Coralife v2 skimmer vs fluval sea mini?

[Sharkattackmack]

I have a fluval Evo and have been debating on growing a skimmer back onto the tank. I've been doing my water changes weekly but still having issues with nitrates and phosphate.

I have both of these skimmers. One came with my Evo and the other with my older biocube. I know they're only Nano skimmers and not going to work as good as a much larger skimmer but if you had to run one which would it be? I've been thinking about the biocube skimmer as it's suppose to be able to be used in the 32gal cube and I could run it in my second chamber of my Evo.

Anyone have any opinions on the matter?

 

[Ron Reefman]

bump

Maybe not?

My suggestion is just pick one and try it. You own both, so if one doesn't do what you want, switch. BTW, IMHO skimmers do very little to reduce nitrates or phosphates.

 

[Sharkattackmack]

bump

Maybe not?

My suggestion is just pick one and try it. You own both, so if one doesn't do what you want, switch. BTW, IMHO skimmers do very little to reduce nitrates or phosphates.

I was under the impression that skimmers pulled waste from the water. If the waste stayed in the tank it would be broken down into no3 and po4.

I think I'll just work with cheato and possibly a mangrove in the sump.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Protein skimmers pull protein out of the water mostly. They will remove some nitrate and phosphate, but not that much. Chaeto works well if it grows in your fuge. Mangroves do use nitrate and phosphate, but they grow so slow that they are far more ornamental than useful. I get them for free right off the beach and I don't use them.

 

[chimbo84]

In small tanks I think you have to rethink the usual skimmer/sump paradigm. I have the same tank and what works for me is Seachem denitrate media in chamber 2 to help control nitrates (this never needs to be changed; it harbors anaerobic bacteria to convert nitrate into nitrogen gas). I have an intank media basket in chamber 1 with filter floss that I rinse or change every three days and a bag of carbon and phosguard for phosphate control (I am considering a switch to GFO). I have to change this bag usually once a month. With this setup, my PO4 consistently runs 0.02-0.08 and NO3 runs 1-2ppm. It takes a while for the denitrate media to mature but once it does, your nitrates should be rock solid and you don’t need to mess with a protein skimmer or refugium. I do a water change every 5-6 weeks and the only time I have a phosphate issue is when I forget to rinse or change the filter floss.