Can anyone settle this argument??

[sheracr123]

I say skimmer, because you can buy RO/DI water untill you can save enough money for your own unit. Thats what I did.
BTW, I have about 10, five gallon water jugs 4 sale is anyone is interested!!!

JK

 

[jedi]

Originally posted by ophiura
People who should stay away, IMO, are the one's who have all the money and think they can buy their way into what they want against all advice to be patient, etc. I think when you don't have a lot of money, you are forced into a certain degree of patience, and you may appreciate and research more of what you want.

Totally agree:yes:
I have that "skimmer" the one everyone else hates, it was what I could afford, and it works great for me.. for now untill I can get the $200+ skimmer.
I dint have the RO/DI unit untill recently, and it has really helped with issues I was fighting with from the begining(phos, algea, etc). I too learned the hard way, starting form scratch, and learning from people like you Ophiura, and that is all I am trying to do. let these other know that "This will make that easier", or "this will do that", in an attempt to help others NOT have to go through what i went through in the begining.
And I aslo agree with the "stay within your means" comment. If people who enter the hobby start with a 10-20 gallon set up, because that is all they can afford, then great, just so they understand that they wont be able to have all those really colorfull and expensive fish that they are probably getting into this hobby to have.
Anyway, this thread stated as a opinion on which to have first. I still say RO/DI, then skimmer. Lets say this, if you have a good water source at home, then the water changes/etc.. will be easier than having to go to the store every week to get new water. and at .50 a gallon on a 20 gallon you can surpass the cost of a RO/DI very quickly.
And, since it is home most peeps will be vigilant on the water changes, since it is not such a pain in the

[hr]
to get the water.
I'll leave it at this, get the best you can afford, in anything that you choose to get. it will definatly be beneficial to you, the fish, and your wallet.
Jedi

 

[ophiura]

Let's see...
Two friends.
Limited budget.
One buys the RO unit and shares water. The other throws in some salt and buys the skimmer.
The skimmer spends wednesday night, every other weekend and two weeks in the summer at the guy's tank who bought the RO?

I'm going with the answer "depends what sort of tank they want" - If F/O then the skimmer, if reef then the RO I'm indecisive.

 

[id52]

just received my 5 stage RO unit yesterday Cost 134.00. the skimmer cost 119 at lfs

 

[jedi]

:hilarious :hilarious
i'll write up the visitation settlement for the skimmer.
Jedi

 

[ophiura]

Be sure I can't understand it. All good legal documents are like that.
How about they each get a skimmer then go 50/50 on the RO? A bit cheaper at least.

 

[tank1483]

These are all wonderful ideas, and opinions. I want to thank everyone for their input. My friends have decided to take theie own sides, and one will buy a skimmer first, and the other an ro/di unit and then see how their tanks compare.

 

[acekjd83]

ophiura, you are completely right...
i cant afford an RO unit, but i understand the limitations of tapwater. i'm lucky in that my tapwater is VERY clean, as far as tapwater goes, and i treat it appropriately. I have 0 ammonia, trites, trates, phates, but no RO water. my skimmer runs 24/7 (well, running is a relative term for the POS...) and i have very little algae. I will be the first to admit that the diatoms on the glass are a PITA, but a mag-float scrubber takes care of that in 5 minutes.
Would i like an RO unti? YES!:yes:
Can I afford an RO unit? NO...:nope:
Can i live without it? yes...:happy:
what i DONT do is buy delicate corals or fish, and i try to keep a low bioload to reduce the number of water changes that are necessary. an RO unit is a luxury, not a necessity. it makes things much easier, and it increases the capacity of your tank, but it wont turn your tank into a wasteland of disease and sickness if you dont have one.

 

[tizzo]

