Skimmers on eBay

[nuwave59]

Hi!

What do you think of this skimmers for my 30g setup?

NEW AQUARIUM PROTEIN SKIMMER w 530GPH PUMP POWERHEAD | eBay

 

[carey]

I bought the exact skimmer and it was a piece of garbage to be honest. I couldnt get it to work, it was loud and cheaply made. I ended up trading it to some one so I wouldnt recommend it.

 

[nuwave59]

What about this one? Saw videos on youtube, seems to work, but couldn't find reviews

Product Details

 

[carey]

You do know that if you do weekly water changes you most likely don't need a skimmer in that size tank? I have a 29g cube Ihave no skimmer on and my other 29g tank ran without a skimmer until I got alot of corals.

The ones you are looking at are maybe ok, usually with skimmers you get exactly what you pay for.

This is a better choice, more $$ but a better skimmer.

Bak-Pak 2 Reef Ready Hang-On Protein Skimmer by CPR Aquatics - AquaCave

People on the forum use that and it comes with good reviews. It's also one of the cheapest skimmers I've seen that seems to work really.

Hope that helped....

 

[nuwave59]

Well thanks for the advice Carey. I plan to do a 15% (5 gallons) water change weekly, and I plan to add corals later. So I think I will feel safer with a skimmer. But if you tell me that its really something that I can avoid, I'll take your advice for granted Carey! It would leave me more space in the sump for a larger refugium.

 

[carey]

Alot of people skip the skimmer on smaller tanks, it's not a bad thing to have but if you the water changes like you say then I bet you'll be fine. I didn't realize you needed an in sump skimmer, they are actually a bit more $$. And the nano skimmers in my opinion arent worth the money or hassle of trying to get it to work.

Pretty neat, that you have a sump for a small tank, that should give you some added stability as well. And a refugium is a great thing to have, very healthy and will help to keep your parameters in check.

Good luck!

 

[nuwave59]

Well, if not like I cannot add one later if you're wrong (I don't think so) and my nitrates goes too high. I think I'll go with a deep sand bed and a big refugium.

 

[carey]

You can always save up for one and plan on it if that makes you more comfortable. They also make HOB ones so you can always add one of those anytime. If you keep your feeding in check and your pwcs up you should not see high nitrate levels. Do you use ro/di water btw? Thats a bigge as far as trates and phosphates, my tap water has both in it so I can't start from 0 using it.