Jump to content
Innovative Marine Aquariums

Powerhead in a 2.5g


craig1560

Recommended Posts

I'm setting up a pico and have a 2.5 gallon tank. I'm going with a natural filtration with live rock and such, so there will be no filter to create flow. That being said, is there any recommendations for power heads for a tank that small?

 

 

Link to comment

Out of curiosity, are you going to be setting up any kind of temporary filtration that hooks up to the tank once in a while? Carbon, GFO, mechanical filtration?

 

I suppose this would depend on how much real estate you mind being taken up by the pump. There are small, weak fountain pumps. There are also MP10s and RW-4s.

Link to comment

Out of curiosity, are you going to be setting up any kind of temporary filtration that hooks up to the tank once in a while? Carbon, GFO, mechanical filtration?

 

 

I mean I have a small HOB and considered hooking up, but wouldn't that be completely contradictory to natural filtration?

Link to comment

No, it'd be complementary. No amount of bacteria in your live rock is going to be enough to deal with chemical warfare from corals, for example. You'll want to cycle the rocks with only mechanical filtration, maybe, but it's still good to have carbon and phosphate remover around. And everything trapped in the filter floss that you regularly dispose of will be that much more waste your tank doesn't have to deal with.

Link to comment
FlamingPrawn

rw-4 will turn your tank into a cyclone. the mp10 on the LOWEST setting might be good enjoy. Honestly the Maxijet pumps can suction-cup to the back of the tank and they make very low flow models. Or a koralia nano

Link to comment
NinjaReefer

Thank you!! Did you run a mechanical filter of any sort with your 2.5??

 

Yeah. I had an aqua clear 20 that I modified. They kinda suck stock. The water can just flow around the filter material. I made some baffles so the water was forced through a poly filter, then purigen, then carbon and another layer of poly filter on top. I noticed an imidiate change after I modified it. I had some cyno I could not get rid of and it disipeared in a day an a half after I made this change.

 

I saw a company someplace on here that makes an acrylic insert for the aquaclear filters that pretty much does what my ghetto mod did. Only it looks nicer. I cant remember the name.

Link to comment

 

Yeah. I had an aqua clear 20 that I modified. They kinda suck stock. The water can just flow around the filter material. I made some baffles so the water was forced through a poly filter, then purigen, then carbon and another layer of poly filter on top. I noticed an imidiate change after I modified it. I had some cyno I could not get rid of and it disipeared in a day an a half after I made this change.

 

I saw a company someplace on here that makes an acrylic insert for the aquaclear filters that pretty much does what my ghetto mod did. Only it looks nicer. I cant remember the name.

 

Are you referring to the inTank media baskets?

Link to comment

100% natural filtration is simply not possible in our tanks. They are artificial ecosystems and they do not represent what happens in the ocean even remotely. They are too small and there is not enough biological diversity to ensure that all the processes are being taken care of properly. Your tank will not survive long-term if you go 100% natural without some kind of mechanical and chemical filtration.

 

If you have a 2.5, do not bother with anything like a RW-4 or MP10. On the lowest setting they push around 100 times the volume of your tank (200gph ish). They will turn your tank into a wave pool and you will lose everything. It's way too much. The RW-4 on lowest setting was too much for my IM Nuvo 10, and that's 4 times the volume as your tank.

 

If you end up using an AC20 or 30, that will be more than enough flow. If you decide you want more flow, get a Rio 50+ powerhead. They push 69gph on max setting and can be turned down a bit. The Tunze Mini linked above would be great, too. The koralia pico 180 gph could work, as well. Many have used those in their 3g jbj picotopes with success.

 

InTank Mediabaskets sells acrylic media caddies for the HOB filters and they efficiently force the water through the filtration media in the filters.

Link to comment

Also look into the hydor pumps. A member here directed me to them and I am using one in my current 5 gallon build(after wall of rock) probably around 3.5 gallons. Adjustable flowrate up to 300 gph and a pretty small profile. I am impressed thus far with them, and silent. Low wattage and under $20 on Amazon.


To add to my above post, I have the stock pump from this tank brand new 75 gph and tiny 3.2 watts. If You need to keep low budget I could send it to ya as I have no need for it.

Link to comment

Also look into the hydor pumps. A member here directed me to them and I am using one in my current 5 gallon build(after wall of rock) probably around 3.5 gallons. Adjustable flowrate up to 300 gph and a pretty small profile. I am impressed thus far with them, and silent. Low wattage and under $20 on Amazon.

To add to my above post, I have the stock pump from this tank brand new 75 gph and tiny 3.2 watts. If You need to keep low budget I could send it to ya as I have no need for it.

 

Wow, that would be incredibly generous of you. As of right now, I think I'm going to just be running an AC20. As I've heard and researched, I think I have concluded that the AC20 is going to create enough flow for me for the time being. I'm going to keep an eye on the classifieds and slowly piece all of my equipment together for this build, but if I see that I need some more flow I might shoot you a message ;)

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...