Skimmer question

[mono19]

Do I need a skimmer in my ten gallon tank? Is there one that works for something that small?

I also now have 2 fish and a cleaning crew...5 snails and 5 blue leg hermit crabs. The fish are 1 clown and 1 Citrus Goby..they both seem to be doing very well although they tend to chill in one corner of the tank. I turned off my pump because I thought that might have been the cause and they started moving around a lot more..The pump was stirring up the water pretty good, but I feel like it was kinda scaring the two fish. I have a filer that is also doing a pretty good job of moving the water around..is there another pump that would work for a small tank?

After I fed the fish the first time too I noticed some of the sand was going a brown color in the back of the tank. Is that just from left over food or is something else going on?

 

[NanoReefer]

you dont need a skimmer on a 10 gallon just do a 1 -2 gallon waterchange every two weeks. how long has your tank been setup for?

 

[mono19]

Oh ok cool thank you. The tank itself has been set up for about a month. I took water samples to the store I buy things out to have them tested and they came back all good to go, it's got the purple algae growing on the live rock and everything seems to be going smoothly, except for the brown stuff on the live sand...

 

[NanoReefer]

do you use tap water?

 

[mono19]

Nope, I couldn't get to the store to get rfo water so I went with distilled water...I know it's not the best, but I thought it was at least better then tap water..

 

[NanoReefer]

yeah distilled and ro are the same thing. you must be getting the brown stuff ( detritus) from your tank being new? how much flow do you have

 

[mono19]

That's another question I wanted to ask. I had a pump in one spot in the middle...guessing that's a bad place for it. I had to turn it off last night(after the brown stuff appeared because I think it's making too much flow...I could move it to another side and see what that does...The fish seemed all huddled to one side and weren't going anywhere, then I turned off the pump and they started moving around more...The filter I have creates a decent amount of flow, not the best but it doesn't seem to scare them..I got the smallest pump I could find at petsmart but it still seems to much now.

 

[NanoReefer]

if your sand isnt blowing around its not too much, i would but it on a side and angle is to the middle and create a nice flow throughout your tank

 

[mono19]

Ok I will do that tonight when I get home. Thanks for the help. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[NanoReefer]

no problem

 

[BL1]

That brown stuff you're seeing is most likely Diatoms, totally normal in a new tank. They're caused by excess silicates in the water. Once the silicates are all gone it should start going away on its own.

What is the GPH on the pump you're using? Chances are the fish were just hanging out in the corner because they're not used to the surroundings. They deal with currents in the ocean that are way stronger then your pump could push them. Also, make sure the pump is angled towards the waters surface and ripples it. That's where your oxygen exchange will take place so the fish can breathe.

 

[Smitty]

+1...you don't need one.

 

[mono19]

Thanks for the help so far everyone. I went to my local pet store last night and bought a Max Jet Pro 900. Smallest pump I could find there that looked decent. It came with a few different ways to set it up for water flow. I hooked up the first way put it in and it shot sand everywhere(obviously a little too much lol) So I went back to the drawing board and found a second fan in the box that was a little smaller. It seems to be doing ok, I haven't been able to see into the tank cause some of the sand still needs to settle, but it seems to be doing a good job...I removed the other pump and placed this one on the right side of the tank right above the live rock so it shoots water right over the top of it. I'm hoping it works.