Do I even need a Protein Skimmer? If so, which one?

[sillysidewinder]

I don't really have too many corals or anything. Still waiting for things to mature, I have a hammer coral, some ricordias and mushrooms. Hopefully going to get some Zoas this week. I have a few fish (clown fish and cardinal fish) and 2 sea urchins. My setup is a Marineland 20 gallon tank with a 70 watt K2 Viper light. I was wondering if anything would help me to keep my tank in the best condition to help my stuff mature. I have had it set up for like 8 months. Lost a few fish and a few frags, however everything in there has been fine for the past couple of months, although nothing seems to be spawning. Now I know that I am supposed to be patient, however I was wondering if there is anything I can do to accelerate growth and make the environment best for spawning. I will get some photos later tonight. thanks for the help! This site is amazing!

 

[knockout]

what do you mean by spawning? it is unlikely that corals will spawn in your aquarium, hard corals will grow by calcification, and softies will grow by absorbing nutrients from the water column and light, a skimmer IMO is not mandatory, specially in such small environment and as long as you dont abuse the system by adding 10 fish, you can benefit from a hang on back filter, simple and cheap!

 

[Lenny718]

Definitely do not need a skimmer on that size tank, just be sure you do frequent water changes.

 

[JonnyJ]

Welcome to MR. Their is a lot of information about skimmers and ways to keep a successful reef tank on this site.

Is a skimmer needed? no, but there is a lot good solid information about them on the internet. You will definitely benefit from running a skimmer If you have the cash to buy one. Buying one for your tank should be relatively cheap so in my opinion the answer is yes. Depending on your setup you could go with a hang on or an in-sump model. obviously researching a make and model would help in your decision. Avoid a lot of retail stores advise on this one.

The best thing to do is routine water changes. I suggest weekly if your not going to run a skimmer and bi weekly if you are. Keeping your parameters stable is the most important thing in a reef tank. I just shut down my tank and to be honest i never worried about picture perfect levels but i did however worry about keeping everything stable. Using an auto top off and doing weekly water changes once a week on the same day each week will definitely help maintaining stable parameters along with a controller.

I would avoid adding any super hero claiming chemicals to the tank to promote growth or anything. Just do routine water changes and before you know it the tank will amaze you.

upload some pictures, and tell us more about your setup. IE - filtration etc.


Jonny

 

[sillysidewinder]

sry, wierd word usage. no, not spawning, I meant re-producing or growing larger and becoming more. lol. i dont know how to say it. Thanks a lot for the responses. I will look into it, if i can find one with a lot of good reviews and some ridiculous deal i may get it, but im doing water changes weekly.

 

[seldin]

On a 20 gallon tank, since you do not have too many corals, it will just be a matter of time, before you become addicted. So research a good skimmer. Not sure for your tank, but go to http://www.nano-reef.com/ and they can recommend a good skimmer for your tank.

Your viper 70MH for a reef tank is meant for shallow tanks. You should upgrade to a more powerful light to give you more options unless your tank is shallow. While softies don't need as strong a light as most SPS, having a stronger light will give you more options to buy more corals in the future.

 

[sillysidewinder]

is my 70 watt light not quite adequate enough?

 

[seldin]

is my 70 watt light not quite adequate enough?

Depends... This viper 70mh is good on shallow tanks. SPS corals need strong lighting. For a tank height of around 12 inches or so, this light is fine. Viper and other vendors make stronger 150MH and also T5's, etc.

So it really depends on your needs. I personally, like strong lighting, so I am not limited to what corals I select. However, MH lighting makes tank much hotter than using T5's, etc.

Usually, beginners start with easier corals and then like the challenge to try more difficult to keep corals. However, that may be different than your needs. If the corals are doing fine, then, maybe you can just stay where you are with the lighting.

 

[Dre]

A skimmer removes unwanted dissolved organics and proteins simular to a water change.The more dissolved oganics removed by the skimmer the less water you would change.Well that's the idea anyway but some tank don't need to be so clean.The answer to your question will depend on how fast the proteins ,dissolved organics and nitrates etc. build up to affect your animals in a negetive way.You maybe able to get by with water changes only if you don't feed too much. Test your water for ammonia/nitrates frequently until you get an idea of what's going on in the tank. Over time with practice and research you will get it.

 

[Dre]

Your question about spawning:-Yes it's possible,Corals and Fish will spawn but you should be more concerned about keeping your animals alive long term .I'll share this pic with you of a coral i have that spawned. I must add i don't have perfect water with 0 this 0 that,i try to keep things at acceptable ranges though.

 

[TonyHNY]

Wow, nice pic!
Having a skimmer would also allow you to feed more without over poluting you waters...

 

[knockout]

Sweet pic