Skimmer questions.

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Ericwm

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Sep 3, 2012
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I have a new 29 gallon tank and I am running it on a filter, I was told this will be ok. I am in the process of building a reef tank and was looking to add a power head, I have two questions.

One, is a skimmer needed for a reef tank?
Two, how much flow do skimmers add?

I ask this because I was thinking I could get a fairly cheep skimmer in place of getting a power head and get flow and improve my water quality.

Any advice would be wonderful, I want to do this right.
 
Skimmers...you get what you pay for. A cheap one wont' do anything. Secondly, they aren't a replacement for a good powerhead either. What type of coral are you wanting to keep? If it will be a softie only tank then you could get away without a skimmer. For LPS and especially for SPS you will need a skimmer to get junk out of the water column.
 
Right now I have radioactive dragon polyps and am hoping my next coral will be frogspawn. I'm planning on avoiding sps because I know I would be looking for disappointment. Years out in another tank I may consider sps and I would defiantly in a much larger tank with a sump and I skimmer if I get completely hooked on reef tanks, which seem inevitable at this point. I am trying to make sure this one goes well so I stick with the hobby for years to come.

Will I be ok with the frogspawn without a skimmer?

I have read they like low to moderate flow so I'm not concerned about the power head before the frogspawn.
 
A tank that size doesn't require a Skimmer imo just make sure you stay on scheduled water changes and don't over feed
 
Sounds good. My next three purchases will be a frogspawn then a cleaner shrimp and then a power head.

Thanks for all the help.
 
I would seriously get a powerhead before the frogspawn. With just a hob you have almost no flow.
 
Thanks for the advice. I want my corals to be happy.
 
I decided I wanted a frogspawn today so I bought a power head today too. The flow seems to have made my whole tank cleaner already. I only have 25X flow but it looks like plenty for my frogspawn and zoas. I will get another head to make 50X before I add anymore corals.

Thanks for the help
 
I decided I still wanted to buy my frogspawn today so I bought a power head too. I only have 25X flow but it looks like enough to make my frogspawn happy. I will buy another head to make 50X flow before I add any other corals.

Thanks for the advice.

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