Is skimmer good for reef?

[NanoCube-boy]

Prizm sucks, I mean I works well for me, but it's too flimsy and hard to adjusted the regulator when I first used it. Other then that, I still wouldn't recommend it. Get a Deltec or something.

[Sea Slug]

very nice ^

Thanks !

[koraltek]

the most stupid thread i've seen started here yet....

 

if you dont skim your nano, you are a retard,

 

and you deserve all the extra work, hassel, slime, algae, and coral death you will encounter.

 

 

 

if i hear any more whining about removal of trace elements or plankton, i'll puke all over myself and post the pic right here.

 

go to the lfs and buy some plankton, trace elements, pods, salt and anything else you think your skimmer is removing, because these products have only been on the market for like f''ing forever now...

 

the protein skimmer is singularly the best piece of filtration equipment your money can buy, and will provide you with much better water quality, and long term stability.

 

 

 

dont be a cheap ass whiney punk, go buy a protein skimmer...and feel the love.

[yardboy]

Talk about whining!

So when can I expect all the slime, algae and coral death?

[koraltek]

Talk about whining!

So when can I expect all the slime, algae and coral death?

 

 

 

well, your system is only 10 months old, as nice as it is, that is not long term success.

 

 

 

i will give you props on your system though, very seldom do people have such well thought out skimmerless setups, and it would be fine for softies and non photosynthetic corals.

 

your not going to get the comparative growth or coloration on that sps though.

 

and if you admit it, your doing the extra work to make up for having no skimmer, via water changes and maintaining that refugium.

 

 

 

i didnt say it couldnt be done, i said people deserve the extra work, problems, and are retarded for doing so.

 

jmo, and if you couldnt detect the sarcasm, oh well then...

[shaggydoo541]

well, your system is only 10 months old, as nice as it is, that is not long term success.

 

 

 

i will give you props on your system though, very seldom do people have such well thought out skimmerless setups, and it would be fine for softies and non photosynthetic corals.

 

your not going to get the comparative growth or coloration on that sps though.

 

and if you admit it, your doing the extra work to make up for having no skimmer, via water changes and maintaining that refugium.

 

 

 

i didnt say it couldnt be done, i said people deserve the extra work, problems, and are retarded for doing so.

 

jmo, and if you couldnt detect the sarcasm, oh well then...

 

I think you sir are retarded. LOL

 

Skimmerless has always worked for me and I have phenomenal growth and color in all my SPS. But its not because I've got a skimmerless tank. There are so many factors in a reef that a skimmer does not make or break a successful tank. My tank requires very little work and since I have no skimmer to tweak and clean I probably spend less time on my tank than most. But I guess I'm retarded so what do I know.... DERRRR

[musho3210]

ok calm down you think skimming is nessicary, dont need to go all crazy in saying so.... Do you have proof that they die without skimmers? Do you have proof that skimmers DONT remove plankton etc?

 

I am pro skimmer but i dont see where this guy is going.....

[yardboy]

Face it, there's been quite a few skimmer/no skimmer threads on here lately, I think some are just baiting for an argument, or a fight if they call me retarded to my face. To pretend that it's so much more work to do water changes and attend to a refugium (uh, maybe I am retarded because all I do to the refugium is look at it, what's so hard about that?) is ludicrious. Takes me a sum total of about 5 minutes to do a water change, and cleaning a skimmer certainly takes more time. And a skimmer doesn't eliminate water changes, maybe, just maybe increases the interval between them, and that's all. Hell, I've got MRC beckett, Euroreef, DIY 5' tall, and CPR Urchin skimmers, so I'm quite aware that it takes more work to maintain any of them than it does a refugium.

Frankly, I could care less what others think is possible or not. I tend to my tanks EVERY DAY, for five years now, and I think I know when they are doing well or not. Skimmers work well and I use them, but I also have a nice little tank that uses only a refugium. It may not be only 10 months old, but I've seen tanks with skimmers crash long before that. If a skimmer was so necessary the tank would have already crashed. And the fact is, the system is actually two different tanks, one with sps corals, and one with marine macroalgae.

One last little item before I go. I've heard so many point out that the ocean has a skimmer, with waves generating foam. so where does the foam go? I live just a few hundred yards from the Gulf, and have been to every ocean in the world, and I've yet to see the collection cup that every skimmer has.

The IDEA for a skimmer came from the waves crashing on shore, but the skimmate goes right back in the sea.

I feel for the poor guy or gal trying to figure out how to set up a nano-reef. So many conflicting opinion.

