Newbie Questions (skimmer, powerhead etc)

[pipipapa]

Hi,
I am planning a 10g tank. This will be my 1st SW tank (my previous experience was freshwater planted tank), so any opinion/suggestion will be highly appreciated.
Eventually I would like this tank to have live rock, fish, soft coral and even some anemone if possible. To achieve this, do I have to have a protein skimmer? The only nano-skimmer I could find is the Fission Nano-skimmer which doesn't have a favorable review on the internet. Or could I use some hang-on filter instead? Also do I need to buy a powerhead or wavemaker to keep water moving?
Thanks!
Ming

 

[kingtriton]

I would say yes, if it was a fish only tank then maybe, just maybe you could get away with not having one...but corals are pretty sensitive to nitrate levels and having a ps would be very benifical to keeping the nitrates at bay and will allow your corals to flourish and I would also say yes to a power head, but depending on how much current your filter system provides (espcially in a 10g) you might get enough flow going, but just to be safe and again to let your coral benifit the most I would say yes to both of them

 

[pete159]

live rock, fish, soft coral and even some anemone in a 10g?
save yourself sorrow and heartache, start off big, how about a 55g or maybe a 90g?.
a 10g can not have anemone and could only have a small fish or 2.

 

[pipipapa]

Thanks for the candid opinions, I most likely will forget about anemone at least for now... too bad I can only stick to 10g for the moment due to some limitation

 

[oceansidefish]

In a 10g you will probably only be able to keep some hardy soft corals. Skimmer in that tank would be a waste, you will have to do water changes once a week and keep the bioload low. I would just get a good HOB filter and it will be fine. Use about 10pds of LR and only keep 1 or 2 fish