Every single part of this hobby costs money, and in my opinion, it's a lot of money. Even a simple test kit is 20 bucks!! You can go cheaper, but questionable test results is like driving without insusrance. It's a gamble, but you hafta be ready to make quick adjustments if necessary. Sometimes that costs money. If you go to the LFS and buy your water each week for $.50 a gallon. You buy, what, like 10 gallons?? That's 5 dollars a week? After a year that's $260!! You could buy 2 RO units at that price. But even if you can't afford the price of an ro all at once, you still hafta buy the salt. You have bought 520 gallons over the course of one year. That is at best 3 buckets of salt at what 60 bucks apiece? So now you've spent $420 on water alone!! But besides just the water and salt, you hafta purchase
test kits,
heaters (including one for QT and one for newly mixed water),
powerheads (" " " "),
filtration,
food,
QT tank,
the actual fish,
the clean up crew,
live rock, or even those bio balls
thermometer,
refractometer or even a hydrometer
those 5 gallon buckets,
a mixing bin (usually rubbermaid),
a substrate,
the actual tank and stand,
and a skimmer...
My point was not, if you can't afford an RO you shouldn't get into the hobby. My point was that an RO or skimmer are just a few of the many expenses in this hobby and if you don't have the funds then you shouldn't get the tank.
I have seen way to many tanks that are in extremely poor condition, and it all stems from funds. The fish are suffering, the hitch-hikers are dying the algae is everywhere, and their excuse is usually..."I know, I know, but I just can't afford it right now".
There are very few people that can maintain a "healthy" system with very little funds. It can definately be done, but you'd be hard pressed to find somebody that can DIY when they are new to the hobby.

 

[bozo]

just my 2 cents... years ago and still today people are keeping fowlr tanks without skimmers and using tap water provided their tap water was within certain parameters for metals and chlorine. In the past( when i could not afford it) i had many fish tanks that were very healthy and well maintained. this was running canister filters, wet drys and hob's. not all at once. proper husbandry like cleaning and water changes are always beneficial at rmoving disolved organics. protien skimming is only one aspect of mechanical filtration. there is many others such as filter floss, sponges, carbon, phosphate removers etc. if it was my tank and i had to choose one i would go with the ro/di.

 

[acekjd83]

my point is that some things are luxuries, immensely helpful and well worth the money, obviously, but not ABSOLUTE necessities for ALL tanks. for SPS and anemones, skimmer and RO are a MUST, but for FOWLR, they arent. If you dont have skimmers and RO/DI units, then there's more work and less leeway, but it's possible to go without.
A little care and knowledge will go farther than a bunch of expensive equipment and a neglectful owner...

 

[ophiura]

I am sure that I am not the only one who has at one time or another used "lack of funds" as a more "dire" excuse than the real excuse which is "the algae is overwhelming, and I'm just lazy/tired/overwhelmed and don't want to do the maintenance." I can come up with $10 for the water change, but getting motivated to mix the water, do the change, etc is more of an effort at times. So people commiserate with "I don't have the money" and don't push things or ask questions. Its rude to question it and that is the end of the discussion. Better than "I'm just overwhelmed or lazy" which would lead to a whole list of suggestions.
But funny how many of those same people can find the money for a pretty $30 fish though - often repeatedly after one dies.
So I think people underestimate the time required just as much, if not more so, than the money. So I think it is "if you don't have the time or the patience you need to stay out of this hobby," as you can find some ways to minimize cost. There are not too many ways, at least in my case, to cut back on time, even with really good equipment. The tank doesn't change its own water, test itself, etc. Time, IMO, is a necessity for all tanks...even if all the equipment is not.

 

[hermitkrab]

Well if you HAD to pick one I'd say protein skimmer. Because big deal if you have clean water but nothing to keep it clean but if you tap water is bad enough Ro/Di would be better. But like Tizzo said if they can only afford one of the two they chose the wrong hobby. Good luck settling the argument... some people...

 

[hermitkrab]

Ophiura is right.. but I myself one time was lazy. I had my powersweep scheuled to be fully cleaned last Saturday, I had to do a six gallin water change. I did the water change but didn't do the powersweep because I was really tired. I ended up doin the powersweep this Wed... that is the latest I've ever set anything for my tank back.

 

[bang guy]

Seems to me that you could keep the water clean by more frequent water changes. Many people do that with smaller tanks.
Once you get copper, Zinc, or Tin in the tank from tap water there's no amount of skimming that will help you.

 

[hermitkrab]

Good point Bang. :yes:

 

[who dey]

all this talk for a simple 400bucks max. dip into the beer funds and buy em both damnit!!

 

[hermitkrab]

Well I'm 15 and 400 bucks isn't easy to combine especialy by saving my beer money, lol. My tanks has cost me well over $1,000 and it's only 40g. I'd have a head ache if my tank was over 100 gallons, lol.

 

[who dey]

don't worry krab... someday soon 400bucks will be easy for you to get... you seem like a smart kid:jumping: so your 15, just wondering if you have both ro unit and skimmer?

 

[acekjd83]

400 bucks is more than my half of the rent for my apartment! i only make that much in a month, and if i have to put in an extra couple hours a week to clean diatoms off my glass and treat my water with EDTA, then I'll do that until i can afford an RO unit...