nano/skimmer question

[mdcorcoran]

i've got a Rio 90 powerhead in my 10G tank, along with a biowheel mini and 125. Last week, I hooked up an air pump to the powerhead so i have nice bubbles blowing through the tank. my question is, with the air pump attached to the powerhead and with 2 biowheels, would using a protein skimmer be redundant? are the air pumped powerhead and biowheels taking care of what the skimmer would do?

thanks
michael

[Brooke]

hi michael...

not really..because there's no where for the collected waste/gunk to go. In a skimmer the organics attach to the bubbles and make their way up and over into the collection cup.

If you have at least 10 pounds of live rock and a low bioload, I would take out one or both of the biowheels. I recently took the one out of my nano at work, and it is showing great improvement. (i.e. less algae growth) Water changes will help remove/dilute organics from the water.

A little lees airstone driven skimmer will fit on a 10g, but you really don't need it. Instead of shooting bubbles all over the tank, you might want to make a spray bar instead.

HTH-
Brooke

[ShirleyM]

You might want to read through this thread...

10G minireef setup

hth,
shirley