25 Gallon FOWLR

[Sharksfan94]

Hello All!


So this is my first post after a few months of lurking and reading up on SW tanks but I could still use a little help..


My equipment is as follows:

25 gallon tank
Via Aqua 100w heater
Marineland Penguin 200B filter
Light
20-25 pounds of sand
25 pounds of dry rock

I will soon get:
1-2 power heads
HOB skimmer



So I need some input on power heads... What are good brands. I was looking at the hydor koralia nano power heads.

And then the filter. I talk to my LFS and they said that would be a good filter and since it is rated for a 50 gallon tank. Now my question is:

Should I still use the carbon filter insert that the tank has or should I fill that little area with Cheato?

I should also add the tank is not set up and or running yet. I am just stockpiling all of the supplies I need before I get started..


Thanks for the help all!

[rogermccray]

Hello All!


So this is my first post after a few months of lurking and reading up on SW tanks but I could still use a little help..


My equipment is as follows:

25 gallon tank
Via Aqua 100w heater
Marineland Penguin 200B filter
Light
20-25 pounds of sand
25 pounds of dry rock

I will soon get:
1-2 power heads
HOB skimmer



So I need some input on power heads... What are good brands. I was looking at the hydor koralia nano power heads.

And then the filter. I talk to my LFS and they said that would be a good filter and since it is rated for a 50 gallon tank. Now my question is:

Should I still use the carbon filter insert that the tank has or should I fill that little area with Cheato?

I should also add the tank is not set up and or running yet. I am just stockpiling all of the supplies I need before I get started..


Thanks for the help all!

I have two hydro koralia power heads and i cannot complain about them, they are good powerheads for the price.

[sponger0]

Filters dont really do too much. I would use my money to something more useful. Like an ATO

[Brando457]

They filter particles and clean the water, they definitely are good to have.

Do your hob filter, koralia evolution power heads and look into a decent hob skimmrr like the bubble mag or reef octos

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

[sponger0]

Carbon cleans the water. But your biological filter should take care of that. Otherwise there are more issues to look at.

[that guy]

I use koralia powerheads on my tank and they have been running without a hitch. When I first started my tank I was using a marineland hob 350 filter, until I got my hob skimmer. The problem with these filters is that anything they trap is still exposed to the water and there for continues to break down and give off nitrates. I am still using mine only for the carbon to polish my water however, I am replacing it very soon with a bulk reef supply dual reactor. Carbon is more worthwile in the filter simply becuase the filter is too small to be able to impact your bio load at all. Also consider getting some live rock to seed your dry rock to boost your biological filtration. Any ideas what you are going to stock it with?

[Sharksfan94]

Carbon cleans the water. But your biological filter should take care of that. Otherwise there are more issues to look at.


What issues are you talking about? I've been talking with 3 different LFS and they have all said that I have my bases covered.



I use koralia powerheads on my tank and they have been running without a hitch. When I first started my tank I was using a marineland hob 350 filter, until I got my hob skimmer. The problem with these filters is that anything they trap is still exposed to the water and there for continues to break down and give off nitrates. I am still using mine only for the carbon to polish my water however, I am replacing it very soon with a bulk reef supply dual reactor. Carbon is more worthwile in the filter simply becuase the filter is too small to be able to impact your bio load at all. Also consider getting some live rock to seed your dry rock to boost your biological filtration. Any ideas what you are going to stock it with?


I will definitely the koralia powerheads then. I've been reading the reviews and have never heard of them having a problem so far. I talked to a few of my LFS about the nitrate build up do to the way the filter works and the solution we found to solve that was to "rinse" the filter out in a bucket of salt water once or so a week. They have a similar sized tank on the counter by the checkout and they are running a Penguin 200 and that is what they do. But I will definitely be getting a HOB skimmer very soon. I am getting a piece of live rock from a friend, so I have that covered.

Right now my plan is to get:

2 Ocellaris Clownfish, tank bred
1 Orange Spotted Goby

I think that is enough for me. It is less than I could technically but I don't want to over crowd the tank. And since the 1/2 inch of fish per gallon is being followed this would leave me with the ability to add 3ish more inches of fish in the future is I wanted to.

[sponger0]

What issues are you talking about? I've been talking with 3 different LFS and they have all said that I have my bases covered.

Of course they do. They want you to buy more equipment. Youre primary filter is your live rock and sand. Every tank is different so each tank with have it's own needs. You dont need to run carbon but you can. But its not a necessity.

[Sharksfan94]

Of course they do. They want you to buy more equipment. Youre primary filter is your live rock and sand. Every tank is different so each tank with have it's own needs. You dont need to run carbon but you can. But its not a necessity.

Thats a good point... OK, so I will have an ample amount of live rock and about a 2-3in bed of live sand. I will probably continue to run the carbon until I get a protein skimmer and then I will convert the filter area into a little mini fuge. And I will be getting a skimmer as soon as I get my next paycheck.

So minus the skimmer/filter problem does anything else appear to be wrong?

[sponger0]

For proper skimming results the water level needs to stay constant. So an auto top off unit. You can get a skimmer but isnt necessary in nano tanks as long as you do weekly water changes of 10%

[Sharksfan94]

For proper skimming results the water level needs to stay constant. So an auto top off unit. You can get a skimmer but isnt necessary in nano tanks as long as you do weekly water changes of 10%

I will definitely maintain 10% water changes then purchase a skimmer/ATO unit shortly after I get the tank up and running.

Thank you for your input. Its helped me plan out this tank a little more!