Aquaripure or Protein skimmer?

[Sidhefey]

So got just a 40g tank, I'm getting my lights soon for corals... I plan It to be a reef tank with 3-4 fish MAX. I just clicked on an ad on this site for Aquaripure.... Is it a great product? Any one using it? How is it... Worth the money? Better then a protein skimmer? Does it do the samething as a PS? Should I get it in 3-4 months(or now?) or keep with my "Get-a-$150-protein-skimmer" plan? Thanks!

 

[thincat]

Well, Aquaripure, if it does everything their ad say it does then it would be a great product. The problem I have is if it is that great why aren't more people using it? I have a deep sandbed and it does basicly what Apuapure does and I still have to use a skimmer and do my waterchanges. So the jury is still out as far as my thinking goes.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I've never used that product so I can't really comment on if it does what it says it does. But there are many different types of nitrate filters out there that do seem to do what they're supposed to. But...

A protein skimmer and a nitrate filter are doing two different things - it's not one or the other. Skimmers remove dissolved organics BEFORE they can break down into nitrates. Nitrate filters remove the nitrates long after they've been made. Personally, I'd rather keep the things out of my tank to start with - I can always do water changes to remove them.

My other issue with nitrate filters is that they can give you a false sense of security and lead to maybe less than desirable maintenance habits. Instead of maintaining and keeping your tank in a way that minimizes nitrates, these filters *can* make it easy to justify overfeeding, slacking off on water changes, etc... and makes you think your tank is great because one single parameter (nitrates) is "perfect".

 

[thincat]

Well said, Kurt.

 

[ryshark]

I'd go with a Proetein Skimmer for sure for the reasons already mentioned above. Plus the skimmer adds oxygen into the water and helps keep up the PH. If you have only 4-small fish in the Reef Tank then you may need to feed heavy in order to get good color and growth out of sps. However, if you feed heavy you will need a good export system = PWC and Protein Skimmer Its all about a balance of import and export. Although I have never tired a nitrate filter, I think the protein skimmer will export much better. Plus I have always been able to keep Nitrates around 0ppm. For the past few month I have actually been trying to increase them to around 3ppm.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

For the past few month I have actually been trying to increase them to around 3ppm.

Why?

 

[ryshark]

Why?

If your tank has too low of nutrients then the SPS will start to get pale in color. The coral needs a little bit of nitrate and phosphate to feed off, but not too much or else they will brown out and/or die. In my tank I had 0 Nitrate and Phosphate and my SPS was indeed getting pale in color. I added more fish and got my Nitrates up to low detectable levels and now the colors are looking deeper/better.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Has anyone told the corals in the ocean this yet?

But seriously... I understand what you're saying. But the levels of nitrates and phosphates in the ocean are so much less than what they are in our tanks, even if we supposedly have "zero" levels by our test kits. From what I've read, even when we think we have zero levels, our levels are still far greater than what is in the ocean. Seems like there could be something else at work, and not just your nitrates.

But hey... I'm in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp, so if it's working for you... great!

 

[ryshark]

Has anyone told the corals in the ocean this yet?

But seriously... I understand what you're saying. But the levels of nitrates and phosphates in the ocean are so much less than what they are in our tanks, even if we supposedly have "zero" levels by our test kits. From what I've read, even when we think we have zero levels, our levels are still far greater than what is in the ocean. Seems like there could be something else at work, and not just your nitrates.

But hey... I'm in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp, so if it's working for you... great!

There are soo many threads out there about people wondering whey their acropora has become so pale looking and it turns out because they have to "clean or sterile" of a tank and the coral is "starving." Look what this guy purposely keeps his Nitrates at, he doesn't explain it in the article but he has threads explaining it. Reefkeeping Magazine - Tank of the Month
To me proof is in the pictures. And also in my own expreinces with my tank, soon after my Nitrates went up to around 1ppm-2.5ppm Elos my sps started to color up again. Keep in mind my skimmer is rated from 400-700 gallons and I have a 180-gallon tank.

 

[ryshark]

With that said, of course there are different ways to achieve success..... especially in this hobby.

 

[thincat]

ryshark, did he say what the ~cost of that system and how much the corals set him back?

 

[ryshark]

ryshark, did he say what the ~cost of that system and how much the corals set him back?

No, nobody seem to randomly brings that up.... don't want to think about all the $$$ spent. Why, are you thinking about getting into sps? Or do you already have sps? At a certain point the sps gets so big that people frag it and make some money back.

I just now added up my tanks equipment only(not counting fish, coral, inverts, food, supplements, saltmix, electricity etc etc) and came up with over $6000. Wish I didn't just do that But for people reading this and thinking about getting into it.... you can do it for much cheaper. I just tend to buy the latest/greatest name brand stuff. Lumenarc, Neptune Apex, Vortech, Tunze, SWC Cone skimmer w/Askoll pump etc etc I could have saved a lot by not going that route.

 

[thincat]

No I am not thinking about getting into sps corals. I just saw so many different sps corals in his tank and I know how much they can cost. There are allot of reefers out there on a budget that I thought we would get a reallty check if you know what I mean.

 

[ryshark]

No I am not thinking about getting into sps corals. I just saw so many different sps corals in his tank and I know how much they can cost. There are allot of reefers out there on a budget that I thought we would get a reallty check if you know what I mean.

You should try sps out, its very fun and much more challenging. The cool thing is a lot of those really nice SPS tanks were grown out from small aquacultured frags. The average price of those small frags is usually $20-$60 and start out at around 1" in size. Thats my goal too, I love sps, especially Acropora. I picked up 4-new pieces today from Steve Tyree/ReefFarmers Coral Farmer Market show this morning. I will post them on my build thread for those who are interested.