Nano 'powerhead'

[Chucky]

I just picked up the new mini-'powerhead' internal filter that ships with the colored concave-front plastic goldfish kit. The little bugger is damn powerful for its compact size! A small 3-blade impeller shoots out enough of a current and adds tiny soda-pop bubbles with the aerator.
Given that the smallest Aquaclear powerhead is much larger and much stronger, I think this one is suited to the 10 gallon setup!!
Figured it out only yesterday.

 

[Juck]

Cool,, but this isn't a freshwater tank,, you need to lose the bubbles

As long a there is some turbulance at the surface from the powerhead (for gas exchange) no other aeration is necessary.

 

[elreydelospesces]

Why does he need to lose the little bubbles? Are they a problem? :?

 

[Juck]

Bubbles rise to the surface and burst,,,,causing salt-creep everywhere,, that gets real old real quick,,,, plus it increases evaporation rates.

 

[Fatal Morgana]

Actually, it does not increase evaporation rate much at all, but the salt spray/salt creep definitely will be a problem.

If you want to confirm the effect of bubble on evap. rate, you can monitor the salinity of the water with and without the bubbles. Both cases will increase at the same rate, but the one with bubble will have a lower water level due to the salt spray. The water level is what mislead people to think that the bubble increase evap. rate.

 

[Juck]

I beg to differ,,,, the salt spray is still evaporating.

 

[Fatal Morgana]

>... I beg to differ...

So if you do a water change and pour the old water out in your driveway to kill the weeds, does that increase the evap. rate when the driveway got dry by the sun?

In my frame of view, the rate calculation is only on the tank's water. In yours, you consider every single salt spray.

 

[Juck]

A water change is a poor example. We're talking about evaporation caused by a physical part of the setup,,, just like a cooling fan blowing across the surface of the water.

The water from salt spray is still evaporating,,, whether it's on the floor, inside the hood, on the light or flying through the air. The evaporation in the system is still more than it would be if the aeration was not there.

We'll just agree to disagree

 

[Fatal Morgana]

>...A water change is a poor example.

This is an often used argument style that I have. Don't want to hijack the thread, but just want to say that removing saltwater from the tank does not increase the evaporation rate of the water in the tank, no matter if you remove the water by siphon it out (water change), water pump, ultrasound, salt spray, or other means.

 

[Juck]

The evaporation in the system is still more than it would be if the aeration was not there,, so like I said,, the bubbles increase the evaporation rate.

 

[Chucky]

But I understood that oxygenation of the water was very important??

Please hijack whatever thread you want...

 

[Juck]

Oh, don't mind us,, we're just playing.

Aeration of the water is important but some good surface agitation will provide ample oxygenation and help break up any organic 'films' that may form on the surface.

 

[Fatal Morgana]

Do you have a skimmer in the tank? That should give you more oxygenation than any surface agitation. (another disagreement here, Juck ) Surface skimmer, however, is important if oily film develops on the water surface.

I doubt that the evap. rate is any difference, at least it is not sufficiently different for most of us to notice.

 

[Chucky]

Well, sir, no skimmer – is there a skimmer small enough for a 10 gal?

 

[Fatal Morgana]

10 gal... now that's a tough one. There are a few DIY skimmer in the Nano Forum here... any of them look good to you? Maybe you want to put a post there and see what people recommand, but it really depends on what you are keeping in the tank.

 

[Chucky]

I'll be keeping precious little...a couple red hermits, the 10# live rock, a hardy coral or two, and I'd like an orchid dottyback and a clown.
That's about it, I'd say....

Any other suggestions?

 

[Fatal Morgana]

With both clown/dottyback and corals, you should look into skimmer unless you want to do major (well, 5 gal) water change on regular basis...

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

5 gallon water change? 50%? Nah, with a 10 gallon tank, you really don't need to invest in a skimmer. I ran two nano's for over a year with no skimmers, just kept up with the weekly water changes. a 10% water change is generally the rule of thumb for nanos. As long as you are diligent with the 10% weekly, 2 fish will be fine.

Keep in mind though that the only clown species that stays small enough for a nano of that size is a perc. the others can get way too big. also keep in mind that dottybacks are aggressive as hell, so you'd be wise to add the clown first and wait a month or so for the biological filtration to catch up with the new bioload that the clown will produce, then try adding the dottyback. The clown will have by then set up his territory and may bully the dottyback though.

 

[Fatal Morgana]

I agree with Sugar about the 10% water change, dispite what I say above.

 

[Chucky]

Doesn't the skimmer remove foods for the LR?

Also, how long does it take for 'dead rock' to be colonized nicely by your LR?