when do I add a skimmer??

jmb357 · Jul 17, 2015

Ok. I go to our LFS here. And a lady that works there told me I don't need a skimmer a year after setup. I'm a little confuse. Setting up an 75g refugium for a 240g display. Sooooo what is she trying to tell me. I asked her questions and all she does is roll her eyes and and starter lol. Someone plz help me out here lol

WetWhistle · Jul 17, 2015

If you are new to the hobby it is a good idea to run a skimmer at the startup of the tank and continue to run it. Some people that have been in the hobby for a few years don't always run skimmers.

jmb357 · Jul 17, 2015

WetWhistle said:
If you are new to the hobby it is a good idea to run a skimmer at the startup of the tank and continue to run it. Some people that have been in the hobby for a few years don't always run skimmers.

OK. Well really I always ran a skimmer. Had it hooked up to my on my digital aquatic system. I had it schedule to turn off at night and on in the morning out of 2 days out of the week. I just feel like we need a better LFS here where I'm at lol.

Mark426 · Jul 17, 2015

I wouldn't ask for any further advice from this LFS. Unfortunately, 90% of what you hear from LFS's is totally wrong. Ask/Read here, and on other forums. While your here.... check out any of the top tanks and see if they have a skimmer.

Mark

p.s. My advise, get the best skimmer you can afford and start running it.

Stephanie11 · Jul 17, 2015

I always run a skimmer. I've had my 125 run with out a skimmer because it broke for over 2 months, now it has an undersized skimmer.

If I feed heavy the skimmers pull out a lot of junk. when I feed less they pull out less.

My thoughts. I have a lot of coral. I have a good amount of fish. I feed them all. My skimmer pulls out a ton of stuff. I'm going to continue to run a skimmer.

i have 1 fish in my frag tank. I spot feed my corals. I get a lot of skimmate.

4FordFamily · Jul 17, 2015

Yesterday. Skimmers are wonderful for removing nastiness and keeping nitrates and dissolved organic a low- but one often overlooked, immense benefit is that they often significantly increase the oxygen saturation of the water which of course benefits everyone.

I agree get the biggest skimmer you can afford. Asm is all I run I have one in all 3 of my display tanks and a reef octopus on my quarantine.

Asm is a great bang for your buck

jmb357 · Jul 17, 2015

Mark426 said:
I wouldn't ask for any further advice from this LFS. Unfortunately, 90% of what you hear from LFS's is totally wrong. Ask/Read here, and on other forums. While your here.... check out any of the top tanks and see if they have a skimmer.

Mark

p.s. My advise, get the best skimmer you can afford and start running it.

Thnx mark

jmb357 · Jul 17, 2015

Yea this LFS is suck. That's why I gotta drive 2hrs to Dallas and get my stuffs there. And thnx for the reply yall

jmb357 · Jul 18, 2015

is this protein skimmer any good??? Trigger system dual beckett

4FordFamily · Jul 18, 2015

jmb357 said:
is this protein skimmer any good??? Trigger system dual beckett

It's awful fancy looking, what are the specs? How many gallons is it rated for?

jmb357 · Jul 19, 2015

3FordFamily said:
It's awful fancy looking, what are the specs? How many gallons is it rated for?

Its a reeflo system with a reeflo dart super gold pump.

Reefing Madness · Jul 19, 2015

Must be a really old Reeflflo, theres no bubble plate in there, I'd be looking for one of the newer ones if you were going that route.

jmb357 · Jul 19, 2015

Reefing Madness said:
Must be a really old Reeflflo, theres no bubble plate in there, I'd be looking for one of the newer ones if you were going that route.

Thanks for the advise. So what do you suggest for a 240g sps/fish DT. I'm in a really tight budget at the same time.

Reefing Madness · Jul 19, 2015

Whats the price your looking at?

jmb357 · Jul 19, 2015

Reefing Madness said:
Whats the price your looking at?

$300

Reefing Madness · Jul 19, 2015

Ouch. Ok, here goes. Used one may be your best bet here, but.
http://www.swcskimmers.com/product3.html
Best I can do for $300

Daytonareefing · Jul 19, 2015

Fire you LFS. I can't believe people if they don't have a clue they should not even say anything about it. The rule of thumb is buy the biggest skimmer you can afford within reason. I love the Euroreef , Reef Dynamics skimmers (but there out of business now) which are more or less close to the ASM skimmers. I don't buy in to the new cone skimmers. I shouldn't say that because people don't want to hear it. But everyone has an opinion and thats mine from 20 years in the hobby. Please don't yell at me for it.

jmb357 · Jul 19, 2015

Reefing Madness said:
Ouch. Ok, here goes. Used one may be your best bet here, but.
http://www.swcskimmers.com/product3.html
Best I can do for $300

Thnx.

4FordFamily · Jul 20, 2015

I bought my asm g4X (rated at 400+ gallons) for my 180 for 300 shipped. Search google "craigslist +asm +g4"

Search eBay and other means. I've bought all three of my asm used and my feed octopus used as well.

Shep · Jul 20, 2015

Honestly I think you only need a skimmer if you have a heavily stocked with lots of nutrient import. In the past I have had them on tanks with very little bio-load and the skimmer took out mostly just water that was a little green tint to it. Also you can get the biggest skimmer you want but after a certain point its just wasting money, if you buy a skimmer that can handle a 500g heavily stocked tank and you have a 200g tank then its just over kill and not really doing anything extra Vs. buying a skimmer that can handle a 250g heavily stocked tank.