newb question

[thesleeper]

Hi all.First off i would like to say i love this site.I recently just bought a 55 gallon.My question is when i bought the tank I also bought 60lbs of live sand,10 lbs of live rock,and purchased a wet/dry sump(the maker is eshopps and only has two chambers)its bigger than what i need for this tank but the owner of the store knocked a $100 off of it cause I spent alot of money that day.Now my question is do i need a protein skimmer?Or is the live rock and sand enough?The wet/dry has bioballs but I only plan on geting a clownfish,Starfish,shrimp,hermits.Just basically non aggressive.Thank you for your time on this matter

 

[har-2109]

Hi, I dont do saltwater myself, so I would wait for a second opinion, but i think many people will reccomend having a protein skimmer aswell, as the skimmer works on removing very small impurities from the water.

 

[carey]

I have just started my 29 gallon and was told a skimmer was a necessity. I am currently breaking in a remora. So many bubbles! lol

 

[Smitty]

I would say yes to get one but there are a couple other things I would bring up. First, you don't really need to have a skimmer until your tank has been cycled. Please read up on fishless cycling of the tank. If you already have fish then you will need to get testing equipment ASAP and get ready to do a lot of water changes.

Also, 10lbs of live rock is not enough IMO. You should shoot for 1-1.5 lbs of rock per gallon of tank.

Lastly is the sump with bio balls. Be careful running bio balls as they can be a nitrate factory. You can still run a tank with them, but it does require maintenance so it would be best to figure that out right away.

 

[thesleeper]

I am gonna add live rock as I go.The LFS has cured live rock.I do have the tests and the tests that i ran today came back good just a little more tweaking and i think it is ready.I will go out sometime next week and pick up a skimmer.Now can I put it in with my output pump as I only have two chambers in my wet/dry

 

[trackfast]

A protein skimmer is not an necessity; but you would have to be diligent/religious with PWCs.