Decisions! Lil help...?

Dana42078

Dana42078

Dana
So i think im finally going to get a skimmer....:shock:....its going to be my reef tank, 10th month going..fought a lil battle with red slime but its gone. Always had a good clean tank. So instead of getting another tattoo, im going to buy a skimmer...im a noob to how to even hook one up. Its going to have to be a HOB because i have no fuge...

Asking what are the pro's and con's to a skimmer? Your expierance with or without one? What would be the best fit for my 46g tank? 50lbs of LR bout 60lbs of substrate...I asked Sarah a while ago and i think she saif this one would be good.

Reef Octopus BH 100 Hang on Back Protein Skimmer - AquaCave

Would i need anything else for it? Im such a noob. HELP!:mrgreen:


Also, what about a 20g tall? THis hob filter i got is soooo noisy!
 
Cons - Noisy, can overflow, removes nutrients from the water (sometimes too efficiently), use electricity.

Pros - Removes nutrients from the water, drastically improves water quality (by removing organic particulates before they rot), acts as a "mechanical" filter to keep your water clear (in reality, it's chemical filtration), oxygenates the water SIGNIFICANTLY, improves flow

A tank without a skimmer is going to require more LR or LS and a lot more careful attention to avoid overloading the tank.

They're great to have, especially for beginners. It allows you to be a little more flexible with how you maintain the tank and what you keep. It will allow your tank to be more forgiving for a higher bioload and heavier feedings.

On my new tank, I'm going to go without one, because I want to have a decent amount of suspended nutrients, but low nitrates/phos by using an algae scrubber. Algae Turf Scrubbers are becoming more and more popular over expensive skimmers, but require, in my opinion, a little more knowledge to "get right".

I'd suggest this one instead - in my opinion, it's a cleaner set up and a little more powerful. I used one for 2 years with great luck!
Reef Octopus BH 300F Dual Hang-on-Back Protein Skimmer with Filter System* - AquaCave
 
You don't think that's a lil overkill ona 46g....there's prolly only 33 g of water in there prolly less lol...idk biff/Sarah told me to go double what my tank was so a 90g would be more than enough. That's rated for 135g and 90 dollars more...thanks for your feed back!

Are u still overseas?
 
Yeah, it's probably a little overkill but it's what I used, so I can only recommend that one! The entire brand is great and I'm sure the other one would work fine. I like the impelled and the pump a lot more in the 200.

Still overseas...name of the game is, "What the hell is that burning smell coming from today?" Today, I think the answer is oil or plastic.
 
Thanks for the info!

Be safe man. There's not a day that goes by and I do t think of all y'all out there. I may not believe in the reasons behind it but I support what you do for a living.
 
For the 20g, if you're not going to have many fussy corals, you can probably get away with just live rock or live sand with good flow. Are you going to have a sump in that one? Basically, if you have a skimmer, you can be a little sloppier, it will help clean up excess nutrients.

Thanks for the good thoughts, we need it! Had a rough medevac today, but that's the nature of the business.
 
That's basically it, the directions are crap though so it may take you a little while to put it all together. There will also be some break in period so you may get micro bubbles for a while. I just put a filter sock over my drain pipe to get rid of them.
 
Dana, do you have a sump? You could try an algae skimmer instead, it'd be cheaper.

If not, and you're not having troubles, I wouldn't say you HAVE to add a skimmer. Then again, depending on the corals/bioload, it could make a significant improvement in the health of the tank.
 
No no sump. no overflow, no fuge,no skimmer,...i have a marineland biowheel....i dont have any water quality issues. Just thinking it may be wise to upgrade in that department. Now the more i look the more im curious. There is a 40 dollar price diff in the two of these. Is the 40 bucks worth it here in this case? I dont mind paying it if it will be in my best interest.

Reef Octopus BH 100 Hang on Back Protein Skimmer - AquaCave

Reef Octopus BH 1000 Hang on Back Protein Skimmer by CoralVue - AquaCave
 

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