Ptotein skimmer and UV sterilizer

[ThrowedToad]

Are these necessary with so little livestock? I have heard that both of these kill off anything that tries to reproduce, such as beneficial bacteria, polyps and coraline algae.

 

[austinsdad]

What sized tank you talkin about and how many is "little"?

UV, not necessary IMO for some, but the skimmer - gotta know what kinda tank you got and what's going on it it. Tell us more.

Welcome to AA by the way!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome to AA. The UV is one of those debatable subjects. I use one because they do get rid of parasites and algea spores but only what goes through the lighted chamber. Anything down at the substrate will not be affected so your beneficial bacteria on your sand and LR will not be affected. We have a good article about UV`s in our article section if you want to read more. I always suggest a skimmer for anything over a 30 gallon tank. Smaller than that I believe PWC`s will do. I dont know the size of yours so I`ll leave it at that. They are a very essential piece of equipment in your bigger tanks but that is only IMO.

 

[ThrowedToad]

just click the my tanks link and it will give you all my info! Thanks for the help

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Funny... we're so used to NOT having the "My Tanks" thing there, we're not used to using it again!

You're probably at the borderline of where people start considering skimmers. I'd say that if your water quality is good without running one, then you probably don't need one. If you end up going with corals someday, you might reconsider. Skimmers won't kill off the things you mentioned... I run one and have had no problem with snails reproducing, massive coralline growth, etc.

The UV thing, as melosu mentioned, is a debatable thing. I've never run one so can't really comment.

 

[Ziggy953]

Well I'm a firm believer in having a skimmer. I know there are a lot of very successful tanks out there that don't have them but I would rather have one then not. As Kurt said you are kind of on the borderline of need one/not need one. A friend of mine in Texas has a 29g tank that has a Euro-Reef skimmer on it. Most likely that is overkill.

Since you have a small sump finding a skimmer that will fit in the sump is going to be tough. They tend to take up a lot of space. You could look at a bak-pak style skimmer if you really want to add one.

I don't use nor have I ever used a UV sterilizer on my tank. To me the benefits don't really outweigh the drawbacks.

 

[melosu58]

I said skimmer when I should have said UV at the beginning Sorry about that.