Refugium vs protein skimmer

[Juice780]

I will be starting my first tank in a month or so and I have been doing as much research as I can. I will be going with a im lagoon 25 tank. I watched a video on YouTube and instead of adding a protein skimmer he turned one of the back compartments into a refugium. Is this a good idea?  He used caeto and ceramic bio media blocks and attached a small refugium light to the back to grow the chaeto. 

[KMitch]

I vote skimmer. Having used both, I prefer a skimmer. Something satisfying about seeing and smelling the waste being removed 

[Oldsalt01]

Either works well for nutrient export, but you need to have nutrients TO export. It’s really too soon to consider either IMHO. Get your tank cycled before considering how you want to handle the nutrients. I’ve run both on my 3 y/o 14g BC with decent results, but found it was too good at pulling nitrates, pulled the skimmer, and cut my cheato in half. So, cycle the tank, get a bioload in after that’s complete, THEN worry about nutrient export. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Slow and steady wins this race. Now that you’ve done your research, do more. Welcome to the obsession. 😉

[Clown79]

5 hours ago, Oldsalt01 said:

Either works well for nutrient export, but you need to have nutrients TO export. It’s really too soon to consider either IMHO. Get your tank cycled before considering how you want to handle the nutrients. I’ve run both on my 3 y/o 14g BC with decent results, but found it was too good at pulling nitrates, pulled the skimmer, and cut my cheato in half. So, cycle the tank, get a bioload in after that’s complete, THEN worry about nutrient export. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Slow and steady wins this race. Now that you’ve done your research, do more. Welcome to the obsession. 😉

This^

 

Nano's don't necessarily need a skimmer. It can be a benefit for some but not necessary for others.

 

And macros need nutrients too.

 

 

 

[chunkylovah]

I use both chaeto and a protein skimmer on my 43 gallon tank. It is a bit over kill for the bioload I have right now. I have used them both singularly also.

 

If I had to choose one I would say go with the skimmer. Skimmers not only pull out detritus but also help keep your carbon dioxide/ph and oxygen levels where they need to be. They also provide an additional form of visual evidence about what's going on in your tank, i.e. I know I am over feeding if my skimmer cup fills up faster than normal. I also like that skimmers keep my sump cleaner longer.

 

I do agree with others that you need to know what your bioload and even what your water change schedule will be to make the final decision. I mean if your changing your water once a week for one fish and light feeding, then some filter floss and a couple ceramic balls is probably enough. If you have a full CUC and 3 fish, then yeah your probably going to need to look at skimmers and/or chaeto or maybe not! You might find that you not only love doing water changes, but also have enough nitrifying bacteria stowed away in every god forsaken crack and crevice in your stupid aquarium to maintain satisfactory nutrient levels!!

 

Fact is, if you are interested in trying a refugium, you probably will end up doing it at some point because its a hobby and refugium's are an interesting and cool part of it.

 

P.S.

I am sorry I called your un-born aquarium stupid. It's not. So enough thinking, lets take this train off the tracks and get this tank going already!

[MainelyReefer]

On my IM40 I'm running both a skimmer and a refugium on the opposing intakes.  In front of the skimmer I usually run an intank media basket with filter floss and occasionally whatever media I deem necessary at a given point(usually carbon impregnated floss).  Now I am temporarily running IM's new UV light in front of it and it has significantly increased skimmate production.  For the refugium I have it lit on an alternating schedule from the DT with 15mins overlap morning and night.  The intank filterfloss holder is my particulate filtration and rock rubble is used to block the macros from leaving the refugium chamber.   I use the IM aquafuge light and it has worked great for almost 3 years.  My main reason behind the refugium was to give a refuge to copepods so my mandarins wouldn't strip the tank clean, it does this very well.  I  also think it adds to overall tank stability, and I harvest every few weeks. On average the other posters saying these items won't be needed on a new tank are correct, there are circumstances that necessitate using them early.  Like when I stupidly used uncured pukani and my house smelled like low tide for a week while it cycled, never seen skimmate so dark again and would never use uncured pukani without bleach/acid wash.  I have had macros that I bought Introduce flat worms and aptasia so perhaps a skimmer has less potential negative side effects.

Just harvested this past weekend but it will pull out in a cube shape after it grows to the chamber dimensions.  Growing caulerpa prolifera and grape caulerpa, chaeto is ok but less vigorous in growth than these two in my system.

[Oldsalt01]

No concerns about Prolifera going sexual? That’s why I use cheato.

[Subsea]

I am old school and have been skimmerless for > 30 years.  I have been in the hobby for 47 years.  My oldest tank has been setup for > 25 years with one move @ 10 years ago.   Protein Skimmers remove organics that grow coral, sponges and fish.  Because I choose Sea Apples  & Flame scallops as well as several NPS I focus on recycling nutrients into sustainable in tank production of  live food.  Protein skimmers remove free swimming bacteria that are a critical component of the “microbial loop”.  With respect to gas exchange between oxygen & carbon dioxide, surface agitation will provide more than enough gas exchange.  The best gas exchange happens when water gurgals and tumbles while going from display to sump.

 

 

[BOMBreef]

Both a skimmer and refugium can complement each other nicely. I think once you get your tank cycled and it matures after about a year you might be able to drastically reduce your water changes or eliminate them altogether. Another benefits of running them concurrently is the ability to feed more often and thus your corals get more nutrients suspended in the water column - I've always liked to feed heavy for this reason and without running both I would have probably had an algae farm.