help needed on 10g bow

Ok, so here's the deal....

I'm setting up a 10 gallon bow front, I need to know if I need to run anything other than LR a heater and enough flow to keep the tank healthy....

I already have the mini koralias I'm going to use so flow is covered, I don't really want to run a sump or refugium on this tank right now, I need to build a stand that will allow a sump or fuge' later down the road..... so with that being said....

Should I run a HOB filter with just an empty media bag? (Would kind of act as a filter sock)

Should I just run a small HOB skimmer? (Like an AquaC)

Should I run both?

Is there other options I'm not thinking of?


Thanks for any and all input.... I really do appreaciate it

 

On my 10 gallon mantis tank I run an Aqueon HOB filter. I highly recommend it. Very quiet and requires no priming. I also have a lot of live rock. On a tank that small a skimmer isn't necessary IMO. Just do a partial water change every couple week to keep the nitrates down.

 

Use a HOB filter and its componets with it. No need to run a filter sock. Most filters have Mechanical,chemical and Biofiltration. If your not going to use the components of the filter than you might as well trun it into a HOB fuge.

 

Irronicaly enough this is going to be a mantis tank lol, I will look into the Aqueon.....

You don't have algae issues without runnung a skimmer?

 

Yeah, I don't want to run any biological, I figured if I used a HOB I could just use the bags that you would normally put the media in..... the water going through that bag would act like a filter sock. I would just change it out with my weekly WC....

Thanks to both of you for dealin with my questions

 

Blaze3dup

an HOB with chemical media , such as purigen, carbon and GFO would be my choice with a skimmerless/ sumpless system of this size
I run Purigen all the time on my 5 gallon and swap between Carbon and GFO every couple of weeks (small qtys of either) which thus far is keeping my sumpless/ skimmerless nano , very much algae free

Steve

 

I have zero algae in the tank. With the exception of coralline. I only run 1 15w actinic bulb in the standard 10 gallon hood (they don't like really bright light). If you don't feed the mantis too much, they have a pretty low bioload from what I can tell.

 

Ok thanks Steve! And thanks irr!

Another question... since I have the tank, the sand and the power heads... would it be a bad idea to put the sand in and add the power heads even though I don't have any rock yet?

I do have a small HOB filter that was used with this tank when it was FW, so I'll clean that up and use it for now... until I can get a better replacement.... really lookin at the Aqueon a little more and then will decide what to buy for a new one.

Thanks again... Blaz3d

 

I would just wait. When you add the rock you will start a cycle (unless it's fully cured straight from another tank..) so either way you're going to have to wait. It's better to add the rock first for stability reasons anyway.

It's really up to you though. Is the sand live or dry?

 

Its just dry sand, I rinsed it of course... I won't be able to buy rock till the begining of next month, I should probably wait.

I already added the sand just haven't added water yet....

I already have a 72 bow front (up for over 2 years now) and it was much easier to build the rock scape before the water was added.... and I was able to put base rock all the way to the glass, making it more stable like you said.... I guess I kinda knew the answer to my question... I'm just gettin ancy lol

Thanks for your help