I am converting my fresh water tank to salt. I have read a few books on sltwater tanks but this will be my first salt tank. It is 100 gallons and is filtered with a Marineland C360 canister filter. I am very faithful on weekly water changes. I am contemplating getting a second small filter that has a UV sterilizer or a protein skimmer. Which one would be the most benificial for my tank? My current filter does a great job so I am thinking not to get the filter/UV combo, but rather get a stand alone UV sterilizer. Any thoughts?

basically if you have coral protein skimmer if not uv that what i go by....so if you only in salt for the fish go uv if you can only choose one. What i would do if i was you is if you fish only get the protein skimmer and the stand alone uv and if you ever want to have coral just switch off the uv

I also agree the skimmer would be better.

Are you going to have the tank drilled and use a sump?

Are you going to use live rock and sand bed as primary biological filter?

i haven't completely been sold on UV sterilizers at all.............of the people i've talked to who use them successfully .............they are useing them for a specific reason,

from what i've read they can actually be detrimental to good bactierias and other microscopic organisms .................so until I'm a hard core super reefer {many years from now, lol} i don't think ill be entertaining a UV sterilizer

JMO

Boss

Thanks for all of the great information! I will get a skimmer. Have any ideas for a decent SMALL skimmer. I need a small one as I have VERY limited space to hang equipment on the backside of my tank. If you look at the pics u will see a rock background. Those rocks are epoxied to plexy glass I put in the tank. The plexy is angled at the corner of the tanks to create out of view "equipment areas." Each area is ported for pumps, filters, heaters, and are drilled to allow great water circulation. I already have plent of equipment in these areas so I will need a compact skimmer suitable for around 100 gallons. Any ideas of a good brand/model?

That looks like a good skimmer. With all of my background my tank is only effectively 90 or 100 gallons so it is a little better than the skimmer running a full 120 gallons. As I am somewhat new to the saltwater do you think that skimmer will provide enough of a benifit to my fish to justify the price and the space? I am very good at water changes. Considering this do you think the skimmer will make an impact on the water quality? I want the best environment for my fish, but I also do not want to spend more$ if it won't make a big difference. Oh, I forgot to mention it will be a fish only tank.