Skimmer

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jamesfrancishill

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
May 3, 2010
Messages
9
Location
London, uk
Needna bit of advice, I have just purchased a 50 litre tank and eventually want to put live rock and fish in it! I want to know if a skimmer is essential or will regular water changes be enough? The reason I aski is because I when I purchased my tank the guy in the shop said it would be good to have one so I bought one but now I can't put the hood on my tank as the skimmer is so big!
 
Is it a hang on back skimmer or is it one that sits in your sump?
 
For that size tank I would say PWC`s would be OK. I always suggest PWC`s for 30 gallons or less instead of a skimmer.
 
Well.. since he's talking about putting a hood on, i'd say it's a HOB skimmer. Or he could be putting a skimmer meant for a sump inside of his aquarium.. which would not be a good thing.

First let me start by saying, for a 13 gallon tank.. you don't need a skimmer. You will accomplish what a skimmer does on a tank that size just by doing your weekly partial water changes. So if i were you, i would ditch the skimmer. Sorry that the guy at the store had to convince you to buy one, since you DO NOT need one. Just another classic case of a dirtbag store owner trying to make money off of unsuspecting people. If anything, i would try and return it to the store.

Next thing i would like to touch on.. is the fish and the size of your tank. 13 gallons is pretty small.. so be ready to only have about 1-2 fish in there. Anymore fish and you would be overstocked for sure. If you look at some of the threads around this site, in the nano section, you will see what happens to small tanks with lots of fish. Sure.. everything goes smooth with 4-5 fish in a 10G tank for a couple days, and then BAM, fish start dying, the tank starts to smell.. etc.. etc..

The point is.. it's up to you to do whatever it is you want, but we are just trying to help prevent you from spending money on fish/livestock that are destined to die in a tank that is just too small to have too many fish. Coral on the other hand.. the only overstocking point is when they begin to outgrow your tank lol, or they start killing eachother from the lack of space to grow out. :p
 
It's a v20 hang on skimmer, cheers for the advice guys, it's much appreciated! If I'm honest I only really want 3 fish so hopefully I can get away with it, just a bit gutted I spent £60 on a skimmer that I don't really need, once again thanks for the advice, and please if you have any other advice I.e wave makers etc that you would like to pass on to a rookie then please feel free
 
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