Protein skimmer recommendation

[Arun]

I do have 29 gallon tank running since February. All these time I have job filer with chemipure blue, phosguard and poly filter pad. Recently am facing algae issues, so thought of adding HOB protein skimmer. 
 

Had come across tunze 9004, Was it good? And it comes with AC and DC version, what’s the difference? Can run my current HOB  filter With skimmer?

[Reefer-begginer]

Protein skimmers and HoB filters are 2 different things entirety.

The Skimmer will get rid of alot of proteins, and smaller matter before it turns into ammonia/nitrite/nitrates.

The HoB filter will just be a bacteria farm if you want to keep it on with the skimmer.

The skimmer will help aerate the water, just like a HoB filter, but in a different manner.

HoBs/Canisters aerate the water by surface agitation. Skimmers aerate the water directly buy churning it within its chamber before being put back in the water column.

 

IMO, do both like how I have my 36g setup.

1x HoB AquaClear filter, and a 40g nano skimmer.

[Arun]

Currently am doing weekly or bi weekly water change. Adding skimmer, can make change the schedule to on month ?

[Reefer-begginer]

You'd still need the same schedule on water changes based on bioload 

[Arun]

any recommendation for good HOB/internal Protein skimmer for 29 gallon tank? it would be better, its quiet 

[Tired]

What are your nitrates and phosphates? Those being too low can cause pest algae problems. 

[Reefer-begginer]

3 hours ago, Arun said:

any recommendation for good HOB/internal Protein skimmer for 29 gallon tank? it would be better, its quiet 

I use the Coralife 40g nano skimmer and a AquaTop 40g filter ( HoB ) on my 36, seems to work well until the skimmer needs cleaning 

[Clown79]

What exactly are your phos and nitrates.

 

Pest algaes can be caused from lack of nutrients as much as an excessive amount of organics can cause algae outbreaks.

 

What algae are you dealing with? 

 

A skimmer may or may not help.

 

Waterchange schedule is different for every tank. 

1 time a week is not always a benefit. Really depends on bioload and nutrient levels.

[mcarroll]

I'd recommend the skimmer you were looking at as a fine choice.  The DC model has a controller and slightly stronger pump, but is very similar.  I usually chose the AC model for maximum simplicity/durability, but it's not that big a deal – pick what makes the most sense.

 

BUT...

 

I don't think the skimmer will help with algae.  As others have said, it's likely that you are starving your system currently....as surprising as it might be to hear, pest algae love tanks without nutrients.

 

In reality it's not so surprising....algae thrive when there's a lack of competition.  No nutrients means nothing else less hardy than algae can grow....and algae is more hardy than just about anything.  There also has to be competition from herbivores...which might include you acting as an herbivore to remove algae by hand that nobody wants to eat.

 

Post your nutrient levels (and other test results too) as well as a photo of your tank please.  👍

[Arun]

17 hours ago, Tired said:

What are your nitrates and phosphates? Those being too low can cause pest algae problems. 

Nitrates 10 PPM, Phosphate looks like 0 PPM

[Arun]

11 hours ago, Clown79 said:

What exactly are your phos and nitrates.

 

Pest algaes can be caused from lack of nutrients as much as an excessive amount of organics can cause algae outbreaks.

 

What algae are you dealing with? 

 

A skimmer may or may not help.

 

Waterchange schedule is different for every tank. 

1 time a week is not always a benefit. Really depends on bioload and nutrient levels.

i had Red slime algae, i used chemi clean now its good and cleared off. but green hair algae is keep coming event though i cleaned everytime during water changes. nitrates - 10 ppm, phosphate -0 ppm.  I have two clown, one goby, blenny and fire shrimp.

 

 

[Reefer-begginer]

32 minutes ago, Arun said:

i had Red slime algae, i used chemi clean now its good and cleared off. but green hair algae is keep coming event though i cleaned everytime during water changes. nitrates - 10 ppm, phosphate -0 ppm.  I have two clown, one goby, blenny and fire shrimp.

 

 

Green hair thrives on Phosphates. So unless you get rid of the hair algae, you probably won't see any Phosphates 

[Tired]

0 phosphates will harm and eventually kill your corals. Also, it prevents non-pest algae from growing.

 

You have a pest algae problem because the pest algae has no competition. Hair algae and cyanobacteria love to grow on rocks that aren't already covered in other algae. If you want them to stop coming back, you need to let non-pest algaes, slower-growing kinds, get established. What they need to get established is nutrients (at least 5ppm nitrates and 0.03ppm phosphates), and for you to NOT scrub them off. During water changes, you should only remove long tufts of hair algae, since those are hard for snails to eat, and leave the rest for your cleanup crew. You also need to reduce water changes, increase feeding, or both, until you see phosphates. This may result in a surge of pest algae, but is an important part of helping the tank balance. Once you get enough non-pest algae established, your tank shouldn't have pest algae problems any more. Also important, do not dose any products to remove the algae, they throw things out of whack and don't fix the problem that let the algae get established.

 

What snails do you have? You may need to add more to help control the pest algae.

[Arun]

Dwarf cerith (lot) and astrea (3-5).

[Clown79]

There is a misunderstanding in the hobby.

 

Yes algae like gha use phosphate but if you have some gha and 0 phos, that means you had enough phos that the gha used it up but not enough for competing good algaes or corals.

 

 

 

 

[Reefer-begginer]

4 hours ago, Clown79 said:

There is a misunderstanding in the hobby.

 

Yes algae like gha use phodphate but if you have some gha and 0 phos, that means you had enough that the gha used it up but not enough for competing good algaes or corals.

 

 

 

 

It goes both ways.

Green hair loves Phosphates, but in the end it takes it up, which causes it to die, which then creates more phophates.

Its a fun cycle but painful

[mcarroll]

1 hour ago, Reefer-begginer said:

It goes both ways.

There would have to be no herbivores or scavengers (or tank husbandry) in the loop for a new algae bloom to grow from the decay-released nutrients from a prior bloom.  Not likely in any "normal" reef tank scenario. 

 

Also, reducing phosphate levels (or nitrate levels) does not cause green algae to die.

 

Green algae are actually pretty well adapted to low nutrient scenarios and survive quite well.  

 

A few of the many reasons for this: 

• Green algae have a great capacity for storing excess nutrients during "times of plenty".  
• They also use sugary nutrients from photosynthesis to grow a biome around them to (among other reasons) reduce nutrient losses.
• Thanks to their access to the substrate, they are rarely limited for phosphates in spite of what your test kit may read.  

Aragonite (dead or live rock/coral skeleton) is as effective at binding PO4 from the water as GFO or aluminum oxide....so it's an excellent PO4 repository for critters that have access to it.  

 

Ironically, corals do not have access to this PO4 source (not directly) so they are far more likely to suffer in a "low-PO4 environment" than green algae.

 

On the flip side of the coin, much like corals, algae can use almost any nitrogen source for N...so even if nitrates and nitrites are registering zero, there are still ammonia's and other forms (uric acid, amino acid, etc) available.

 

Green algae's competition, in terms of "better" algae and other microbes, are far less adapted to low nutrient levels and will succumb/become limited far sooner than green algae.  

 

Along with other factors, herbivores are the main thing that contains green algae in the wild....and that's by continuously keeping the algae grazed short (and as a result, growing FAST).  

 

Containment in the wild is not achieved by preventing green aglae's growth.