skimmer selection help

[karazy]

okay, well ive finaly basicaly got my aquaC urchin sold (knock on wood)
and now im confused on what skimmer to get.

the tank is a 29 gallon AGA, with a about 12 gallon sump.
i want to have lots of zoas, rics, and LPS, and about four fish(TS blenny,cherub angel,percula clown pair)

now i cannot decide what skimmer to get.

the thing is, i only have a 6.5"x14" space to put the skimmer in, unless i could run the skimmer as an external, or if i flipped my sump, took out a baffle,
and had a 6.5"x14" fuge and an 11"x14 inch place for my skimmer and heater,
and i would still have to run an external pump.

so im looking for a skimmer between 150-250 dollar skimmer that works very well and is as quiet as possible(aren't we all? :P).

im looking at the vertex skimmers which id have to do the tiny fuge thing with i think. Anybody have any comments about the vertex?

and no i dont want to get a coralife super skimmer :P

so please, make a suggestion :)

[Skimmerking]

Well why waste your money yong fella, just do water changes with a tank that small you really dont need a skimmer IME and IMO. if you did 3 gal water change every week man you would be up on your levels ..

If i had the choise i wouldn't get a skimmer for a tank that size i would just do regular WATER CHANGES. dont waste your money.

[reeferious]

asmodeus is correct. at one time i ran a heavily stocked 33 gallon system. no skimmer but i kept religious weekly 10 to 15 percent water change and everything was fine.

[karazy]

thats some interesting and possibly enlightening info.

im thinking the vertex would totaly overskim it now that i think about it, and not leave any nutrients.

im also thinking i might need a small skimmer just for how many corals i want and how many fish.
oh, and i feed my fish every day.

[Rbacchiega]

go with the water changes Karazy. Then put the 250 towards fish!

Then you could use your sump as a frag tank...or nano!

[karazy]

well i think i might get a lil mor advice first, but i think ill probably end up not using a skimmer :)

the tank is at my moms house in my room and im there all the time so i will deffinatly do 5 gallon water changes every week :)

and randi, im still gonna use the sump. why? because i wanna have a fuge. why? because i love all the lil macro algaes and lil sump critters you can get. its like having a whole other planted SW tank!

[Skimmerking]

well rid the skimmer and get a good top off unit. Reef keeper maybe. I would get the 20 gal tip top shape. there was one oneRC that had a amazing unit SPs top ights controller you name it it had it and it has a sump too.

[mseepman]

How high is your water? For $69 i've been really impressed with my BMQQ Bubble Magus from Nuocean.com They also now make an external version though I know nothing about that.

The one thing that I had to do was re-do my nano sump so that I could get the water high enough for the BMQQ. It skims like crazy though and is pretty quiet.

[karazy]

well rid the skimmer and get a good top off unit. Reef keeper maybe. I would get the 20 gal tip top shape. there was one oneRC that had a amazing unit SPs top ights controller you name it it had it and it has a sump too.

i dont exactly understand this sentence (no effence)
could you maybe say it in another way?

oh, and in my equipment section the baffle is 10" tall

[Myka]

I don't understand the theory behind not needing a skimmer for a small tank. If someone can provide a decent explanation for that I'm all ears.

IMO, a skimmer is just as useful on a 250g tank as on a 5g tank. It performs the same job with the same results. The Tunze Nano Skimmer is a bit on the expensive side, but is nice and small, and would be a great performer on a tank your size. If you want something cheaper, maybe try the Bubble Magus which I have heard a lot about, but I couldn't recommend on my own accord as I really know nothing about it.

[Skimmerking]

Ya i will let you know why.
skimming is great to extend the water changes that happens in your tank. A skimmer will pull excess nutrients in your tank, along with When you over skim you can actually pull Nitrates out too. like Wet skimming

Protein skimmers are one of the most important devices you can use to maintain water quality in a saltwater aquarium. Protein skimming removes organic pollutants before they break down into nitrates and phosphates. The improved water quality is beneficial to fish and corals and may reduce the frequency in which water changes are necessary. but you can do the same with good old Fashion WATER CHANGES. so when y ou have a tank that is 20 gal doing a5 gal water change or 10 gal every week is great since yo uare replacing the proper elements in the tank.


IMO for a tank that is 30 gal and smaller havinga protein skimmer is a waste of tiem since you are able to do water changes and have a huge impact on your tank with just WC, so why waste your money unless you are a equipment guru that needs one, then go for it ,

I would put the money towards something important like more salt....

[karazy]

very usefull info :)

what i think i might do is set it up without a skimmer, and run it and keep adding inhabitants(as i wont get a whole lotta skimmate when there isnt much in there)
and then if i ever feel like waterchanges arent enough, ill get a skimmer :)

[Skimmerking]

to your question what i mean is put the money to the tank like getting top notch equipment, there is a 20 gal SPs tank on RC that is totally amazing i will go look for it.

[karazy]

ooo, okay. that makes more sense when you say it that way :)

and i deffinaty have been trying to get some of the more top notch equipment, otherwise i would probably have my tank up :p
it's just a lil hard to do on allowances and holiday money(christmas,birthday, ect)
but so far i haven't really wimped out.

custom sump, oak stand, im getting a new tank because my one right now isnt in the best shape, and a 2x24w hagen GLO t5ho (which ill get another of)
oh, and im getting a RK2 (which is looking hard to get because its been discontinued, but if i ant get it ill get the reefkeeper lite)

[Skimmerking]

well if you are looking for tanks there are some nice ones that there is in the 4 sale forum here an there is a red sea max too.

[karazy]

lol, not the like whole tank,
just an AGA 29 gallon, cuz the silicone on mine is lookin a lil ruff, i painted it with the wrong paint, and the sides are a bit scratched up

[Pan]

lol, not the like whole tank,
just an AGA 29 gallon, cuz the silicone on mine is lookin a lil ruff, i painted it with the wrong paint, and the sides are a bit scratched up

you can get a 33 gallon for like 40 bucks or something at golds.

[karazy]

kool, thanks for the tip. hopefully they will have a 29 gallon in stock