powerhead necessary?

[petere1989]

i gota ten gallon tank, with 5 coral in it, one coming tomorrow via ups. a lot of people use power-heads in bigger tanks to increase water flow and whatnot. my question is this. are power-heads necessary in nano tanks? i cant seem to find one thats small enough. i did find one on amazon, but it broke after a few days, and they wouldn't take it back cause it was used. a few of the coral i have recommend water flow but with my nano skimmer moving water around, and the bio-wheel filter circulating water, is a power-head still a good idea or is it not necessary?

 

[spicytuna]

I'd go with 2 koralia nanos or 1 tunze 6015 if I was running a ten gallon tank. Those won't set you back more then maybe 40 bucks for the tunze or 40 bucks for 2 nanos new. As for flow, corals like a lot of indirect flow. Keeping your water moving also keeps the detritus suspended in the water so your filter can suck it out.


Also, ditch the bio-wheel for something like an aqua clear hang on back filter, and run some polyill and carbon in it. If you have a sandbed and live rock, that's all the bio filter you will ever need.

What kind of corals are you getting and what kind of light do you have. Ordering corals through the mail is not a great idea for someone new to he hobby. Your best bet is to deal with people locally such as fish stores or other reefers, so you can get advice and information on what your keeping. Knowing what kind of system your corals came from also will help you to better understand how they will do in your tank. Like if you buy corals from a guy running halides and you run power compacts, and you can't figure out why your new corals don't look so good, you will understand.

 

[Michigan Mike]

I just got a koralia 425 nano and it would be perfect fir a 10g. It's about the size of an egg! Ha, but it is pretty nice. Big Al's has them on sale now or $27 I think. They cost a few bucks more than the larger koralias for some reason. I like it because it is so small, they next size up (550) is humorous in comparison. I was a little disappointed it(550) was the same size as the 750.
Like I said I think it's perfect for a 10g, I can post you a pic in a hour when I get home, I will be taking pics anyways. I always take a pic when I get new stuff,lol!

 

[petere1989]

i'm getting a toadstool mushroom leather coral. and yea this is the first i've ordered online. its from liveaquaria.com. all my other coral is from the local store. the guy has more coral then he does fish and seems to know a lot. i go to him rather then this other place that has more fish then coral. he's fair on prices too but has things to big for a 10 gallon. he always tells me to get a bigger tank too, which i know, i will when i move. i like the small size and the challenge involved.
as for filtration, i think i'll do that, ditch the bio-wheel and get the hang on back filter. sounds intriguing. and i will for sure get a powerhead. i didnt realize that it helps with the filter too, just thought it was for the water movement.

-i have a 50/50 coral-life bulb. the guy from that local coral place said it'd be the best. i dont have room for more then one bulb so thats what i got. i'd consider geting a different type of light, but i have cats, and the tank is at a spot where they can get to it. they havnt messed with it yet, but i dont trust them. lol. buuut! if its for the good of the coral i would. if i get a different light fixture, what should i get? i cant hang it above the tank, its gotta sit on the edges or clamp to the sides.