20 gallon nano

[jjclark22]

i am settin up a 20 gallon nano with a 4 inch sand bed 20lbs live rock i dont plan on keep much live stock just corals i have all the lighting and an emperor 400 running on it. do i really need to put a skimmer on it if i monitior it close and dont have alot of live stock?

[crzy4reefs]

i had a 20 high nano with one yellow watchman goby in it with just a penquin filter with out the bio wheel and no skimmer, i just do frequent water changes and test the water every week.

[jjclark22]

i was going to try an avoid using a skimmer just for the face i have a emperor 400 and i figured i would just watch the water closely and change as needed just wanted some feed back on it thank you

[jjclark22]

should i take the bio wheels off i have heard different stories about them on and off

[theop]

You don't need the bio-wheel since you'll let the live rock and DSB be your biological filter. You probably don't even need the DSB.

You'll probably be ok without the skimmer, but only time will tell. Just do regular testing to make sure your nitrates are low or zero.

[tanker]

For a tank that small (20gal is small), just do a 15-20% water change every week (about 2-3 gals) and you can do without the skimmer. BUT you must keep up with the water changes!!

[gtriamy]

This guy's website is a great example of a skimmerless system
http://haaga.aqua-web.org/Nano/index.htm
personally on my 20, i did have a skimmer but soon found that it didn't do much for the system (and it was really freakin loud) so i took it off and haven't had a problem yet, i have 3 fish and miscellaneous corals and nothing's gone wrong yet. IMO water changes are probly the biggest need for this kind of system, use quality water and salt mix.

[75oceanic86]

A DSB can be more harmful than beneficial in such a small tank, id try to do a sand bed more like 2 inches.

[jjclark22]

well the sand bed is close to 3 i bought 3 small bags of sugar fine sand and a baq of live sand. any recomendations on a small power head the emperor 400 will move alot of water but i would like to put a small powerhead on the opposite side just to make sure there is a current. whats a goood powerhead thats small enough for a crowed 20gallon?

[capefear]

i always like to have a skimmer