musho3210 Posted June 20, 2007 Share Posted June 20, 2007 Great info and experiance but one problem, we are talking about nanos, and in nanos it doesnt cost that much to change 25% of the water weekly. Plus with evaporation you arent taking anything out except pure water so bad stuff just stays in the water column. Link to comment
PeteyC Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 As a newb myself I have come to realize that no you dont NEED a skimmer but it definatly makes your tank more forgiving of your early newb mistakes. I have not had my tank running as long as most here but i know that my skimmer pulls out the nastiest smelling stuff and I still do a 10%water change once a week and i have fuge and live rock and sand. I think for the more experienced no you dont need a skimmer but for someone just getting in to the hobby its nice to have a small saftey net.. Just my .02 Link to comment
mrabolli Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Hello guys and gals... Im thinking of getting a skimmer for my lil 8gBC... I was looking at the Aqua C nano version... I want the best water quality for my livestock... YES or NO and why? PLEASE HELP! yes Link to comment
Microseas Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 Hi, bit of a newbie here but I been running reefs of varioius sizes for years. Anyway, the reason I am here is because I started my 29 gallon nano just to get away from skimming. I want to keep even water parameters and clean nitrate free water. I'm sure a few eyebrows are raised right now LOL! Well the answer is quite simple at least for me. I keep 20 gallons of mixed water below my nano and change 1 gallon every morning. It is a 2 minute procedure. 1 gallon container out, one gallon container in. Then do daily top up. All trace elements and water parameters stay level and it's less stress for livestock than larger less frequent water changes. Just my 2 cents and may be overkill, but piece of mind, little to no algae so far and I believe I can keep a larger bioload this way. I would have loved to try this on a larger reef, but bucket after bucket of salt would add up quite quickly. ps I'm sure you're doing the math. yes over 100% change a month. It's my salt after all LOL Link to comment
musho3210 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Hi, bit of a newbie here but I been running reefs of varioius sizes for years. Anyway, the reason I am here is because I started my 29 gallon nano just to get away from skimming. I want to keep even water parameters and clean nitrate free water. I'm sure a few eyebrows are raised right now LOL! Well the answer is quite simple at least for me. I keep 20 gallons of mixed water below my nano and change 1 gallon every morning. It is a 2 minute procedure. 1 gallon container out, one gallon container in. Then do daily top up. All trace elements and water parameters stay level and it's less stress for livestock than larger less frequent water changes. Just my 2 cents and may be overkill, but piece of mind, little to no algae so far and I believe I can keep a larger bioload this way. I would have loved to try this on a larger reef, but bucket after bucket of salt would add up quite quickly. ps I'm sure you're doing the math. yes over 100% change a month. It's my salt after all LOL How is it overkill, its probably not stressing the fish, its changing the parameters..... I dont see how this could be anything like over kill Link to comment
proraptor2 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Plus with evaporation you arent taking anything out except pure water so bad stuff just stays in the water column. Thats what I used to think also after being told that many times.....For some reason when i have a lot of water evaporating and adding a lot of top off water my params have always been perfect....When I didnt do it my params werent nearly as good.... I only change water once a month BTW... Link to comment
Microseas Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 How is it overkill, its probably not stressing the fish, its changing the parameters..... I dont see how this could be anything like over kill Sorry badly worded. I meant the workload of daily rather than weekly changes. You have to be there day in and day out. Since I haven't been able to take a vacation in about 3 years, it's not really a problem for me. Sob!! Link to comment
dga Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 Yay lol, i plan on a tunze nano skimmer, modded aquaclear as a fuge, and 25% RO/DI changes weekly.Hehe you rely on carbon too much, are there big carbon blocks in the ocean? No, carbon barely does what skimming does, skimming barely does what carbon does, water changes barely does what carbon does etc. There is no substitute, ok maybe you can have the tank doing well with no carbon or skimming but thats not the point. Carbon does not take in ammonia at a high rate, thats why scientist invented zeo-lite. Carbon wasnt made to take out protein, it was made to take out impurities (and sometimes purities) carbon takes out good stuff as well remember that. Ok heres an anology, would you rather spend money on a product that claims it can substitute MH light, well probably but heres the catch, that product is a chemical, its man made. Would you go with the MH? (ok ok i know MH lights are man made but there not chemicals or additives) Would you rather go chemical or natural? Would you rather eat only chemicals or would you eat organic food? Activated carbon isnt natural, it needs men to make large quantities of good quality carbon, but protein skimming is natural, the ocean does it all the time. Carbon DOES NOT DO WHAT PROTEIN SKIMMING DOES!!!! Sorry i thought that had to be said. did you read my post comment? here it is again: check the wording carefully. in a 8 gallon no. you can but its just not needed with water changes. running activated carbon will help with removing any waste and keep water column clarified. all the "crap" many users say that a skimmer will "pull" out of the tank is also removed by a quality carbon in such a small tank with a light to medium bioload, in the case of carbon, you just cant see it. and has the added benifit of removing ammonia, so it wont break down into nitrate and nitrite. and check out "yardboys" post #47. the first few sentences sums it up. . Link to comment
