High Nutrients in Tank

[Justin Teufel]

Hey guys,

I have a IM 10 gallon tank and I have currently been having problems with the nutrients and waste. I don’t have much in the back on my tank except a filter sock, a heater, 4 white bacteria balls, and some carbon. Do I need a skimmer, and do you think it will help me take the waste and nutrients out of the tank? The back of my tank is covered in musty brown waste and debris. What can I do?

Thanks!

 

[Chefwheredyougo]

Water changes is quick and easy for a 10 gallon tank.

 

[AdamB]

Hey,
Yes a skimmer will help you a lot If your not doing regular water changes frequently . What’s your water change schedule and what’s your bioload? It’s such a small tank I think you could do more water changes .though.

 

[Auquanut]

A skimmer won't help the musty brown waste and debris in the back of the tank. Can you add a very small power head or change up the flow so you get some flow in the areas that the detritus is settling? If you can get the debris into the water column, your filtration and a skimmer could help remove it. Maybe feed a little less. Of course with a tank that size, frequent water changes are almost a must. siphon the gunk out. Do you have a clean up crew to help with detritus removal?

 

[Justin Teufel]

I don’t really do that many water changes because the tank is upstairs and I have to lug buckets of water up the stairs. I would really like to limit them as much as I can. I might do a water change now. I have 2 fish, and about 8 coral as well. I’m not sure what you mean by bioload, but hopefully I answered your question.

 

[Justin Teufel]

I only have a few snails left and should probably get more.

 

[Auquanut]

I’m not sure what you mean by bioload

Bioload just refers to the amount and size of living things you have in the tank that produce waste and put a biological "load" on the system.

I only have a few snails left and should probably get more.

Hermit crabs are pretty good at cleaning up uneaten food, but some people have had problems with them irritating soft and LPS corals. Kind of a hit or miss proposition.
Hope this helps.

 

[Justin Teufel]

I just bought the innovative marine ghost desktop skimmer for the back of my tank. I am only having trouble in the back of my tank where I gave my filter sock and all of that stuff. I am also gets some algae growth. Do you think the algae will go away once the skimmer is established for awhile?

 

[Auquanut]

Can you post a picture?

 

[Justin Teufel]

Can you post a picture?

Sure

 

[Justin Teufel]

Can you post a picture?

 

[Justin Teufel]

Can you post a picture?

It was way dirtier before I cleaned it, but as you can see there are still some detritus that remains.

 

[Saltyreef]

You would be able to sucessfully keep a nice nano reef by simply changing 1-2 gallons of water once a week. You dont want to be doing 50% water changes on it unless you want to stress out the inhabitants. My tank is upstairs too but 4x larger than yours. I carry 10 gallons up at a time. Man up soldier! A gallon of salt water is only about 8.5lbs!

 

[Justin Teufel]

Can you post a picture?

I just bought the ghost skimmer from innovative marine from online. I really hope it will help.

 

[Justin Teufel]

You would be able to sucessfully keep a nice nano reef by simply changing 1-2 gallons of water once a week. You dont want to be doing 50% water changes on it unless you want to stress out the inhabitants. My tank is upstairs too but 4x larger than yours. I carry 10 gallons up at a time. Man up soldier! A gallon of salt water is only about 8.5lbs!

I will do a water change today! Thanks for the confidence! Lol

 

[Bleigh]

Unfortunately, with a 10 gallon, regular water changes are the most effective waste management system. Smaller tanks are harder than larger ones for that reason. They have to be done and they have to be done regularly, imo. The nice thing is, you shouldn’t need to replace more than 1-2 gallons every week. Which is really only one or two big bowls and might not require a bucket. Even if it does, it doesnt even need to be half full. I used a small skimmer on my biocube. The air block needed to be replaced so often, it almost wasn’t worth it. And that was even with consistent weekly water changes. That being said, every tank is different.