3 gallon nano reef

ok so yesterday a picked up a little 3 gallon bio cube fish tank and I really would like to make it into a nano reef I have seen lots of pictures of them and I have been dying to have one but my question first does a nano reef need everything a standard tank does as far as fitration and what not goes also is there anything out there that is a 3 in 1 protein skimmer power filter and power head does not matter to me if it is a HOB or a in the tank also lighting I would really like to go with reef capable led but I have not seen anything small enough its roughly 10 inches and I have also been looking at diy protein skimmers and came up swith some pretty good ideas for that anyway anyone with any helpful tips would be appreciated

 

You don't need a protein skimmer for a 3g tank. Throw a bag of chemi pure elite in the stock filter and let it fly. If it didnt come with a filter, just about anything will do, like a aquaclear 20, if its not too big. If you'll do a half gallon water changes every week you should be good to go. Biggest thing is keep temp. steady and watch your evaporation closely. It doesn't take much evaporation out of a three gallon before your salinity gets too high. There are a lot of led options, especially if you go open top. You can do something as simple as getting a par30 and screw it into a lamp that shines down on the tank. Nano's are fun.

 

it does come with a carbon filter but it is not electric it like a bubbler that pushes the water into the tank will that work and what is a par 30 ? it came with a led light but I just don't think that it would be enough to maintain the lighting corals need

 

what kind of tank is it.

 

tetra led cube kit 3 gallon

 

I wouldn't use it. You could get a finnex nano or a biomaxx nano filter if you want something small. there like 10 or $12 on amazon. And you can chunk the light, it wont do anything for you.

 

well what about something that hangs on the back of the aquarium I would much rather do that so I can use the aquarium space if im gonna spend the money

 

Both of those filters are hang on the backs, and so is the aquaclear which would probably be your best choice they just cost a little more. You can get an aquaclear at petco or petsmart.

 

and what is the chem pure elite I have never heard of it what does it do

 

It's a filter media that has high grade carbon, gfo and some resin that helps get rid of dissolved waste. Really good stuff, just about every nano owner in the club uses it. It comes already in a bag and only has to be changed every 6 months.

 

Basically what he said. ;-)

Get a hob, put the chemi-pure bags that are made for nanos and some filter floss in it and don't use a skimmer. Its too small of an environment and you will pull out too much, just rely on your hob and weekly water changes. We do 50% plus water changes on our tanks weekly. Get a good light and do daily maintenance and your good to go.

 

50% that's great. The more the better.

 

this looks like a good little filter lol http://www.ebay.com/itm/Finnex-Nano-Pico-Shrimp-Aquarium-Filter-HOB-30-GPH-/200575414985

 

Go to the InTank website and check out the media basket for the aquaclear, don't know if its worth the price but there really cool. You can put your filter media in and still make room for a small refugium. You can order your chemi pure there too, all you need is the 1/2 unit bag.

 

whats the intank website?

 

Oops, somebody help me out here, I think it's just intank.com. It's a great nano site. The guy makes filter mods for nano tanks. Has a good selection of equipment too. If you google search inTank you'll find it.

 

ok cool ill check it out

 

aquaclears are easy to mod out:
http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/180570-el-fabs-simple-guide-to-pico-tanks/page-2#entry2004830

they are quite and you can adjust flow..my hob of choice

 

I use a zoomed 30 gallon turtle canister filter on my half gallon tank and love it! I have a sponge some rubble and chemo pure in there.

 

Yeah aquaclear's just work. And you can do the mod yourself for nothing. But I still think it was genius to start manufacturing the media basket.