choosing filter and protein skimmer

[GOBY]

I have a 29 Tall aquarium that will be mostly fish and possibly an anemone I will have live rock and live sand I was thinking of using the penguin 330 biowheel and the prizm protein skimmer and was wondering if these would good choices.

[Jacob Morgan]

Please don'yt get a anemone..

With that said yes I have one.. but I also did a crapload of research adn waited a yr for my tank to mature. I aslo have over 5wpg of lighting...



if you truly respect these creatures u will wait the time ansd do the research before you get one. otherwise you've doomed it to die..

with that said wat kind of lighting do u have etc?.. wat anemone were u planning on to get I can give you some info on them but I am not gonna write u a book acuse best way to learn is to do ure own research. I can give u some helpful links when I get home as well. .but I don't advise one till your tank matures..


Jacob

[Hara]

I believe the question was about protein skimmers and a filter, not about the future choice of an anemone.

From what I have learned in my short time here, the liverock and live sand will be the basis for your filtration. I, personally also use canister filters because it makes me feel better. (Must be the freshwater upbringing). I am interested in the opinions on protein skimmers that you will get, as I am now to the point where I think I need to purchase one for my tank.

[Jacob Morgan]

Heh, sorry Hara...You seem to have sumtin against me no?

newho..

my tank has been up almost a yr and I have never added a skimmer.. the reason was partly money but also no need I feel. I do wkly water changes which is the main reason.


I will be adding a sump shortly.. (29 gal sump and a 15 gal display) and I still plan not to add a skimmer unless i can make one....



The reason i talked bout anemone cause he talked bout it and wanted to advise him not too..



Jacob

[Hara]

Originally Posted by Jacob Morgan

Heh, sorry Hara...You seem to have sumtin against me no?Jacob

No Jacob, I have nothing against you. I was just keeping the topic to the topic. I have no problems with you lecturing someone who did not ask for it, that is between you and them.

[reefrunner69]

Hmmm, getting kinda tense in this thread 8O When and if, Goby decides to get an anemone, I hope he (she??) will post for advice, at that point I'm sure I or others will jump on the soap box, yet still provide the care info that was asked for.

As for your choices, if you are going to have LR (1-1.5 lbs per gallon) and LS, then the biowheel isn't necessary. For the money, you can buy a couple of power heads and put some towards the skimmer. For the money, there aren't many choices for HOB skimmers for that size tank. On my 20, I use a HOB Sealife systems skimmer, and it does a fair job, fills the cup about once per week. I have heard good things about prism skimmers, I have heard there are mods that will make the seaclone a fair skimmer (although I think the prism still is better even if the seaclone is modified). If you have the money to spend, you really should look into the remora hang on skimmer by AquaC, it is supposed to be the best in it's class, but when you look for the best, you must be prepared to pay for the best, it is priced significantly higher than the other three mentioned.

[loganj]

I agree that if you have live rock and sand, the Penguin is not needed. They are decent filters, but if you ever do decide to go with a BioWheel type filter, I feel the Emperors are far superior to the Penguin line (same manufac). We have some Emperors at the store that have logged over 4 years (that's 35,000 hrs+) with no maintenance other than cleanings and cartridges. We use mostly SeaClone skimmers on our tanks that are not connected to the central system. They seem to do a good job. One customer who bought a Prizm says he is very happy with it although it is somewhat noisy. It really depends on your budget and the amount of bio load you have. Can you have a successful tank with the SeaClone? Yes. Are there better units available? Absolutely. Do they cost more? Unfortunately...yes, they do. Look at it this way...buy a SeaClone or Prizm. Upgrade to a more powerful model later. Then you'll have that old skimmer laying around and that will be all the excuse you need to start a new tank
Logan J