When should I get a protein skimmer?

AnimalGuru

AnimalGuru

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My 125 has been running for about 6 weeks. The sand and rocks came from a 5 year old tank, so it cycled very quick! Diatom bloom on second day and gone by day 5. I have coraline algea (purple and red ) on all of my rocks, and some starting on my glass and filter intake tubes (a couple of my hermits shells are covered too:lol )I have all sorts of stuff growing...small feather dusters, small semi clear round sponges with holes in the tops, some more things that i dont know what they are yet, i bought some mushrooms, a very large rock with green star polyps(i think thats what they are called) 2 pulsing xienias my absolute FAVORITES by far, a single green botton polyp, a large feather duster, who came out of his tube after about a week and a half, still waiting to see if he is relocating or dying :mad::confused: turbo grazer,sp? 2 pep shrimp and a tiny horseshoe crab. So my question is when should I get a skimmer, are they something that is required? oh I am running 2 175w 10k metal halides and two aquaclear 110s with no carbon. no ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates and the water gets tested 3 or 4 times a week ( i know overkill:crazy1:) any info would would be great on any subject. my tank stays 76-78 deg
 
I'd say so far you have been lucky as far as not having a skimmer b/c all your live rock and sponges and the like have been doing the filtration for you. I'd say get a skimmer ASAP! Also a little more info on exactly what you have on your set up would be great! Who knows you might not want a skimmer. (not likely for long term i think)

Do you have a sump? Do you run carbon? how often do you do water changes? etc.
 
Respectfully I disagree with the above statement.

What do you plan on keeping in the long run? I have seen plenty of softy and LPS tanks run perfectly fine without a skimmer. As a general rule, you will have to deal with more water changes without a skimmer, but it is certainly doable.
 
I am in a very similar situation. Tank was put together with liverock from existing well established tanks. Sand from those tanks went in the sump/refugium. Cycle was relatively quick. Corals and fish transferred and all doing extremely well. I am running some Purigen in the sump, as well as carbon, and phosphate remover when needed.

The skimmer I intended to buy has been out of stock, so I am running without one. Everything is going so well, I now wonder whether to just leave it as it is.
 
You can make it without a skimmer, but I think most systems benifit from one. It really does depend on your plans for the tank.
 
Yesterday.

Sure you can run a tank without a skimmer. I even ran a tank without water changes. If you want your tank to really flourish though I would recommend a skimmer and water changes :) I think have the extra piece of equipment really cuts back on the man hours of having to spend to keep your tank top notch.
 
I'd say get it as soon as you can. you'd be amazed at the gunk it pulls out. I'm glad to see that stuff come out of my tank!
 
I have three kids and alot of animals so any thing to cut down som maint would be great. I have been changing about 15-20 a week since week 3. no i am not running any carbon i have heard good and bad . some say to only use after med or to get out any discoloration. I have heard that they can leach toxic stuff back into the water and so it hasnt been a prob without it and i just left it. I ran my freshwater for about a year and a half without it and it was fine. What kind of skimmer should i buy? (on a bud) but i will spend the extra if quality is an issue. i dont have a sump, any reason i should take off the aquaclear 110s and get a sump?Thanks for everybodys info keep it comming i am new to saltwater and love to learn:D
 
I have mixed feelings on this to as I have had a 150 running for 8 years with no skimmer and my 225 for 3 years with a skimmer and my 150 has been less trouble but the water doesn't stay near as clear. Im not a big water change person either but I do 10 % a month on each tank with good luck for years. Im not trying to make TOTM tank so its not that important to me. So the answer on my part is you do not need a skimmer but thay do help.
 
Skimmers are expensive but they definitely pull out some nasty smelling/looking stuff that otherwise would be in the water making it unsightly and yellowish. I like my 20% every 3mo. W.C. routine (I know I'll hear about that from someone). I had a petstore in the Pittsburgh area tell me that they do a 50% W.C. once a year !! I thought that was insane, unless you like yellow-green water, but maybe they use an ASM G6 (4foot high skimmer) or something huge. What it boils down to is if you want to do a weekly water change, then stay skimmerless, but if you want to have a tank that basically takes care of itself, get a sump w/refugium that has a large skimmer in the overflow compartment. Opinions are like @#$holes, everyone has one, and this is mine, thanks for reading.
 
I generally will start all tanks with a skimmer- most often oversized, and then as the tank matures and balances remove or reduce the skimming. n a new sytem- or a sps system- a efficient skimmer is as close to a necessity as ro water. The exeption of course is nano tanks- or tanks where weekly water changes are performed. Chemi pure carbon will keep the water crystal clear in the absence of skimming.
 
Skimmers are not entirely necessary for anything but sps corals, but lps can certainly benefit from one, and it will help keep waste under control. You don't need top of the line, but having one is good.

And if you EVER have to treat flatworms or some such---you need a skimmer to get the dieoff out of your tank before it crashes it; even the lights out treatment for cyanobacteria requires one, and doing it without one does no good because there's no export of the dieoff products.
 
Skimmers are great and very beneficial at cleaning wastes out of the water.
I would def recommend a skimmer.
 
To use a Protein Simmer or not?

To use a Protein Simmer or not?

Hi AnimalGuru ; Its all up to you but if you do not put in a refugium/sump and stay with the aquaclear110s I would definitly get a skimmer , they also add oxygen to your water and remove waste. I am a big beleiver in refugiums with cheato algea for waste removal as you remove the cheato. they are beneficial in populating your tank with all sorts of critters for the fish and corals to snack on. I also do 20% water changes every week to keep my reef in top notch shape and happy. Keep us posted . Good luck and Happy Reefing!!!!:artist:
 
ReeferBill said:
Hi AnimalGuru ; Its all up to you but if you do not put in a refugium/sump and stay with the aquaclear110s I would definitly get a skimmer , they also add oxygen to your water and remove waste. I am a big beleiver in refugiums with cheato algea for waste removal as you remove the cheato. they are beneficial in populating your tank with all sorts of critters for the fish and corals to snack on. I also do 20% water changes every week to keep my reef in top notch shape and happy. Keep us posted . Good luck and Happy Reefing!!!!:artist:
Click to expand...
 
the eshopps skimmers are pretty cheap compared to some others. I have one that sits in sump and I really like what it's doing so far =o) Pulls out lots of gunk. The main reason for a sump is to keep all your equipment out of the main display to keep it neat and plus you can have a refugium with some macro algae (cheato) to keep nitrates down. They to make hang on the back skimmers though just you will see it hanging on the side of the tank. I just went with a sump for all of the reasons I stated. Plus water evaporates from the sump not the main tank so you can top off there.
 
Sumps are awesome. I have hang on filters on my five F.W. tanks, but I wouldn't dream of putting a H.O.B. on a S.W. tank. Run a sump for S.W. applications or forget about it. Or in New York they would tell you to "fuhgettaboutit"
 
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