Do I need a skimmer on a softie tank?

StephLionfish

StephLionfish

New member
I'm setting up a mantis/macroalgae/softie tank, and I was wondering what the purpose of having a skimmer is?

Will zoas,palys, a green toadstool leather, and gsp hurt each other? Like, when the leather slimes, or when the zoas or gsp slime, will it affect each other?
 
Do you need one? technically not you will just have to keep up on your water changes, but if you want them thrive then skimmer is the way to go. How large is the tank?
 
20 gallon High. I can't do tons of water changes, cause it will be a macroalgae tank..and I figured a skimmer would take out the stuff that the macro needs to survive as well. I was just kind of hoping I could have some softies in there too..
 
I've had zoa's, paly's, gsp, frogspawn, torch, candy canes, ricordea, and sun coral all in the same 20 gallon high for the past 8 months now with no skimmer and they're all doing very well. I have a sump with a little bit of live rock rubble and some chaeto and everything is doing great.

The new tank I am setting up will have a skimmer though :)
 
I would run a skimmer, but run a pretty dry skim and it will help keep a lot of the good stuff in there. Just my .02
 
StephLionfish said:
Dry skim?
Click to expand...

When you adjust your skimmer for dry skimmate, the bubbles build up lower in the neck, collecting in a dry froth that has a lot of solid gunk buildup. When the you adjust for wet skimmate, the bubbles rise higher in the neck and have much more water content. The skimmate is generally lighter in color with less solid gunk.
 
I have a 20 high with a peacock mantis, many zoanthids, xenia, GSP, a couple of leather toadstools, leather cabbage, and even some neon green pavona that is flourishing. There is also a small piece of acropora in there that is growing fine but is brown. I do have a Reef Octopus HOB skimmer, but only because the mantis is a big eater. I run a powerhead to agitate the water, an aquaclear filter with occasional carbon, and a two bulb white/blue T5 fixture (not H.O.) There is about an inch of coarse sand. I feed pellet food daily, a snail about every 2-3 days, and frozen krill from time to time. This size tank with the mantis will never be a pristine clean tank - I regularly pull some bryopsis from the pipes. I am selectively growing some halimeda also. No problems with slime algae.

I do not skim my other softie tank or my SPS only tank - but I do a 10% weekly change on the softie tank and a 15% change on the SPS tank every 7-10 days. I change 25% of the mantis tank every 1-2 weeks.

I tried to upload an older picture... Hope this helps you.
 
Last edited:
kenwilloughby, mind posting/telling me what the fixture is that you are using on your tank? I've been looking for lights...I wanted a 3 bulb T5 fixture, but I cannot seem to find that. But, since your 2 bulb fixture seems to be doing the job...also, how long has the tank been set up with that fixture?

I may have a small spearer mantis in the tank, so I won't have fish in the tank...for longer than a couple of minutes...heh. So, I don't need a skimmer? I heard that all reef tanks need a skimmer to keep a war from going on with the corals? ( Jeez I sound like a noob lol )
 
I have a 24 inch Current Nova Extreme T5 fixture with one 20K and one actinic bulb. On my 55 gallon softie tank I run two 48 inch fixtures, with 2 20K and 2 actinics. This tank has dozens of softies, including about 10 leather toadstools, one of them is about 14 inches in diameter and about the same height. There is also a finger leather that is about 16 inches tall, maybe 12 inches wide, with well over 50 fingers. (Yes, the corals are outgrowing the tank, but we have plans for upgrading to a 300 gallon deep dimension.) The lights also support a sarcophyton elegans living 2/3 up the water column (that's the yellow toadstool that is more delicate than the others). I don't skim this tank. I do have carbon that I don't change often enough - I don't think I've changed it in 3 months. I DO change five gallons of water on each tank every 7-10 days, though.

The skimmer is up to you. They really do help lower the waste load in the aquarium. This is especially helpful with a big eater like the peacock mantis. I run a 29 gallon sps tank with no skimmer. It houses a Randall's Goby, Lawnmower Blenny and a Coral Beauty, as well as two large serpent stars, two peppermint shrimp, numerous hermits and a recently confirmed (though long suspected) smasher type mantis shrimp of about 2 inches. There are 10 or so sps corals and 4-5 lps. I have a large derasa and numerous small sponges on the undersides of the live rock that all help to clean the water. I had a skimmer on it for a while but the corals seemed to suffer for lack of nutrients. Now I have two goniopora colonies that need a lot of foot. I feed the tank a few drops of oyster eggs, a few drops of rotifeast, and a few drops of phytofeast every day or two. With this heavier feeding, the skimmer would probably help a little, but with diligent water changes, is not necessary. I hope to upgrade this tank to a 150 cube in the next month or so, and will then run a skimmer with a refugium so I can heavily feed and stock. When I upgrade the softie tank I will not skim it.
 
StephLionfish said:
I'm setting up a mantis/macroalgae/softie tank, and I was wondering what the purpose of having a skimmer is?

Will zoas,palys, a green toadstool leather, and gsp hurt each other? Like, when the leather slimes, or when the zoas or gsp slime, will it affect each other?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother with 20g of water at best. Weekly water changes should keep parameters in check.
 
had a 120 softie tank with no skimmer, and currently have 2 40 gallon breeders plumbed together with no skimmer. Skimmers are great but there are other ways to keep a tank.
 
With the corals that you listed, only the leather is the issue. Even they are ok as long as you don't have other soft corals that it will battle with chemical warfare. If you keep up on the water changes, you don't need a skimmer. If you plan on getting a colt coral as well, like you identified in an early post, I'd definitely get a skimmer.
 
I have never had a problem keeping leathers in a mixed reef without a skimmer. Inland Aquatics does it all the time as well. They had a leather that grew to over 3ft in diameter in a mixed skimmerless reef.
 
Skimming a must!

Skimming a must!

I would never run a marine tank without a skimmer! Corals give off chemical defense's called Terpens, and a skimmer helps in removing these chemicals. A thing to consider is with a reef in the wild you have currents that move these chemical defenses away from the reef, also with all the water these chemical defenses are diluted.
Now with the aquarium, the ratio of corals to water volume is a lot greater than the wild, and it is an enclosed system of water that is recirculated on a constant basis. Skimming will only benefit your aquarium in maintaining water quality.
Example: There was a hobbyist that had a 4000 gallon tank, that was loaded with many coral species, he was not using protein skimming and he lost the whole upper level of his reef to coral chemical warfare.

CaptiveReef :thumbsup:
 
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