Intoduction and skimmer vs. sump or neither

[Dorkel Marine 1]

Hello this is a newbie and my handle is Dorkel Marine 1. This site was recommended by pooduck on reefaquarium.com. He mentioned shadetree,dj88 and a few others. I was screaming for some local canuck reefers to talk with and hopefully to borrow some live stuff for my future live sand bed and maybe some frags. Budget rules rightnow. I presently have a 10gal. reef. I know that sounds a little funny but thats what it is. I'm presently planning a 30 gal. tank. I've decided on a 3-4 inch LSB about 40 lbs of live rock. My undecision comes with should I use a protein skimmer or a sump or neither and do frequent water changes and using a dosing regiem. I'll be having about 90 watts of lite between 1 pc at 55watts and two canopies with one atinic and 1 more fluoresent at about 20 watts complete with a glass canopy. Not sure about the glass canopy yet. Some people are saying don't use one. Others are saying be safe and use one. Ahhhh. Any info appreciated. Any frags would be greatly appreciated. Just one. Sorry for begging; the info is more important. I live in Coquitlam. thanx in advance. George Muller.

[Troy F]

Hi George, welcome to the board. I'd suggest both a sump and skimmer if possible. Build your stand tall enough to fit all of your mechanical equipment below and out of sight. In sump skimmers, as a general rule, work better than HOT skimmers. Sounds like you have a pretty good grasp of what you are doing. Read everything you can get your hands on and ask around, we have some really knowledable reefers that frequent the board. www.reefs.org (http://www.reefs.org) has a fantastic library.

[DJ88]

Hey George. Welcome to the board. smile.gif

Sounds like Troy has given you some good advice so far. Go for a sump and skimmer. It's a good start. Down the road you can try running skimmerless if you feel ready for it. The main benefit IMO of a sump is hiding stuff. If you had a Hang on skimmer hte pump has to be in yoru tank. ick. In a sump you can hide all kinds of things. Heaters, pumps, skimmer etc.

I don't know if you wnt to go for the glass top. It will turn into a mini greenhouse and keep the temperature of your tank alot higher. Cleaning a glass top on a salt water tank is a big PITA.

With sand and frags I am sure you will find guys willing to help you out there. smile.gif
Any other questions don't hesitate to ask. smile.gif