UV sterilizer or protein skimmer

by **Snowboss4492** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:32 am

with out a doubt...........when i added a skimmer {the redsea przm} to my tank it was like night and day ...........and yes a fish only tank is better.............they say you don't need a skimmer really on a FO tank, but i will never run a tank of any size again without one, reguardless of the inhabitants ...............keep you load down to like a 55-65 gallon spec and you'l never have an issue

awsome rock work by the way too.....................whats the matieral?

Boss

by **schigara** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 1:30 am

On reef central their are quite a few hardcore anti skimmer guys. From time to time, when they bitch about people using skimmers and suggesting the use of skimmers, they sometimes get asked to show pics of their tanks to prove how well a skimmerless tank can run and most of the time, the tank will look like shit.

by **littlej2455** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 1:56 am

i have both a protein skimmer and a UV. I think that the protein skimmer is much more necessary and beneficial. The protein skimmer will enhance a lot in the tank. I have heard that many people add UV like 1 or 2 since the tank has been set up. When I connected my UV the main difference I noticed was water clarity. So I would get the protein skimmer first. I hope the set up goes well!

by **fihsboy** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 5:01 am

To comment on Schigara......I (was) an anti protein skimmer person...My tank was healthy as hell without one....But what happens when a fish dies or a coral....so does everything else. My copepod growth went through the roof without a skimmer and my corals were growing faster too....only problem is I couldnt feed as much.....which I cut back to once a week for feeding.....and you HAVE TO HAVE another form of (skimming) Mine was the refuge I have with mangroves and macro algae....I will post some new pics soon....its getting to look really nice in there. Underwater forest! :) My skimmer pulls very light gunk out of my tank....but with the refuge and filter socks...its almost pointless....besides the occasional fish death. (RIP SCOOTER!!!!!) scooter died christmas day....thats what santa got me...I was dissapointed. I look in my tank and the crabs had torn him to pieces and the star fish had eaten the other 4/5ths of him...Needless to say THEN my skimmer pulled a LOT of crud. and still is after a 20 gallon water change on a 29 gallon tank.

by **Tien6079** » Wed Dec 31, 2008 4:58 am

So I took a look at the dimensions of the red sea prizm and I dont think it will fit in my tank. I posted a new picture of my tank. It shows an ariel view of one of the "working" corners of my tank. It is barely 10 inches long and too narrow for the intake of the skimmer. This would be the only place I could truly put a skimmer as the rock work would not allow for an HOB skimmer. Had I known I was going to do saltwater I would have built the tank a little better...but I can't blame myself as this is my first large tank and the first time I have ever made a custom background. You can also see I put the tank close to the wall and I have no idea how to move a 1000 pd tank even an inch w/o removing the water. SnowBoss, do you know of any other effective skimmers that would work with this set up? If I cannot do a skimmer would a second canister filter be beneficial? I have the marineland 360 and I could easily run the tubing for a smaller Marineland filter. My current filter runs great, would a second one provide a significant filtration for my fish? Thanks for all of your input.

by **Snowboss4492** » Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:12 am

look at something like this

http://www.petsolutions.com/Seaclone-15 ... 3+C43.aspx

a second filter won't hurt you at all...............but there really is no replacement for a skimmer bud................... the next option would be a complete tear down, have the tank drilled and set up a sump and then you culd put a skimmer in it ..........but that a major undetaking i know

Boss

UV sterilizer or protein skimmer

16 posts • Page 2 of 2

UV sterilizer or protein skimmer

16 posts • Page 2 of 2