whats best skimmer for nano tanks?

[dkreef]

im thinking small 15 gal nano reef tank. gonna keep easy LPS and mushrooms, ricordia maybe.
what kind of HOB skimmer is best. i dont plan on keeping sump.

 

[savethereef]

honestly Water charges are best.
every week

 

[dkreef]

so no skimmer at all then for nanos is ok?

 

[gveng]

honestly Water charges are best.
every week

Agreed! Don't need a skimmer on a 15g nano reef. Just change the water once a week and you should be golden.

 

[organism]

You could put some carbon into one of the back chambers too, that and water changes should be good enough.

 

[reefish123]

My vote goes to the AquaC Remora is works well once its broken in.

 

[dkreef]

so if i were to get HOB skimmer then i could possibly do once every 2 week WC?

 

[reefish123]

ya you could still use a skimmer but +1 for all comments above!

 

[KWoo008]

I have three nanos and none of them have skimmers on them, but all of them have one or two fish max. Bioload is an important factor in nanos. The other thing to keep in mind is the additional heat from the pump associated with running a skimmer. I do not run chillers on my tanks and use evaporative cooling, so I can't afford to have another source of heat in my tanks.

 

[dkreef]

i may set up a refugium sump of 20gal maybe....that would also reduce weekly wc?

btw, is RO water a must?

 

[solitude127]

What kind of fish are you planning for this nano? Most of the time, reefers overstock their nano's. I have a 30g nano with a 2 clowns, YWG, Helfrichi and a neon goby and I'm fighting red slime. I wouldn't have thought that 5 fish would be overstocked for a 30g but I believe it is. I currently have a cadlights pipeless nano in one of the rear chambers and really like it. I also do weekly w/c to battle my cyano.

 

[dodgerblew]

Agreed. I've been a nano guy for almost 10 yrs. the key is weekly water changes. I never dosed either bc the weekly WC kept levels consistent. Use a good salt. I recently upgraded back to a 24" cube, 60g, but still smallish.i did run a skimmer in my nano because as solitude says, even 5 fish in a 30 create a strong bioload. I had a 28 and kept 7-8. My recommendation for a small tank is the aquamaxx hob-1. It's a hang on the back skimmer and skims it does. I didn't use it due to space restrictions. I went with the a Tunze 9002 nano skimmer. It's very low profile and fit in the back chamber of my nano with a little modding and it did the job. Those are my two recommendations.
As for your question regarding RO water, if you are referring to water for WC and top off, you absolutely should use RODI water.

 

[dkreef]

so in 15gal with 26gal refugium, im thinking 4-5 fish. pair of clowns, goby shrimp pair and another one (undecided)....

 

[Steveabg]

I bought dodgerblew's tunze, and finally made it fit in the back of my 16 gallon IM Nuvo, but now I'm leaning toward no skimmer.

 

[codyjp]

I kept a 24 for years with just water changes and it was a winner.

I just put a skimmer on my new 50g set up... begrudgingly.

 

[Irish Mortal]

I've got four years on my BC 29 with no skimmer. I bought an Aqua-C Remora for it and never used it. It's still new in the box. As the others have said, bioload is very important. I only have 3 fish in the tank. Weekly water changes are a must. I do 5 gallon water changes weekly. Every time I miss a weekend, I pay for it.