. The low flowrates that are inherent with the cheap models are not an issue for a small tank like yours.

 

[FewestKitten896]

Having a smaller tank will of course make buying your own RODI seem less necessary. Although buying LFS water is always an option, there are some benefits to having your own, even with less usage. For one, you save on gas money from driving back and forth. you don't have to lug around 5 g buckets of water. You always have RODI on tap, without a need to find a LFS that is open in the event of a midnight emergency (which is inevitably when you will need your emergency water supply). And you will be the one maintaining the filter, so no need to wonder if the LFS is actually changing their filters out on schedule, or mixing their salt to the wrong salinity...etc.

you can find some RODI setups on the cheap for like $80 or so if needed. The low flowrates that are inherent with the cheap models are not an issue for a small tank like yours.

That all makes sense. I suppose it is just a one time purchase, minus the filter cartridges. Will look into that for sure. Air water ice is just down the road from me so that is easy enough if i go that route.

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[ladynavyvet]

I have a 40 gallon, and I have been using a canister filter for it, and I have a stable environment. I buy my water, both salt, and distilled water at my lfs. One benefit, my salinity stays the same as there's and since that's where I purchase 99% of my livestock, it makes it simpler.

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[FewestKitten896]

I have a 40 gallon, and I have been using a canister filter for it, and I have a stable environment. I buy my water, both salt, and distilled water at my lfs. One benefit, my salinity stays the same as there's and since that's where I purchase 99% of my livestock, it makes it simpler.

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That makes sense. The aquarium will be a work aquarium, so regardless what i do i will have to travel with water. The lfs i will go to is impressive. They do a lot of high end installs and maintenance.

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[Troublekitty]

I have been lurking and researching for about 2 to 3 years and have decided to think about setting up a 10 gallon reef. I have seen a lot of builds either partition a space to convert to an aio or have seen a modified hob with an overflow box where the inlet of the hob goes in, more or less for surface skimming. Anyways, which one is preferred. I would love to just buy an aio already built but unfortunately it is way out of the question. This will be my first salt setup and i do understand that bigger is better for beginners but i don't have the space or funds to properly set up a larger system.

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I have a 10g that I just recently cycled. I'm using a hob fluval c4. It's overkill because I didn't pay attention when I bought it but I really like it. I'd look into the C2 or C3. I'm not running any carbon. I just filled the two media chambers with ceramics.

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[Troublekitty]

Also I buy my water from my lfs. It's pretty cheap. I will get an rodi setup eventually but I want to make sure I can be successful in reef keeping before I spend more money. Just a thought from one newbie to another.

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[FewestKitten896]

Also I buy my water from my lfs. It's pretty cheap. I will get an rodi setup eventually but I want to make sure I can be successful in reef keeping before I spend more money. Just a thought from one newbie to another.

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That makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

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[bcb577]

I started almost two years ago,brand new to the hobby and started with a ten gallon nano.I went overboard on filtration,now I just run a penguin biowheel with filter floss and carbon,I took out my protein skimmer ,welcome to nano tanks,be patient and good luck,I do agree that the bigger the tank you start out with the better,but my tanks run very well in the two years I've had it up!And not everyone can afford a 120 gallon or even have the space.

 

[FewestKitten896]

I started almost two years ago,brand new to the hobby and started with a ten gallon nano.I went overboard on filtration,now I just run a penguin biowheel with filter floss and carbon,I took out my protein skimmer ,welcome to nano tanks,be patient and good luck,I do agree that the bigger the tank you start out with the better,but my tanks run very well in the two years I've had it up!And not everyone can afford a 120 gallon or even have the space.

Yup. It really annoys me when you ask a question about a specific size of a tank and the first thing that gets mentioned is, get a larger tank, get the most expensive equipment, and if you can't afford it now then you should wait and save up. Haha. Now I will say i might go with a 20 long or something inbetween but unfortunately a 75 will not fit on my cubicle desk at work and i already have 2 freshwater, one high tech and one low tech at home. But for this tank if i do anything i will hook up my ac20 to it or just run it filterless.

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[Crusinjimbo]

I ran a 10G Nano reef with only an algae scrubber as filtration, NO3 & PO4 were undetectable in an "evacuation" setup when problems arose on my main tank. It ran across the rear length like a river scrubber. Weekly 2G water changes helped immensely. The real beauty of the algae scrubber was I only touched it once every 10 days and servicing took less than 5 minutes.