A spanner in the works!!

[Shultz]

OK, I'm very sorry for all these questions, but its knowing who to trust!

LFS#1: LR with a skimmer as per LR thread I did this morning....

Now here comes the fun bit LFS #2 fine you can go that way but you are wasting a lot of money! He suggests LR with a canister type all in one filter unit under the tank & a box filter in the tank with an air pump & some poly filter in it which I change when it go's brown! He said the canister filter will only need the sponge top portion cleaned about once a year?

The second option would cost me between £70 & £130 depending on the make of canister, the first option is around the £200 mark......

Who's right or are they both?

Now I'm confused somewhat!

Cheers Shelton.

 

[Atari]

He said the canister filter will only need the sponge top portion cleaned about once a year

This is reason enough to never trust advice from this LFS again

 

[Shultz]

He said the canister filter will only need the sponge top portion cleaned about once a year

This is reason enough to never trust advice from this LFS again

I didn't think that sounded right, but cleaning aside is he right about an all-in-one canister filter/box filter with poly filter inside being enough rather than a skimmer?

He showed me the 16 marine tanks in the shop & they all run the above setup, he said that he used to run skimmers on all his tanks, but they are a waste of money cos you can do it cheaper & just as effectively the other way. No boxes on the back/modified lids etc....

He also said that some of the reason that people have trouble keeping marine fish is that the conditions are so sterile the fish ain't used to it (basically the oceans aren't as clean as R/O'ed water with everything stripped out & then people add back in bottled stuff to replace what they've just stripped out)

I must admit everything in his shop looks alive, bright & well, he keeps all stock on site for atleast a week before he sells it to make sure its feeding well ( he showed me one tank that has been taken off sale with 5 different fish in as a hover box fish had become stressed by other type (I forget which) & developed white spot.

He finished off by saying if I wanted to spend £1000 on equipment I didn't really need then he'd be happy to sell it to me, but he wants people to come back trouble free & with money to spend on fish/corals etc......

Cheers Shelton.

 

[Atari]

People buy stuff to add back to RO water because the LFS tells them they need it.. most of them won't tell you that a good marine salt will replenish everything needed for a healthy aquarium.

Everyone has their own preference and reasoning for what type of system they choose to run, but what an LFS needs is different to what most people need at home.

I think you'll be hard pressed to find anyone else that recommends a canister over a skimmer though.

BTW, the only reason it would save you money is because you are opting for a high end skimmer like the Deltec. Like I've already mentioned you can save £100 with a different model that would be more than adequate for your tank size.

 

[Shultz]

Hi Atari!

OK, been to another site & read up all about the different versions of skimming & I beleive as a newbie the hanging version is the way to go, have sent you a PM to confirm I'm looking at the right one you reccommended in an earlier thread......

Cheers Shelton.