Ok, Newb question 1...

[Cigar Sherlock]

I was not prepared for all the changes in this hobby after leaving it for 12 years. I need some advice concerning my 20 nano that I'm currently cycling. I want the "norm" for phosphate and nitrate removal, but don't want to over do it. I have studied up on this GFO stuff (why is everything a dang acronym) and I know about carbon etc.. I'm just trying to figure out what might be the best set up for my tank. I have designed the tank with HOB equipment because my sump is in NC and won't be here until the middle of May. I'll probably be trading it or selling it to get LED lights because I don't want to run another overflow box (can't sleep at night). Anyways back to the question..I have modified an AC70 into a refugium. I have an AC20 impeller now to lower the flow and have attached a 21 led refugium light to keep Chaeto in the box area. That was what I originally planned to use to remove phosphates etc. However, the more I read up on different reef builds, the more I'm starting to wonder if I made a poor choice. I'm thinking about running the "poly-filter" in the AC70 now and the Chaeto as well, if it will grow with the filter pad in there. What do you guys and gals think? Should I purchase an HOB reactor to run GFO and Carbon or do you think that's overkill on the 20G? As usual I'm overthinking this mess and will probably be fine with poly-filter and Chaeto. Thoughts? Opinions? Flames?

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

That small of a system weekly water changes will do just fine. If you go with softies you will be fine if they get a little hi. Imo

 

[gmoney243]

i had a 10g tank set up for about 8 months with nothing but chaeto for filter. so i would say that for a 20 gallon water changes and chaeto will be enough. unless u want acros and such. then u might want to check phosphates and see how low they get with the chaeto and gfo would be a great idea of u decide u need more phos export. and people say gfo because its a pain to spell granular ferric oxide everytime lol.

 

[gillundr]

You could always run a media called chem pure elite. It has carbon and gfo type media mixed in a filter bag. A lot of people run it in a hang on type filter or in the back of nano tanks.
If you don't over stock the tank and keep up on water changes and feed light the chaeto still probably work. Just go slow and don't lose patience.

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[REEFKEEPER10]

The main thing to watch out for in a system that small I think is the temp. It will change with the room so if it gets hot in that room so will the tank.

 

[Reefer5060]

I don't remember what manufacturer it was but I know CPR has a decent hob reactor u could use it for gfo bio pellets . Or honestly just DIY one with a maxijet and acrylic tubes or water bottle. Being a nano guy my self there just isn't a whole lot besides water changes that you can do for nutrients export.

 

[Reefer5060]

Ps there was this new media that I saw mark talking about on on of his last episodes ,blue something . It has some sort of resin in it that bind to organic waste . It sounded pretty cool might be worth a try.
Morgan

 

[andywe]

Chemi pure and Blue crystal(what Reefer was thinking of). Blue is still brand new so jury is out, but I have been running Chemi pure and filter pad on my nanos of years with great results.

The suggestions made thus far are spot on. Do your water changes (5 gal every week or so), chemi-pure (i don;t run elite), and clearing pad is great for nano's.

 

[Cigar Sherlock]

Thanks for all the input guys! I Am familiar with chemipure and heard it does a good job. The tank stays between 76.1 and 78.3. Those are the extremes as recorded by my TOM temp alert. Most of the time it is in the 77 range. I think I'll try a pad of chemi pure and run the chaeto to help with the copepod population. Day 5 of the cycle so I think I'm just bored to death and over analyzing my design

 

[palvyre]

I have a 10 gallon in my office that is extremely healthy. Do water changes every 2 weeks at 2 gallons. I run a floss filter in a cylinder that plugs into the powerhead in there and carbon I am running in the HOB filter.

 

[Reefer5060]

What makes u not sleep with an overflow btw , was it fear of overflow or noise? Lol

 

[Cigar Sherlock]

What makes u not sleep with an overflow btw , was it fear of overflow or noise? Lol

There was very little noise when it was running on my 55 gallon. I just couldn't stand the thought of 55+ gallons of saltwater on my apartment floor. This was 12 years ago though and I was renting back then. Funny thing is, the apartment above me sprung a leak and killed my tank while I was on vacation. I had one inch and a half of water in my apartment. WHY does that always happen when your on vacation? I think it's an aquarium thing.

 

[Dowtish]

I have a 10 gallon setup in my finance's office at home. It has a modified AC 70 on it, that I was going to originally use for chaeto, but I ended up just using purigen and chemi pure elite. All I have in there is softies for coral, and a few hermits and 2 clowns. But I never test the water, and do a 10% water change every 2 weeks. This thing is virtually maintenance free. So depending on what corals you are looking to have, I think regular water changes with a decent salt will keep your parameters good, and chaeto or chemical pure are good options.

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[Cigar Sherlock]

I'm going to focus on LPS and softies.. I love hammer corals, torch corals and frogspawn..even though they are very similar..I'm going to have all three. I'm really wanting a golden tipped hammer.

 

[palvyre]

I put a small piece of gargonian in my 10 that broke off the larger one in my 92. It has grown a whole another branch in there, so nearly doubled in size.