So I'm in the research and planning stage for my new tank at the moment. I'm currently reading a few recommended books for beginners by John Tullock called "Your First Marine Aquarium" which is quite helpful, but I have a few questions beyond the scope of the books.
1. Tullock covers protein skimmers briefly, and mentions that for the tank used in the example (30 gal), that a simple rear mounted skimmer would suffice. I am planning to have a 20 gal tank, and was originally thinking of making a sump including a skimmer for the tank. Was my idea overkill for the size of tank I've planned? From what I've read, the sump will also help diffuse heat issues in summer and problems with bubbles (if someone could summarize why bubbles are a problem and how sumps fix this that would be awesome :p ), however if a basic rear-mounted skimmer will be all I need, that would change my plans significantly.
2. Tullock also mentions ways of creating the ideal sea water. Methods covered include reverse osmosis systems and adding chlorine and then dechlorinating later. I'm quite keen to store water for easy top-ups, however RO systems are just way over the top atleast for the moment, and I would rather minimize use of additives where possible. Is it at all possible to boil the water before adding the salt, therefor removing the chemicals removed through RO? Or would this do nothing, or even worse, remove good chemicals from the water?
Apologies if I have used the wrong terminology at any point, I'm still getting used to it all. These books have helped a great deal (I also picked up another book simply titled "Corals" by Tullock and another on Seahorses by Frank Indiviglio). Hopefully I will be informed enough to avoid any major problems with my first marine tank .
1. Tullock covers protein skimmers briefly, and mentions that for the tank used in the example (30 gal), that a simple rear mounted skimmer would suffice. I am planning to have a 20 gal tank, and was originally thinking of making a sump including a skimmer for the tank. Was my idea overkill for the size of tank I've planned? From what I've read, the sump will also help diffuse heat issues in summer and problems with bubbles (if someone could summarize why bubbles are a problem and how sumps fix this that would be awesome :p ), however if a basic rear-mounted skimmer will be all I need, that would change my plans significantly.
2. Tullock also mentions ways of creating the ideal sea water. Methods covered include reverse osmosis systems and adding chlorine and then dechlorinating later. I'm quite keen to store water for easy top-ups, however RO systems are just way over the top atleast for the moment, and I would rather minimize use of additives where possible. Is it at all possible to boil the water before adding the salt, therefor removing the chemicals removed through RO? Or would this do nothing, or even worse, remove good chemicals from the water?
Apologies if I have used the wrong terminology at any point, I'm still getting used to it all. These books have helped a great deal (I also picked up another book simply titled "Corals" by Tullock and another on Seahorses by Frank Indiviglio). Hopefully I will be informed enough to avoid any major problems with my first marine tank .