corals and skimmers

[spanish dancer]

Can you put corals in a cycled tank before fish? Also, why don't you need a protien skimmer for a nano-reef?

 

[birdy]

You can put corals in, most people put fish in first because they are waiting for the tank to mature a bit. The reason you don't really need a skimmer for a nano, is that you can control the water quality with small water changes. I probably depends on how small the nano is too. I would probably put a small skimmer on a tank that was bigger than 10gal.

 

[jackdp]

I added a prizm to my twenty gallon tank and along with small weekly water changes, it keeps my water pristine and nitrate free.

 

[ivanfj]

I have a skimmer working for my 20 and I haven't done a water change in almost 2 months now and my nitrate is below 10 and others like ammonia those are all 0. I feel kinda lucky coz I don't really have much time to do water changes everyweek.

 

[waterwolf]

In a small system skimmers can remove alot of beneficial organics along with the bad. I think its better to do water changes, have a DSB & LR to maintain water quality. I personally would always use a skimmer, but I have never had anything under 75gal.

 

[doodle1800]

I'm planning on buying a skimmer for my 10.

 

[spanish dancer]

I heard that skimmers take out cacium that corals need to survive. If you don't have a skimmer, how do you get rid of fish waste?

 

[spanish dancer]

Nevermind, so waterwolf, are you saying you don't need a protein skimmer if you have a tank under 75 gallons?