Just remember this, skimmer or no, you have to manage nutrients in your tank. Every bit of food you put in that tank will either increase the nutrient load. Every animal in your tank will generate waste that must be either used by something else for food or removed from the tank. Import/Export, that's what it's all about. I believe that for small tanks there are several ways to manage nutrient export. Water changes and skimmers both work to do that. The reason that I think that a nano reef is amenable to only using water changes is because the volume of the tank is low enough to make bigger percent changes practical. If I tried to do 20%-25% water changes in all my tanks I'd be broke in short order.

[musho3210]

well said, if you use a skimmer, good, if you dont, good, as long as it works for you and your fish and your corals, then do it. It has been proven you dont need one, and it has been proven they can help out.

 

I use a skimmer, i think it will help, but i will not go on telling people who dont have skimmers that there tank will crash and you will loose all your money, thats just stupid.

 

Yardboy, if you dont think you need a skimmer and your fuge works great, then dont listen to people who try to make you buy a skimmer.

 

Skimming isnt a water change, skimming supplements the water changes, it doesnt make up for it.

 

And how hard is it to do a water change, get the RO/DI water, put the salt in it, test salinity, siphon out, pour (or if your lazy like me, use a powerhead to pump the water back) and your done. Like was said before, 5 minutes, and a fuge, what do you need to do with that, maybe cut down some cheato, or something, like thats hard to do.....

 

As for the shores thingy, i think the surrounding fauna (does that mean plant life?) utilizes the skimmate. But thats just a guess.

[wildernesstank]

well i got a aqua c and it works great !!!!

[musho3210]

that doesnt mean anything, sure its a good skimmer (better if you upgrade pumps) but did all your corals die and did you get all this hair algae before you had the skimmer?

[Scucci]

As for the shores thingy, i think the surrounding fauna (does that mean plant life?) utilizes the skimmate. But thats just a guess.

 

Flora.

 

I have a skimmer now just because I wanted one. Don't get started with how young my tank is, I had tanks a few years ago and they were skimmerless and I never had any troubles with them. I have a skimmer now just because I like gadgets. For a tank to work, pretty much all you need is tank, water, LR, water movement, heater, and lights. That's all I had on one of my tanks back in the day and that thing was bulletproof. Even with the skimmer now, I still do my water changes the same way I would without it.

 

Like I said, I like gadgets... but I'm not going to say that you -need- them. Pretty much everything that's not tank, water, LR, water movement, heater, and lights is fluff. Does it help? Most of the time, yeah. Can it hurt? Again, most of the time, yeah.

 

I forgot what I was getting at... ... so, um... do water changes and stuff. ... And even that's a matter of opinion. My friend runs the LFS and he has a 2.5gal pico that he hasn't done a water change on in weeeeelllll over a year. Just tops it off and lets it go. Started as a joke, put some LR rubble in, a tiny pump, and tossed a few loose corals in from a shipment they got. Put some lights on it and pretty much just ignores it. It looks great for what it is, he did no aquascaping, didn't pick out any spots of the corals, just dropped a handful of loose frags in... Set it, and forget it.

 

So even me telling you to do water changes is BS. Do what works for you, that's all I'm saying I guess... I think that's what I getting at. If tossing in 3 of the old school light brown M&M's every other new moon works for you... then do it. If lighting a candle in front of your tank and dancing around it naked to the soundtrack of Saturday Night Fever works for you... do it. If you're having trouble keeping your water quality stable and you think a skimmer would help, then get it.

 

Annnnnd I'm just rambling now... I'm done.

[NanoCube-boy]

Koraltek, not every tank can hold a skimmer, and yes I agree with you with skimmer, the best filtration and all. Most cases, skimmers are expensive, takes a lot of room for a small tank, and some doesn't fit in the tank. Most people can't really do much, except move to a larger tank, but cost more resource. It's too late most of the time to change tank, if i could I would.

[Withers]

I'm really surprised that some people still haven't gotten it through their heads that there are thousands of methods of maintaining a reef tank and not one of them is "correct" or the "right" way to do things.

 

Me? I'm lazy, so I overskim in order to skimp on water changes some. It also helps that my tank isn't considered a nano.

[NanoCube-boy]

vicskimmer, yea, I see you have 75 and 60 gallon.

[Withers]

Not that that changes anything though. When I had my nano set up I overskimmed it too. I'm a firm believer that once you've seen what a protein skimmer can pull out of the water you'll never run a tank without one.

[NanoCube-boy]

I seen it run on a nano before. I seen my QT running well with a skimmer, and it pulls so much gunk out of the tank. It seem more stable than my main tank because I can't fit a darn on a nanocube. I regret buy a nanocube, it's USELESS! NO SPACE!!!

[neanderthalman]

^^I hope you don't mind if I quote you on every "should I buy an all-in-one" thread in the future.