protein skimmer for 75 gallon tank ?

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

Hello,

whats a good protein skimmer for my 75 gallon marine tank ? I noticed high levels of ammonia (.50 ppm) and the fish guy says I need to change my skimmer as the one I have isnt good enough. So, just want to figure out what kind of money I will need to invest in it. Please could someone recommend a decent filter for my 4.5ft by 2ft by 2ft tank , preferably easily available in India (ebay.in, amazon.in , etc.. )

-Nikhil

SifuMemphis · Sep 14, 2015

Vertex Omega 150 is great.

Although, I would try to find out why your ammonia is so high. How long has the tank been up? Are you over feeding? etc etc

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

yes i put in a fire goby a week back that i havent seen and my guess is its dead somewhere in the rocks or tank. Not sure though. I was thinking of using seachem amguard. Does that seem like a good choice for this issue ?

Will test the water again to confirm before using the ammonia remover product. However, long term, the only way to fix this seems to be a better skimmer, the fish store guy said. I have an external filter, maybe that could be the issue too, but I've spent quite a lot of cash on it, so I dont want to replace that.

Wil check out the Vertex Omega 150

SifuMemphis · Sep 14, 2015

How long has your tank been up?

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

7 months now

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

i also get no algae growth on the rocks.. the purple algae.. just does not grow. I started adding trace elements this month, hoping that that was the issue.. not sure why I cant get any purple algae on the live rock

gaz · Sep 14, 2015

I wouldn't really worry about the purple algae that will come in time just try and get to the bottom of why your ammonia is so high and get a handle on it. You shouldn't have to use anything to bring it down your tank should be doing it itself if it's been cycled properly. Have you got any live stock in there now?

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

oh sure ! there's a large fire clown, a large yellow tang, a powder blue tang, a bubble tip anemone (which never seems to bloom much nowdays, maybe because of the ammonia ? its always shrivelled up since a month), a humbug damsel, a cleaner wrasse.. and a missing fire goby like i said.. some hermit crabs and 2 snails... thats it yeah..

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

could the ammonia be the reason the algae doesnt grow ?

gaz · Sep 14, 2015

Sorry the only skimmer I've used is a tunze 9410 just because its compact and rated for a 1000ltr tank it's worked well for me and dials it's self in with water levels.

gaz · Sep 14, 2015

How much are you feeding?

gaz · Sep 14, 2015

Yeah it could well be the dead fish that's elevated the ammonia with the exta bio load. As you've got live stock in your tank I would try and lower that by doing some water changes first to see if you can get a handle on it ASAP then look at dosing for ammonia I've never used anything to lower ammonia so don't know what the best product is to use

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

well i just made a 50 percent water change few weeks ago !

is this skimmer a decent one for the tank size i got ? 75 gallons ? http://www.indianaquarium.com/Protein-Skimmers/Weipro-SA-2014-Protein-Skimmer-id-607561.html

gaz · Sep 14, 2015

With your ammonia I think you should be doing not just one big water change but smaller more regular about 10-20 percent until you get it down. Doing big water changes can have a adverse affect. I've never used that skimmer so don't know the product but it's rated for 150 gallon so it's ok for your size tank. I tend to stick to well known makes to hopefully assure better quality. Maybe some else has used one on here

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

i think its rated for 500 liters.. and my tanks about 300 liters..

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

http://www.ebay.in/itm/Weipro-Prote...-Tank-Marine-Sea-Water-Aquarium-/161450132022

gaz · Sep 14, 2015

The digger the better really always go +1 on your skimmer because you can't over do it IMO. You normally find they don't always do what they say on the box so if you go over you have a bit of a cushion

nikhil · Sep 14, 2015

yeah so its a 500 liter skimmer, i have a 300 liter tank.. thats what i thought,id go over. a little.. do you recommend an even larger one ? for 750 liter ?