Sump & Protein Skimmers

[stephv]

Hi, We have a 65g saltwater FOWLR and a 10 sump. Hermit crabs, turbo snails, 2 false clowns, fire fish, watchman Gobie and a green chromis. Others have been added and not made it due to over feeding and freezing temps. Nevertheless, we seem to have learned from our mistake and are doing OK now. Here are my questions.

One, other that bioballs, Phosphate sock and heater, there is nothing in my sump. I've seen people mentioning carbon. Do I need some and how much if so? My numbers are all good, but we do want to add more livestock and would like to be prepared.

Secondly, the LFS guy says we need a protein skimmer. I have seen post here indicating that is not true. What is do I gain by having a skimmer and what do I lose by not having a skimmer?

I would like to add some mushrooms or other low light inverts, but want to make sure we are all set up first.

Thanks,

[Mitchell0605]

Hey steph,
With the carbon, it's know as activated carbon, and it removes heavy metals from your tank. I don't have any and have no problems.

In a tank that size my recommendation is have a skimmer, however I'm not the expert on skimmers so I'll let someone else address that.

As for the Shrooms (I'm presuming you mean Corallimorphs) just go and whack some in there, they can take just about anything. What lights do you have?

[Krypt]

If your using tap water to fill your tank, then running activated carbon will remove some of the junk that comes in it. It's only effective for a period of time, then once the carbon gets saturated (full of junk) you'll need to replace it.
Besides carbon, you can add some more live rock down there to give bacteria a place to grow and help beef up your bio filter. That'll enable you to keep more fish.

As for protein skimmers, you can get away without using them for some fish, but not others. Getting a skimmer will greatly increase your tanks mechanical filtration and pull alot of the extra junk out of the water making your fish healthier and happier.

[stephv]

What kind/size do you recommend for a 65g tank. I would like in the sump not hob.

[stephv]

As for the Activated Carbon, is there a chart or graph for how much and how long before it needs to be changed?

[Mitchell0605]

It would probably say on the pakaging how long before it needs changing. If not ask your LFS.

[cmor1701d]

Carbon should be changed weekly. Some manufacturerers claim much longer periods, but carbon will leach all the bad stuff back inot the water once it's saturated.

[stephv]

Any guide on how to choose a skimmer.

[CaptainAhab]

Skimming Basics 101: Understanding Your Skimmer by Frank Marini, Ph.D. - Reefkeeping.com

[Joelle2149]

i went on ebay and got one fot 54.99 and it works great and its for up to 150gal...they are worth it they clean all the waste and make your water cleaner...

[stephv]

what brand and size did you get?

[bobberwobber]

as far as skimmers go.. i can say, from experience now, spend the money now and get a good one..
i made the mistake of trying to do it cheap, got a visi-jet and its useless. i should have spent the extra few bucks on a good one and now i wasted the money and still got to spend the extra.
be careful on ebay too, a lot of junk floating around (no pun intended), unknown brands and a lot of drop shipped discontinued models claiming false claims and cheap prices. best thing to do is research, find one you like, or take advice from people here, then once you have found a few you think will be good, then see if you can find them on ebay or craigslist etc cheaper, im not an expert on them really, as far as what works, but i have seen good reviews about red sea skimmers..but im sure others will have better ideas...
and the carbon, i use activated carbon in all my tanks, and has positive results. but you do need to change it, often. i actually went to petsmart and bought a box of cheap small filter cartridges, think they were actually for a small penguin HOB filter. then just put them in the sump loose, below the filter pads. they have carbon inside the filters and easier to change than emptying bags and so forth. just take them out and throw in new. rinse them first though, else get carbon dust come out of them and looks dirty for a while...
also have live sand in my sump, but if you dont have baffles then dont do this, else your pump will suck it all up and go bang...

[melosu58]

The captain gave you an excellent link.

[bavass]

I use the Turboflotor 1000 and love it, No problems! Seems to take some time to get dialed in but once it is it works great!