Best HOB Skimmer for 36 gallon

[anniebanana267]

Hey everyone, I haven’t been on here in a while as things have been pretty stable luckily. No issues, no tears. I would like to put some more coral in my tank but first id like to make sure I have my head on straight and I want to get a protein skimmer to help with the nitrates. I don’t have a sump so I need a HOB one.

I know I previously posted something very similar to this but I wanted something cheap. My budgets a little higher now. I still don’t want to spend so much, but more around $100-$200 . 

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

edit: it’s a 36 gallon.

[Clown79]

Why do you need a skimmer?

 

If you are having no issues, why fix what's not broken?

[anniebanana267]

On 9/2/2018 at 11:59 PM, Clown79 said:

Why do you need a skimmer?

 

If you are having no issues, why fix what's not broken?

My mom is in charge of feeding, as she doesn’t trust me with it for some reason. She tends to overfeed by a lot though. I’ve tried to stop her but she says she’s doing it fine, so I’ve given up. But I’d like the skimmer to take out some of the nitrates and so I’m able to put some more coral in.

[Clown79]

How high are your nitrates because the simple solution is feeding less(maybe your mom needs to read up on nutrient level control)

And waterchanges.

 

Corals need nitrates. 2-10ppm is normal and healthy

[Euphylin me]

i have the coralife 30g hob filter with skimmer and a seachem tidal 75 gallon....both great hob filters for saltwater tanks. you can literally get both for about 100 bucks. the tidal has a surface skimmer and is adjustable and the coralife filter has a pretty decent built in skimmer. it will take awhile to get broken in, but if you do decide you need a hob filter.....that combo is pretty killer

 

but i may add.....increased water changes would be the better route to go if you notice an increase in nitrates

[anniebanana267]

6 hours ago, Clown79 said:

How high are your nitrates because the simple solution is feeding less(maybe your mom needs to read up on nutrient level control)

And waterchanges.

 

Corals need nitrates. 2-10ppm is normal and healthy

she knows about overfeeding and how bad it is, she just refuses to believe that shes overfeeding. maybe it's just me, I don't know. the nitrates are usually at around 20-40 ppm at the end of every 2 weeks which is when I do my waterchange. I can also usually tell as it nears the end of the 2 weeks because my hammer starts to shrink a bit.

 

6 hours ago, Euphylin me said:

i have the coralife 30g hob filter with skimmer and a seachem tidal 75 gallon....both great hob filters for saltwater tanks. you can literally get both for about 100 bucks. the tidal has a surface skimmer and is adjustable and the coralife filter has a pretty decent built in skimmer. it will take awhile to get broken in, but if you do decide you need a hob filter.....that combo is pretty killer

 

but i may add.....increased water changes would be the better route to go if you notice an increase in nitrates

thanks, I'll look into them! and I'll think about that but it would be difficult to do that until I either get a car or a rodi filter for myself. I depend on my lfs.

[nicholc2]

You’d be better served with a HOB refugium. You get nitrate removal and the bonus of a safe area for pod production which in turn feeds the tank. 

[Clown79]

13 hours ago, anniebanana267 said:

she knows about overfeeding and how bad it is, she just refuses to believe that shes overfeeding. maybe it's just me, I don't know. the nitrates are usually at around 20-40 ppm at the end of every 2 weeks which is when I do my waterchange. I can also usually tell as it nears the end of the 2 weeks because my hammer starts to shrink a bit.

 

thanks, I'll look into them! and I'll think about that but it would be difficult to do that until I either get a car or a rodi filter for myself. I depend on my lfs.

Ya that's too high. Which is either water source, most likely over feeding, something lacking in filtration and husbandry.

 

Doing a 50% waterchange will reduce it. But correcting the cause is the permanent fix.

 

Doing weekly waterchanges will get you better results. Every 2 weeks works for those with low nutrient tanks.

 

Unfortunately even adding a skimmer will not reduce the nitrates that much. 20-40 is pretty high. 

 

 

You'd need a skimmer and a refugium

 

[Euphylin me]

you can get a brs rodi filter for 150 bucks....then make your own water and mix with salt and that will give you better results than putting a new filter on it (srry i didnt realize you didnt have an rodi unit, i would have definitely suggested one of those over getting a new filter)

[anniebanana267]

On 9/6/2018 at 12:17 PM, Euphylin me said:

you can get a brs rodi filter for 150 bucks....then make your own water and mix with salt and that will give you better results than putting a new filter on it (srry i didnt realize you didnt have an rodi unit, i would have definitely suggested one of those over getting a new filter)

I mean, I have the rodi water from my lfs and I don’t mind going over there to get it for the time being. But it’s definitely high up there on my saving-up-for list. Thank you!

On 9/6/2018 at 10:08 AM, Clown79 said:

Ya that's too high. Which is either water source, most likely over feeding, something lacking in filtration and husbandry.

 

Doing a 50% waterchange will reduce it. But correcting the cause is the permanent fix.

 

Doing weekly waterchanges will get you better results. Every 2 weeks works for those with low nutrient tanks.

 

Unfortunately even adding a skimmer will not reduce the nitrates that much. 20-40 is pretty high. 

 

 

You'd need a skimmer and a refugium

 

I understand. I guess I’ll just keep trying to convince her. Thank you for your advice. I’m not too familiar on a refugium but I’ll look into it.

 

 

[pretendo]

Check out vodka dosing . aka carbon dosing.

[Clown79]

22 minutes ago, pretendo said:

Check out vodka dosing . aka carbon dosing.

Carbon dosing is an option but usually advised for very experienced hobbyists because it can go bad very quickly

[nicholc2]

If you want to carbon dose do something like Prodibio. That way it’s pre-measured and almost idiot proof. 😉

[anniebanana267]

On 9/16/2018 at 9:13 PM, nicholc2 said:

If you want to carbon dose do something like Prodibio. That way it’s pre-measured and almost idiot proof. 😉

Perfect for me 😉😂 I’ll look into it, thank you!

[pretendo]

On 9/16/2018 at 5:20 PM, Clown79 said:

Carbon dosing is an option but usually advised for very experienced hobbyists because it can go bad very quickly

I just pour a shot in every now and then am i doing it wrong? 

 

KIDDING

[xthunt]

AFAIK, carbon dosing needs a skimmer? Which goes back to the OP original question, that still hasn’t been answered. 

[pretendo]

3 hours ago, xthunt said:

AFAIK, carbon dosing needs a skimmer? Which goes back to the OP original question, that still hasn’t been answered. 

I believe it is recommended 

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

 

"Equipment - Skimmer, An Absolute Must!"

 

according to this site

[nicholc2]

5 hours ago, pretendo said:

I believe it is recommended 

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

 

"Equipment - Skimmer, An Absolute Must!"

 

according to this site

My tank run skimmerless with dosing. No issues. 

[forty fun]

I really like the HOB Aquamaxx skimmer 

[Clown79]

Everything I know about carbon dosing- skimmer is a must