Skimmers. Skimmers, Oh My.

brandond20

brandond20

Member
For those who don't read the new hobbyists section I'm going to post my questions here as well to get a vaster audience.
Alrighty guys, need your advice. Looking for a skimmer to setup with a sump. I plan on making a 29 gallon reef what do you guys recommend? And also is a skimmer for bigger tanks better or should I stay with something made for a tank that size? I plan on upgrading to a larger tank down the road (few years) so would it be good to go ahead and get a larger one that way I can just transfer it to the new tank in the future or should I just buy a another one when that day comes? I'm not sure if skimmers are a thing that needs replacing after a certain amount of time or if they last.
Any suggestions and answers would be aweseome.

Thanks,
Brandon
 
chadman

chadman

Active Member
my suggestion...start with a larger tank....i started with a 29g before i new better....now if there was one thing i wish i would have done differerent it would be a larger tank.....its only a couple more bucks but you'll be happier
 
chadman

chadman

Active Member
it is a struggle keeping levels good in a tank this small...plus you really should only have like three fish in a tank that size...i have a very heavy bio load but i also do two water changes a week
 
brandond20

brandond20

Member
Well my space and funding wont support a larger tank at the moment so I'm going with smaller, I'll have it for about 3yrs.
 
laddy

laddy

Active Member
I'd go skimmerless in a 29 also. There's really no need to strive for "prestine" water perimeters unless you want to keep the more "dificult" corals or fish--all of which probably won't keep in a 29g. You can have a great looking 29g LPS tank with a lot of live rock and a lot of LS, coupled with water changes, mainentance, etc, etc, etc.
 
crzyfshygy

crzyfshygy

Member
Skimmers are awesome....by far the best pc of equipment in the hobby. I would run a skimmer and nothing else on a tank that size.....Berlin style. With a sump. Great idea....for a tank that size with plans to upgrade I would( if it were me...knowing what I know now) check out Euro-reef, Deltec, ETSS. The best skimmers around....for your application. IMO anyway
 
laddy

laddy

Active Member
No, a skimmer removes organics from the water column, in essence removing it before it gets a chance to breakdown and turn into unwanted nitrates. It will help stabalize the water in the sense that it removes waste, but the "chemcials" you mention it does not stabalize.
 
laddy

laddy

Active Member
Originally Posted by crzyfshygy
Skimmers are awesome....by far the best pc of equipment in the hobby. I would run a skimmer and nothing else on a tank that size.....Berlin style. With a sump. Great idea....for a tank that size with plans to upgrade I would( if it were me...knowing what I know now) check out Euro-reef, Deltec, ETSS. The best skimmers around....for your application. IMO anyway
uh?
 
pyro

pyro

Active Member
I have a 30g reef. I'm had it set up for just over a year and a half now. The one thing I wish I would have done is bought a skimmer earlier. I've been fighting dissolved organic issues (DOCs) for a quite a while now and getting a stupid film on my water. I put a remora on the back of my tank about 4 days ago and it's been pulling pretty nasty stuff out and a good bit of it.
I'd suggest one; but not really necessary - you can live without it if you adjust your maintenence schedule I'm sure.
In response to your question, it seems the two I ended up looking at due to reviews for semi-approprietly sized tanks (still skimming heavily) were the AquaC Remora and the Corallife Super Skimmer. I didn't like the way the CLSS stuck up over the tank and I had just heard a lot more good things about the remora. So far I'm very pleased with the remora. I know the remora is normally rated up to 75g. I run it on a MJ1200 and am pleased with the flow.
 
brandond20

brandond20

Member
I'm going with a skimmer to keep my system in good shape. Just trying to narrow down the one I want to get. It's proving tough due to the fact everyone has conflicting experiences with different skimmers. lol
 
reefdude37

reefdude37

Member
get a pro-clear, works great on my 40 gallon. I love protein skimmers, it gets out so much junk that is bad for the tank, you would never no that stuff would be in the water.
 
greygoose

greygoose

New Member
does anyone have any experience with BakPaks? i have a skilter, which worked (and still does) fine in previous set-ups i've had, but i've been thinking of upgrading with this new 20g i'm about to start. just looking for advice, because if they work nearly the same, i won't bother to buy a new skimmer.
 
kogle

kogle

Member
I don't think you can overkill on a skimmer. Would be nice to have a larger one for the tank upgrade as well. With you using in a sump I'd go with the biggest you can fit under the tank or in the sump. I have a seaclone that I wouldn't give to someone. I swear I just run it to make myself feel better. I almost never have to clean it becasue it really doesn't work.
 
O

oreo12

Guest
I have a 29 gal tank (reef) I have had for at least 10 years now. I do not use a sump I have a red sea hang on the back skimmer I put on last year 6and it made a difrence in the tank. the tank started out as a fish only with live rock and after upgrading the lighting to pc has become a reef tank soft corals only. I have cc as the sustraight in the 29 that was what we used 10 years ago. I have since added a 75 gal with a couple trigers and valintien puffer. The last tank I set up was back in april I set up a 55 gal reef. I went with sand in bothe the 75 and 55gal tanks I will have to say the 55gal is much easier to maintain than the 29 is. I would recomend tring to spend a little more and go fo a 55 gal tank I do not run a sump on any of my tanks I do 10% water changes every thursday. change my carbon once a month and top off everyother day. One more thing I would add is start out with ro water it will save you lots of work in the long run. I did that in my 55 and have no unwanted alag. growth. But in my 75 I used tap water to start up and the back glass has a green growth on it. I would get the bigest skimmer I could afordor that would fit in the space I had for it.
 
brandond20

brandond20

Member
Ok cool. I will probably still go with the sump to get a hang of the system working for when I upgrade. I might go with a larger tank. I'm watching the classifieds and noticing there are a lot of good deals that I can get instead of just going out and buying everything. I might end up getting a larger tanks, where I would put it I am not exactly certain. haha I'm looking at maybe a ASM skimmer? I heard they are good. What are some other good skimmers you guys have used and recommend?
 
fishamajig

fishamajig

Member
thats funny you mentioned the asm skimmers. I would say for a smaller tank i think the asm mini g would be a good fit. if you are going with a sump that is. if not you could go with an aqua c remora or urchin. very common but resonably priced and fairy reliable.
i run some crazy countercurrent frankenstein monster on my tank.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top