Helping me choose my priority....!!

[powerbuddy]

I have been doing a lot of research about protein skimming, RO/DI Units and keeping a refugium. I lack the ownership of these tools are present, and getting all three of them is a big dilemma , not to forget combating the algae problem which I have. I am broke now and cannot afford to buy all these three units at the same time, so i thought about ordering them in my priority buying list. So i need your help, in deciding which should come first in the tank and so on. My biggest enemy as of now is trying to combat algae problems.

Here is the List-:

1) A 6 stage 100 GPD RO/DI unit with a 4 gallon holding tank. $100
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-6-stage-100-GPD-Reverse-Osmosis-RO-DI-Water-Filters_W0QQitemZ4464065586QQcategoryZ20684QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

2) Coralife 65 gallon Skimmer $89.00
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=ES33000

3) CPR In tank Refugium $ 33.00
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=CR1711

Even though i think I may be able to slip in the refugium with the above items. I am still confused if the protein skimmer or the unit comes first. As of now i beleive if i can get the skimmer , the refugium will take care of my algae.

So what do you guys think of it?

 

[Sk8r]

Do you have a sump? If you do, an Urchin is a good skimmer, a little more than the one you have listed, but I'd recommend it as an in-sump skimmer.

I'd say the skimmer, and a good skimmer, is the most important piece of auxiliary equipment you will buy: it does the job of a filter and a biofilter all in one, and keeps your tank healthy. Without it, protiens build up in the water and that's not good.

Second, after paying off the skimmer, I'd go for the ro/di unit. It's cheaper than Walmart in the long run...but until you can afford it, you can get ro/di water at a Walmart kiosk, not the prebottled stuff on the shelves. By the time you do get one, you'll be really tired of carrying water bottles, and you'll be ever so glad.

Right up there with the skimmer, if you don't have it, is a sump and an overflow of some kind. If your tank isn't drilled, you need a hang-on overflow to make it work---a submersible pump brings water back up to a pipe and out into your display, while gravity brings water down from the display via the overflow to the sump. It does several things: it gives you a place to put in additives without dumping them into the display, it provides more water volume, which means more stability, and it can even be used (part of it) as a refugium.

I found a real problem with the in-tank refugiums. They're so very big that they shade most of a small tank from the lights, so they're unworkable: my corals would all die in the shadow, and my lights would bake the thing---plus that the suction cups want to slide down the glass under the weight of sand and rock. I was very disappointed in that, because I'd really wanted that to work for me, too.

HTH. I'm a corner 52.

 

[powerbuddy]

Thanks for your reply Sk8r. I don't have sump. And that Coralife skimmer will be hang on. Based on your recommendations and research i am positive i'll go for a skimmer. Which do you think is a better option?

1) Skimmer + Tap water + Hang on Refugium(not the in-tank ones)
2) Skimmer + Walmart RO Water
3) Skimmer + Tap Water
4) Simmer + Macro in the tank

How would you rate the above four things in descending order of performace? As of now i beleive if i can get the skimmer, the algae will be an issue. To combat this, which of the either, the fuge or the RO water would be more effective?

Hopefully in the long run it will be Skimmer + RO/DI Unit Water.

 

[Sk8r]

Skimmer with Walmart RO water would be the best. The RO will diminish the incidence of algae. You'll need a cleanup crew anyway, and they'll help take care of the rest of the algae. Macro in the tank is problematic, because the stuff with roots gets into your rocks and can't be gotten out, and the stuff without roots, like cheato, floats around and blocks the light from your specimens. It's kind of no-win in that department. I've become philosophical: I had hitchhiker caulerpa which was rooted in my live rock; I got a rabbit to get it, but he loosed so much stuff in my system that now I have bubble algae---I'm beginning to look on IT as my macro algae. IE, any macro can become a pest if it gets into the wrong places---like your pump intakes, your rocks, your specimens, etc. Hair algae has one virtue: you know it's bad, and there are things that eat it. [Nothing eats bubble algae reliably. ]

Anyway----go for the good skimmer, and get the ro water from Walmart. My bet is you'll be wanting that ro/di unit real soon. (For me it was 3 flights of stairs that convinced me.)

Then invest in good [Salifert, is my recommendation] test kits that are appropriate for what you want to keep, and put a refractometer on your wish-list, too. You can make a swing-arm hydrometer work, but they're notorious for bad readings. You do know better than to believe a heater thermostat setting: they lie. Have a couple of different thermometers: they've been known to be off as well. And you're set, by the looks of things.

You're setting up a good system. Best of luck with it!