Do I need a protein skimmer

[Kennyw43]

Hi guys I'm need to the group and I have a question. Do I need a protien skimmer for my 120 Fowlr tank?

 

[alco1]

need a bit more info. what sort of filtration setup do you have at the moment? and how are your parameters going?

 

[Kennyw43]

I have a fluvalfx5 with 2 1300gph powerheads (is that enough power flow for the power heads) and about 60lbs of liverock.

 

[alco1]

ok awesome.... and how are your parameters going.... nitrates? ammonia? nitrites? also for the powerheads, how long is the tank?

 

[Kennyw43]

All the levels are great and the tank is 5ft long

 

[Kennyw43]

Here it is

 

[alco1]

to be honest..... skimmer would be good to have just to remove all that extra pollutions and creating oxygen.

but in saying that.... if the tank is fully established and you've had that setup for a while and there's no problems with nitrates/ammonia then your canister filter is doing it all anyway so there would be no real need for it.

how long has the tank been setup for?

 

[Kennyw43]

I've only had it setup since August but I've been buying fish from a store by me and they've been dying I thought it was something I was doing. THEN I found out they get their fish from Asia and the put Sionide in the water to catch the fish easier. Once the fish reach the store the sionide has set in their body it breaks down the fish and that causes sionide poison.Mind u I spent about $300 on fish before I found this out!!

 

[alco1]

geeeeeez.... that's so bad???? does your LFS have a return policy or anything?? if the tank has only been setup for a few of months I would say a skimmer may be a good investment, just watch your tank parameters for a few months for nitrate/ammonia. as you add more fish... it's more pollution. so maybe at a point the canister filter might not be enough or it could possibly be perfect. I personally have and overkill running in my tank. eg: refugium, skimmer, biopellet reactor, uv sterilizer, crushed coral filter and a whole bunch of media and the sump is about as long as my 10ft tank. The size of my sump is a massive overkill but I don't like to take chances.

The safer road would be to buy a decent skimmer and get it working on the tank.

Or just leave your tank as is and test the water regularly until you've got all the fish you want and hopefully the canister filter only setup will do the job.

 

[Kennyw43]

GEESSSSHHHH!! 10 ft I would go crazy LOL!! Or my wife would LOL!! When I did have fish in there all the levels were good I checked every week I have a sump just in case but I may buy another tank with in the year not sure though.

 

[Kennyw43]

Oh yeah that's the catch they don't have a return policy that really lead me to believe they know something.

 

[carey]

I'd go for a skimmer in that size tank being as you will stock it with a good amount of fish producing organic waste that the filter cant remove.

Sorry to hear about your fish but believe it or not thats kinda standard practice for catching fish in several locations around the world.

 

[Kennyw43]

Ok I'm going to purchase one this weekend thx guys!!

 

[huma-huma]

id look into not only buying a protein skimmer (look for one rated somewhere between 180g-220g) but also adding another 60-75lbs of rock and also swapping out the canister for either a refugium or sump. (wet/dry or trickle may not be the best option) the fx5 is a GREAT canister filter and can handle a ton of water, but in a 120g sw tank its prob going to pushing it towards its limits, especially when you are fully stocked. thats another aspect as well. with your current setup, IMO you will max out alot quicker in terms of # of fish, as opposed to buying a decent skimmer and upgrading filtration

 

[Kennyw43]

Every skimmer I see are up to 125 gall that are over the back ones. I really need that kind for now until I buy another tank and that won't be no time soon.

 

[Kennyw43]

id look into not only buying a protein skimmer (look for one rated somewhere between 180g-220g) but also adding another 60-75lbs of rock and also swapping out the canister for either a refugium or sump. (wet/dry or trickle may not be the best option) the fx5 is a GREAT canister filter and can handle a ton of water, but in a 120g sw tank its prob going to pushing it towards its limits, especially when you are fully stocked. thats another aspect as well. with your current setup, IMO you will max out alot quicker in terms of # of fish, as opposed to buying a decent skimmer and upgrading filtration

do u have any suggestions for a protein skimmers that are priced reasonable?

 

[huma-huma]

Truthfully i dont have experience with hob skimmers. I can recommend several in-sump skimmers however. Keep in mind you can always buy a used tank from craigslist and make a diy sump/refugium, cost me less than 80 bucks to make my 55g refugium (and i used a brand new $55 55g tank, a used tank will be cheaper)

 

[Bectan01]

I don't know about cheap but I use a tunze doc skimmer on my 55g it's rated up to 250g (overkill I know but I plan to upgrade the tank soon) it's an internal skimmer so goes in the tank but it's pretty neat looking...

 

[Gregcoyote]

There isn't much overkill on skimmers. For fish only, the ratings are close, but for corals you want the skimmer speced to handle at least twice the water volume you have.

 

[Kennyw43]

I just purchased a Typhoon off of eBay for temporary use for a little while cause the other ones were costly for now