should I use a skimmer?

[Chief Brody]

I am on the verge of combining two tanks (20 & 10) into 1, 29gal setup

 

the 29 will have 37lbs of LR, 3in DSB, 4-5 small fish, 2 skunk cleaners, 1 pepp shrimp, numerous hemrits and snails, small mushroom colony and small polyp colony. I would like to keep some leathers, some more mushrooms and some more polyps down the road.

 

I will have 100watts of PC light over the tank and multiple powerheads for circulation.

 

I have read numerous articles on skimmers and have heard the pros and cons. Presently I change 20% of my water weekly.

 

Should I skim? If i skim, i will have to dose, right? I don't do any dosing now. Can I get away with no skimmer on the 29?

[kimura]

Will the 20 and 10 gallon be merged together? or will the 10 be used as a sump/refugium? Well on the last poll that was done here, it came close to 50/50. Again with smaller tanks, W/C's are much more easier to do. But i'll be adding a skimmer on my tank hopefully soon:) And so I'll try to spread my W/C's to twice a month.

 

Some guys here have I believe gone with one W/C in several months! With that size of tank you'd have to do 5.8g W/C weekly, 23.2 total monthly , and 278.4 total annually! That's alot of water, and salt mix. (hopefully the math is correct:D )

 

With that said a skimmer in the long run would probably cost more initially, but would make it up in the end.

 

With dosing......well, I'd dose along with skimming. Although I haven't seen any strong proof (unless someone here can point me in the right direction ) that skimming doesn't remove trace, I'd still do it (just incase). BUT, with weekly water changes you may not have to dose at all.

 

Anyone eles have some thoughts?

[Chief Brody]

yes, the 20 and 10 are going to be merged into 1-29gl. I have read so many posts on skimming and have read all the pros and cons. And like you said it is 50/50.

 

yes, it is a lot of wc's!!! I'd like to get it down to once a month. i started at weekly to reduce nitrate problem and just kept up wiht it.

[kimura]

Well, If you're able to keep up and maintain the routine, I'd say do without the skimmer. If you want, try to dose as well. I've been dosing in my tank and now I've got great coraline algae growth, my xenia's are starting to grow like weeds, and my star polyps are getting long and fat! I've really seen a difference with dosing. Currently I'm using B-ionic, myo, stro, and Iodide.

 

As far as skimming....well I'm getting way too busy. I'm going back to school, and getting into nursing again, and getting out of the computer field. While working full time. And during the weekend, I have to spend time with the kids of course. Soooooo.......Water changes will have to be done either 2xmonth or once a month, Thus explains the need to skim.

 

Good luck with your project! It sounds fun:D

 

Please keep up posted

[Chief Brody]

Thanks for the tips. I still have more research to do, but I am leaning towards not skimming to begin with and seeing how it goes.

 

I'll keep you posted.

[printerdown01]

Personally, I would add a skimmer, and cut back on the water changes. I think that, unless over stocked, your tanks will be just fine with a 10% bi-weekly. Skimming will remove nutrients, but as you suggested supplements will take care of this. It would probably be possible to skip the skimmer on a 29 (combined), if you continue to preform about 10% weekly AND use activated carbon -at least part of the time. However, your tank will be much happier if you run a full time skimmer.

[Chief Brody]

Thanks for the info, after searching for most of the day, I decided i will go with a skimmer and learn some more about dosing. I still have a while before this new tank gets setup, but for now I am looking at the Sanders Piccolo and the Berlin Air Lift. I like the in tank feature of both.

 

happy holidays!

[ross76053]

I second Printerdown's comments.

 

Oh, and I just ditched my Bak Pak 2 skimmer and replaced it with a Sanders Piccolo on my 10-gal. Believe it or not, the Piccolo skims better, in my experience. It's a great little skimmer, although it was hard to find. Couldn't find it on the Internet - wound up sending an email to their HQ in Germany, and they directed me to a store in Dallas.

[Chief Brody]

Could you forward any info on the store in Dallas. I can't find the Piccolo around New England, and from what i have read on the board and other sources, the Piccolo is the way to go.

 

What air pump are you using wiht it? Do you know roughly the size of the collection cup?

[ross76053]

The store in Dallas is called Dallas North Aquarium - their contact information is at www.dallasnorthaquarium.com.

 

I picked up an airpump without doing any research on them, and of course it's loud as heck. I'm running an "Elite 802". Don't get one.

 

Collection cup - hmm....looks to be about the same size as the cup on the Bak Pak 2R, maybe around 8-10 ounces.

[Chief Brody]

Great, I will look into it.

 

I am looking at the Hagen Maxima pump. It has 2 outlets and a rheostat and can be tuned to output of 500-3500cc/min. It's selling for $18 at www.petsolutions.com

 

I have read some decent reviews on it, curious to see how loud it will be

[NaNO ReeFiN]

I was going skimerless for a while but after seeing Ross's tank and how easily he set up a piccolo skimmer in his aquafuge, I just said what the hell.. and bought one myself. All I have to say is I'm never going skimmerless again.. this little guy rocks and pulls out all kinds of gunk that would just floating around in my tank if I didn't skim.. If you want a good skimmer but don't want to fork out a ton of cash, get a piccolo skimmer, its awesome.

[ross76053]

Yup NaNO, thats some murky lookin' water in your collection cup there. Glad it's working out for you.

[PFB]

I used a piccolo with a Tetra Luft pump for years on a 29 gal., FO tank. Pulls a ton of sludge out of your tank - not bad for approx. $20.