Refugiums, and Skimmers & UV oh my! Necessities -vs- Superfluous Technology

N

Newreeflady

New member
More on the 20H I'm afraid;)

So, I'm setting up a small sump (you know, that which actually fits under a 20H.) I can't fit both a skimmer & refugium under there. And, further, my skimmer is huge so it wouldn't fit and I'd need a smaller one. I'm considering the possibility of setting up a refugium & small UV sterilizer in the sump, and foregoing the skimmer altogether.

Anyhow, what are your experiences with these technologies and what are your thoughts about my system's needs?

Thanks!
Angela
 
on my 120, I only run an octopus NW200 skimmer, no fuge, no UV. On a tank that small, if you have a light bioload, you may even get away with no skimmer... depends on your goals
 
It depends on the type of care you take of your system, how you stock it, and how you feed it.

If you take good care, don't overstock/overfeed, I don't think you need any of those things... good light, good flow, good husbandry and you're set. I've never had a skimmer, fuge, or UV. I've only ever had a sump on 1 tank and that was just to have a convenient place to do top-offs, store heaters, etc.
 
Hey guys-

Well, I'd like to try the refuge thing- mainly because I have the space in the sump and the light and I can see the benefit in exporting nutrients with other algae than micro. The UV was kinda an afterthought- some people swear by them. Like I said, my skimmer is way too big so I'll probably have to sell it either way and buy something smaller if I want to have one.

I am not planning on overstocking the tank. I have the ocellaris pair and may add a couple more small (<2") fish. However, I would like to be able to feed fairly well to keep some cool inverts. I would plan on a 10% water change every other week (I'd say every week, but it's not true, so why lie?)

-A
 
I think that going with a fuge only on that system will be a good idea, as you can always find an HOB skimmer later on if you feel you need one. I've ran HOB stuff my entire time reef keeping, and now i'm down to only a 2.5gal fuge and skimmer. I used to run power filters, but i didn't really see the need for them, and after removing them my tank improved greatly! If you are planning a higher bio-load, which sounds like the case, you may want to get a skimmer that will work sooner rather than later. Reef Octo makes some pretty great HOB skimmers, and for a 20gal tank, it wouldn't take much. You probably have enough room to just section off a part of the fuge large enough to get the intake of an HOB skimmer on it and still have plenty of room for fuge
 
OOPS!!!! I also forgot to add, I think UV is useless unless your doing fish only, or QT. Definately not something that you need on a reef. I know the argument...Yes they remove bad things, but they also remove good. I'd rather keep all the good that I can, and find other ways to remove the bad:)
 
I'd say if you don't want to do weekly water changes and you want to feed your fish daily I would say a skimmer is a must have. if you don't have alot of time to dedicate to cleaning and maintenance I would say a skimmer is a good idea. a fuge of the size you are planning on will not equal the amount of nutrient export as a skimmer would on that system. using a skimmer bottom line will let you spend less time taking care of your tank. is it a necessity, no not really but it is a lot easier to maintain with one.
 
Another option is setting up the skimmer "remotely"- I would have to link it to the sump. I really don't feel like buying a new skimmer, and I really want to try the refugium thing. I think I'll leave off the UV for now unless there is a good argument for it.

Thanks for the suggestions!
-Angela
 
If you could make some room in your fuge, or your display to have a pump or pump intake, then just run your skimmer inline with only that pump, you would be able to keep the skimmer you have. I'm not sure what one you do have, but some skimmers may not allow you to do this. Also, you should really try to have your skimmer feed your fuge as much as possible. This will help it stay clean, and keeps it from becoming a pit for your overflows to dump into. If that is not possible, you may want to add a couple small Nassarius Snails and a handful of the mini brittle stars that come on some LR just to keep the sand somewhat clean.
 
remote skimmers can have the problem of overflowing, making a huge mess, so you'll want to keep it in a bucket or tub or something. It's always best to have it in, or above, the sump to catch water in case it overflows.
 
I have a 7gallon, couple 10's, 24 and couple 30gallons that I run with no skimmers, sumps, uv.... Run them with minimal filtration some without any filtration, just powerheads to move water around.

Its a 20 gallon tank, why do you need so much equipment on it. You can just do a weekly waterchange. A 5 gallon waterchange would be large enough to keep nutrients down, parameters right (don't even have to dose) and cheap.

I think a large misconception with nano tanks is people treat them like a large system. Trying to purify and reuse bulk of the water for as long as possible, doing small water changes and biologically balancing the environment.

In my opinion doing a good size wterchange would be a much simpler way to doing it. With large tanks its not very cost effective to change that much water.
 
Hi GM-

I won't do 5g weekly water changes (I know me.) I also don't want powerheads in my tank (I prefer a cleaner look.) And, I have a ton of awesome equipment;) :p Plus, I want to run a refugium, and I will probably hook up my chiller for those warm days. All in all, I in no way think that this is the most simple way to do this- minimalist approaches can be great! I'm just not doing it:)

-A
 
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