Skimmer or skimmerless

[otrovago]

Do I need a protein skimmer? I have a skilter 250 which I know is not a good skimmer. But do I need to spend the money on another skimmer. they range from $75.00 to whatever you want to spend. What do they really do? I have read several articles on skimmerless tanks and they seem have very good success with corals. I have read that they take out all the stuff out the water that other creatures will consume. Please help very confused. 8O


20 gal FWOLR (corals in future... long future)
LS DSB
25 lbs of LR (lots of critters... dusters, worms etc...)
Skilter 250
Rio 400

[visuvius]

I just asked this question recently and the answer is YES, you should get a skimmer if you can afford to have one. It will improve the quality of the water and make it more suitable for corals. However, it is not an absolute necessity and tanks have run without them.

I have the SKilter as well and its fine for a filter but apparantly sucks for a skimmer.

I'm thinking about just getting a Prizm Protein skimmer. It seems like the right one for a 20 gallon tank.

[otrovago]

is that a HOB skimmer?

[d9hp]

yep, sure is

[r95rdstr]

Originally Posted by visuvius

I have the SKilter as well and its fine for a filter but apparantly sucks for a skimmer.

Run a separate airtube with diffuser powered by a separate air pump into the skimmer chamber and the Skilter will work better than the stock configuration.

[mr_tee0419]

just a thought: would the efficiency improve if you had a Skilter 400 in a 30g tank rather than the 250 (this is my question, not a suggestion)

[Gauge]

What would be a recommended skimmer for a 42 gal? I'd like to get one that will go in a sump, and not a HOB.

[fishfreek]

Running a tank with no skimmer is an alternitive but its not something that is suggested for the beginner. Expecially if your talking about a tank the size your talking about.

Skimmers are good at helping imporve water quality. Running a tank with no skimmer usually means you do more frequent and larger water chanages. You also feed very sparingly as to polute the water less.

For a 20 gal tank you might look at a seaclone 100 or maybe the Prizm classic. Some will suggest the bakpac2 skimmer. Its in a different pricing class in my view but it is also a good skimmer for a 20 gal tank.