yardboy Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 One thing that hasn't even been touched on is the efficiency of a nano skimmer relative to a larger one. Skimming works by contact time for the bubbles to the organics. You mayget a nano skimmer that works better than other nano skimmers, but the residence time will just not be as high as a larger skimmer. My first skimmer was a CRC Urchin, bought because it was supposed to be the best small skimmer, and I'm sure it was, but it couldn't compare to a Euroreef or 5ft tall DIY skimmer, and those bigger skimmers just can't be put on a nano. Link to comment
Uhuru Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 The first law of reefkeeping states that for every philosophy in this hobby there is an equally opposite philosophy: According to Tunze - Tunze DOC Protein Skimmers Information Marine aquarium inhabitants produce waste substances, the quantity depends on the livestock and the feeding. By means of an effective skimming system, organic waste matter, the so-called DOCs (Dissolved Organic Carbons), can be removed. To mention but a few, these are substances such as proteins, cellulose, dead cell substances from bacteria and algae. In high concentration they are harmful for any aquarium biotope. The DOC skimmer removes these compounds effectively from the water circuit, better than a bio-mechanical filter, which means that by removing proteins "before" bacterial decomposition, crystal-clear water is retained and a rise in nitrate and phosphate is reduced. It can be observed that when air bubbles are produced proteins are absorbed immediately. In practice it can be observed that the absorbed matter is torn off the air bubbles again by skimmers with a tall reaction chamber. For this reason, all TUNZE DOC Skimmers have very short reactors with a high air throughput. Link to comment
musho3210 Posted June 26, 2007 Share Posted June 26, 2007 did you read my post comment? here it is again: check the wording carefully. in a 8 gallon no. you can but its just not needed with water changes. running activated carbon will help with removing any waste and keep water column clarified. all the "crap" many users say that a skimmer will "pull" out of the tank is also removed by a quality carbon in such a small tank with a light to medium bioload, in the case of carbon, you just cant see it. and has the added benifit of removing ammonia, so it wont break down into nitrate and nitrite. and check out "yardboys" post #47. the first few sentences sums it up. . uhh thank you for reminding me, unfortunatly i dont see how that helps your argument since my argument was against that..... Link to comment
jmitchell Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 In reefing, one of the golden rules is: If it aint broke, dont fix it! Just like you wouldnt dose something if your water was perfect, dont mess with it, but if it looks like you need a skimer, buy a skimmer! Just my .02! -LJ:D Link to comment
geekreef_05 Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Im amazed only a couple people mentioned this, but the main factor here is BIOLOAD. Its reefkeeping. There are no hard and fast rules; a tank should be designed to suit its inhabitants. Thats the bottom line. Ive got a 7 year old 15 gal nano in my room currently. It houses SPS, softies and LPS in one tank. I run skimmerless and do so easily cause Ive got no fish. So its all about bioload. PLUS, realistically you should never put a fish into an 8 gallon, its insanly small. Thats like keeping a husky in an appt all its life. Fish need room to swim and territory to prowl. Anyone thats watched a little fish roam a big tank knows what Im talking about. peace out. Link to comment
wav3form Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 I just bought a skimmer and i'm very glad I did. I haven't noticed the benefits since I just started using it but it sure is cool to look at while it's working. It's a modded octopus 150 in a 20 gal long sump supporting a 20 gal long tank. I have a fairly light bio load but i'm planning on making the tank a carpet anemone species tank and I know they require skimmed water. Link to comment
musho3210 Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 i think your tank is a bit small for a carpet anemone...... i dont see anything wrong with skimming as long as it doesnt make you lazy about water changes. Link to comment
wav3form Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 i think your tank is a bit small for a carpet anemone...... i dont see anything wrong with skimming as long as it doesnt make you lazy about water changes. The stand the tank is on can support a much larger tank so if/when it outgrows the 20L, i'll just get a larger tank. Link to comment
geekreef_05 Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 Carpet Anemone tank would be awesome. I always consider doing an anemone only tank....they sure look cool and maintaince is nice and simple...rather than dealing with 20 corals with different feeding habits and scheduals. Link to comment
musho3210 Posted June 27, 2007 Share Posted June 27, 2007 i dont think anemones are simple, but then again ive never had one..... Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.