Clean-up Crew?

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Na, and I hope you didn't take offense by my speaking my mind either.
I don't know about the 6 month thing though, because most new tanks are loaded with nutrients and somewhat unstable in the beginning. If i was starting a tank and i could afford it, I would want a skimmer pronto. Just my opinion.

Ultimately, a skimmer is just another component that cleans the water. If you keep your water clean with other methods, you don't need it.
 
Okay... I am a newbie to the saltwater scene, so I'm still trying to learn, and I'm getting so many people's opinions! It's hard to figure out exactly what to do...
So for now I should start without a skimmer, and just pay very close attention to my levels until I get the skimmer? I know that I need to check after I get it too, so don't worry, I won't slack after I get it.
Also, the guy at the lfs said that for a little bit an HOB filter would function kind of like a skimmer. This doesn't sound right to me, but my dad insisted since it's an old friend of his that he was right. What do you guys think?
 
Oh, and should I wait to get corals until I have my skimmer? By the time I get the skimmer, my tank would have been up for at least a few months and pretty stable and established, so the corals would do good, in theory.
 
Well, a mechanical filter will pick up tiny particulate matter, but all along the water is still running through that same filter pad with all of that uneaten food and fish poop in it. it's still in the system. it's just bunched together on the filter pad.
It has to be removed. A skimmer removes it.
 
Okay, thats what I thought. Would the effect be slightly similar if I cleaned the filter pad off everyday, or twice a day? Or would that be a waste of time?
 
Okay. Weekly would be enough? I thought the protein skimmers had to be emptied daily. Does the filter pick up that little? If it's that little, would it be helping at all? Maybe I'm just misunderstanding what you're saying. Bear with me, I have a terrible habit of making things much more complicated and confusing than they are. ;)
 
No problem. Questions are better than mistakes!
Every protein skimmer needs to get emptied at different times. It depends on how much stuff they pick up, how big of a tank, how many fish, how much are they feeding etc.
I used weekly as a starting point because it sounded reasonable to me. Use your best judgement on that. If the pad looks terrible after just a couple days, rinse it more often.
 
Okay. Sounds good. I have two of the largest sized aquatech filters that the tank came with. Should I run both of them? I'm assuming it would pick up more that way.
 
Oh, and do you know how this light timer works?

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Its a Coralife one. Any experience with it? It came with the tank, so I'm clueless on this matter.
 
You can probably find directions online. I know the colors represent different times outlets and some are constant power. Google it. Plug a light into each outlet and mess with the timers. You could find out what does what that way too.
 
Yay!! I figured it out, at the expense of some of the skin on my finger... Now I think I need a band aid...
 
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