No Sump?

[Sarah88]

So someone in other forum told me that sumps really arent that effective (or cost effective) for the smaller systems (i am planning on setting up a 20g L reef tank) and to just go with either a canister or a HOB, so i was wondering if this was true and if so do you guys think the Marineland Emperor 400 would be good? it would have 400gph filtering through and i would add some kind of phosphate and ammonia removers to the extra media containers (or if you guys think another product would be helpful to add to one of them please let me know) any advice would be greatly appreciated but this would be great if i could run a filter like this that would keep my tank clean enough for corals and a clam...

[Loverotties]

As long as you do your WC every week and a good size no filter needed.

[Sarah88]

well i plan on doing the weekly water changes but wouldnt want water parameters to drastically lower if i put it off a couple days here and there so would probably still go with the filter, but so without the filter (as long as you have powerheads of course for flow) then the LR and water changes would take care of filtering? the water would stay clear and not get cloudy? this is my first time with saltwater so the whole "ecosystem" thing i understand but still dont really trust lol in freshwater its all about the carbon, etc so im still getting used to how saltwater does it lol so would this set up be ok for a reef system: 20lbs sand, 25lbs rock (probably will add more for filtering and aquascape purposes), 1x Koralia 1 powerhead, 2x 30in 2x24w Current USA T5HO lighting with individual reflectors (2 bulbs 10k, 2 460nm actinic), and then whatever filter i add please let me know if this would be good or not and what i can do to better it also my lfs (not a very good one but is only one around only sells RO water not RO/DI will this be alright until i can afford to get my own unit?

[chrisd]

you will only need 20lbs. of rock at the most give the fish room to swim.
i would use 2 koralia k1s one at each end of the tank.
your lights will be fine.
add a hob skimmer.
water change once a week clean the sand bed and you should be fine.

[chrisd]

you will be fine with the ro water.

[Seaweed88]

I think what you plan on keeping in your nano is an important question.

[chrisd]

+1

[Sarah88]

oh sorry i put it in other thread and forgot to put it in here i plan on keeping: (coral- various soft corals with a few LPS thrown in, also want either a maxima or crocea clam, for fish- 2ocellaris clowns, and if not too much bioload want a yellow watchman goby with pistol shrimp as well, also hoping to add skunk cleaner shrimp and as other cleaning crew various snails, hermit crabs and sand-sifting crabs maybe a featherduster or two as well, also if i have a hob filter that does 400 gph wouldnt 2 koralia 1s be too much flow? oh and will hold back on the rock then was just adding room for growth because i dont have the rock yet and dont know how much space it is going to fill up, i have seen tanks that have about a lb per gallon and they still look completely bare (of course this was with bigger tanks too)

[Seaweed88]

You might want to look into a hob skimmer in place of the filter. Another thought would be to go bare bottom to give you better access when doing water changes. Just a thought

[chrisd]

do you mean 400 gph hob filter or skimmer?
if you mean filter you dont need it get a skimmer. the key is flow through out the tank .your lights should be fine for what you want the maxima clam is a filter feeder.

[Fat Tony]

IMO and IME, a sump is beneficial no matter how small the system. It adds volume to the system and gives you an area to put equipment to keep out of the display. Not to mention it makes top offs better as you aren't adding water to main display...

[Sarah88]

oh ok yeah i was talking about filter but i guess i can look into skimmers but yeah i definitely wouldnt want to go for a bare bottom i just dont like how they look i like things to look as natural as possible and tony thats what i thought, i thought that was the whole point to have a sump was to add water volume and in such a small tank thought it would be even more important but i dont know i guess i have a lot more thinking to do about my set-up (also which will be cheaper as im a student so on a strict budget) sump would be more expensive because i would have to buy overflow and drill my tank and buy return pump but wont really be that much more expensive than getting a skimmer for it(what would be good kind with good price?) (if i did sump was wanting to go with the "ecosystem" method with just miracle mud and macro and no skimmer but this was when i was looking into doing a much larger system so dont know if this method works with tanks as small as my 20g)

[Fat Tony]

wow.. that was a hard to read post... not to pick on ya here, but would you mind adding a little punctuation so it is a little easier to read. This texting generation has really taken a toll on English

[jenglish]

Originally Posted by Sarah88

oh ok yeah i was talking about filter but i guess i can look into skimmers but yeah i definitely wouldnt want to go for a bare bottom i just dont like how they look i like things to look as natural as possible and tony thats what i thought, i thought that was the whole point to have a sump was to add water volume and in such a small tank thought it would be even more important but i dont know i guess i have a lot more thinking to do about my set-up (also which will be cheaper as im a student so on a strict budget) sump would be more expensive because i would have to buy overflow and drill my tank and buy return pump but wont really be that much more expensive than getting a skimmer for it(what would be good kind with good price?) (if i did sump was wanting to go with the "ecosystem" method with just miracle mud and macro and no skimmer but this was when i was looking into doing a much larger system so dont know if this method works with tanks as small as my 20g)

A sump is almost always beneficial, but at the same time not absolutely needed. The good thing about it as far as looking natural is less equipment in the tank. Honestly the "ecosystem" with miracle mud is not a super popular system and the maintenance guys I have talked to said they were quite a pain to keep up. Many tanks run without a skimmer at 30 gallons or below. A HOB filter with carbon or other media like purigen are popular options. I have even seen Hagen HOB filter turned into a HOB algae fuge with chaeto. I myself run a skimmer on my 30 because I am a student and weekly waterchanges are not always an option for me. I get busy and things fall by the wayside so I have a HOB octopus skimmer. There are many ways to run a nano, you just have to find the right one for you.

[Seaweed88]

I have had one of the 28 gallon cubes running since the end of May. I have liverock, half a dozen Zoos, some ricordea, some mushrooms and one fish. There is some shrimp and some snails in the system. I change 10 gallons of water each week and have not had a problem yet.