Sterilizer or Protein Skimmer? Both? Neither?

[mechslave]

I've got a new cycling setup and I'm trying to absorb all the info I can. I went to a LFS I hadn't been to yet yesterday, fully intending to buy a protein skimmer. And he told me that a sterilizer is more important than a protein skimmer. He said the sterilizer will slow the growth of the LR a little, but will have much healthier fish and water quality as a result.
What is everyone's thoughts and experience with this?
As a goal, I'd like to have a healthy combo or corals, anemones and fish. Right now, I have a 110 LS, LR tank with a few damsels and hermits still cycling and aging while I'm saving up for a vho/metal halide lighting system.

 

[slappy]

imo your better off with a skimmer. once you see the stuff a skimmer pulls out of the water you will be glad you have one. just make sure you get a good one. they are alot of $$ but well worth it . good luck

 

[dogstar]

Both, all. Skimmer first, then UV , then you can add fish, then better lights and you can add corals and anemones last as $$ permits and tank matures.

 

[az]

Well most stores and cultivators and shippers will use both. But there is a reason for this and most hobbyists after a while may or may not need them depending on what they have or do with their system.
I use a Berlin skimmer. Cost is higher then most but the job I see is well worth it. But I use this unit not all the time to remove junk from the water. Most of the time it is setup to oxygenate the water. I do however use it for fresh or new setups or on systems that animals are brought in or removed frequently. On my well established systems I activate them once a month or once a quarter for a week depending on what is going on.
Now for the sterilizer allot of people work them all the time. But the ocean is full of bacteria. And allot of people when they hear the word bacteria they think that that is all bad. This is not the case at all. Most bacteria in your system are very needed for the animals to have healthy lives and to have a stable eco-system. And unless you have a bad problem or move allot of animals or exchange allot of rock. Why would you need to keep running a sterilizer?
Example: The Ocean is supposed to have or is a perfect eco-system for the animals that live there. Well if anything changes that like pollution then the ocean in that area either dies or it goes through a change. The change is the bacteria mutating to be able to rebalance the system and if you are killing the bacteria that can do this process the system will never balance. Make sense? This is how "Red Tide" came to be on the east coast. Men making mistakes and nature showing her dominance.
So in your question both have their places in you system, but one may play a bigger roll more often depending on what it is your doing with your system. That is why good QT systems will have these setups on them so not to bring bad things into your main Tanks.
Hope I made sense to you and hope this helps? If you can understand what they do then you can see if you need them. Most of the time it is better to have them when you need them, then not to have it and need it. So most of the time I play on the safe side of having them on hand if needed but use them sparingly.

 

[mechslave]

Thanks for the response! Ok, so it sounds like a protein skimmer is actually more important for a reef tank, so that's what I'll start with. I kind of thought that from what I've read. A sterilizer sounds like something that I'd want my fish store to use on their holding tanks.
Ok, so a Berlin is supposed to be really good? Here's a model I found for sale rated aup to 250gal: "Berlin Turbo Cl Protein Skimmer w/pump" Sounds like a good model (and seemed like a good price). Any thoughts or recommendations? It seems like there are 1000 diff makes and models and I need help choosing one someone has had longtime success with, with a reef tank.
Thanks again for the info!

 

[az]

The 250 will work fine for the size of tank you have. Just make sure you get one that is at least 2 times the size of your tank. If you do need to use it there is no such thing as over kill in this area.
But if you hav the money for a sterializer then you can always be safe with that as well.
There are a few good skimmers and steralizers so do your home work on which you want to get.
enjoy

 

[slappy]

so az, theres no such thing as over skimming you tank? i could be wrong but i dont agree with this

 

[az]

I very rarely use a skimmer and when I do I need fast motion to occure. For some one to run them all the time I would agree with you that you can skim to much and that would be a bad thing.
So if you read what I first wrote then you might not be confused.