Good morning everyone and happy Thanksgiving! So with Black Friday upon us tomorrow, I was either looking to get a protein skimmer (I am shopping at marine depot, and was looking at the AquaMaxx HOB-1.5, I do not have a sump) or turning my Aquaclear 50 into a refugium and grow chaeto primarily. I know that a lot of people will say to run both but with limited funds/space I am looking to do one or the other right now, until I can afford the other. Now I have also read a bunch of forums that people say a protein skimmer is kinda useless since a water change will have the same affect with how small my tank is. My tank is a 20g long and I could be wrong about that but thats just what I read on other forums.
Refugium or protein skimmer?
- Thread starter Cooper924
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Quietman
2500 Club Member
Excellent question and well stated. You can be successful either way of course. Something to think about it is what options each can provide. With skimmer - you the have option to add carbon dosing or biopellets if needed to help with nitrates. With refugium, you can also have pods if you want more demanding fish (although at 20 gallons, that's still likely to be too small) or biodiversity. If you need to up nitrate export in refugium, you'll need good lighting too. Also, if your tank is doing good with water changes - save your money. 
Not wanting to leave without a real recommendation. For a smaller tank I would go with skimmer over a refugium as I think it's likely to be more beneficial with more options and the one you're looking at has excellent reviews and is not one of the more gimmicky tiny skimmers.
Not wanting to leave without a real recommendation. For a smaller tank I would go with skimmer over a refugium as I think it's likely to be more beneficial with more options and the one you're looking at has excellent reviews and is not one of the more gimmicky tiny skimmers.
DesertReefT4r
Valuable Member
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2018
- Messages
- 2,457
- Reaction score
- 2,193
On a 20g tank I would not waste the money on a skimmer. Water changes are easy enough to do once a week and will take care of water quality. A small cheap LED light and some chaeto in the AquaClear is not a bad idea though. Skip on the skimmer and spend the money on something else like frags.
SDK
Reef Diver
Get the skimmer if you are keeping it as a reef. The Aquaclear conversions are not as efficient as a full sized sump refugium due to limited space and having to light a narrow refugium from the top. They are great as an add on, but you will get more consistent results with a properly sized and tuned skimmer.
Other have said correctly that you can compensate for a lack of skimmer on a smaller tank. However, if it’s in your budget I would recommend adding one. I never run a tank without a skimmer and find that they help in the greater challenge of keeping nutrient levels stable in smaller tanks.
Below is a pic of the black, foamy gunk that my Tunze 9001 has removed from my Nuvo 20. With the skimmer running and consistent feeding, my NO3 stays at 5ppm and my PO4 is solid .02
With a small 5 gallon water change every two weeks. All stays nice and stable.
Other have said correctly that you can compensate for a lack of skimmer on a smaller tank. However, if it’s in your budget I would recommend adding one. I never run a tank without a skimmer and find that they help in the greater challenge of keeping nutrient levels stable in smaller tanks.
Below is a pic of the black, foamy gunk that my Tunze 9001 has removed from my Nuvo 20. With the skimmer running and consistent feeding, my NO3 stays at 5ppm and my PO4 is solid .02
With a small 5 gallon water change every two weeks. All stays nice and stable.
Owenphipps
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2019
- Messages
- 9
- Reaction score
- 9
In truth i would say both are a viable option however i have run 10 gallon with both and i think a protein skimmer is the way to go. If you want to make water changes a monthly task, i would say an alge reactor (not a refugium) as they can clean the water to the point where you might have to dose nitrates and phosphates / feed more.
