deeveus Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 If I had no other option but to have a hang on skimmer, what skimmer is the best you can get or you guys to recommend. Tank: AR620-T 130 litres. Now I have been told by my local petshop that I don't necessarily need a protein skimmer and a sump with all its medias. But here I am being told differently. And now I am confused. The tank I have is not necessarily suitable for a marine setup yet on the Aqua 1 site it says it is, otherwise I would never of persued this marine setup. It is hard to explain, but because of the restrictions on access to the tank for any water for sump and protein skimmer, this makes things very difficult. Ive been told I can't drill through the glass because it is toughened and may crack and explode, but then other people are telling me different. Scenario's: 1 - If I decide to go with the sump/skimmer, what are the benefits of having a sump with all the medias besides taking all the crapola out of the tank. I.E Will the fish die without a sump/protien skimmer eventually or what? 2 - If I don't decide to go with a sump/skimmer. What things will I have to do to keep the fish alive? Will I I.E have to change the water (10% with NSW) every week? If that is all then I will decide to go without sump due to the implications and extra $300 involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raeh1 Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 I have a sumpless tank with a hang on protein skimmer and a cannister filter. Due to tank stand design issue. I got it from Jetskisteve. On this forum for a good price. Hopefully you can contact him. So far (be it only 5 -6 months) fish and shrimps are healthy. Good luck PS when I decided to set up a marine tank is was told it would cost me $400-500 to set up. Yeah right...... :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petplanet Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Boy, you just poured gas on the fire. You can set your tank up a hundred different ways. If you want a skimmer then you are probably better of having a sump so it is out the way. Due to your tank dimensions you also have the problem of low surface area compared to water volume. The sump will help overcome this. I am 99.9% positive that the tank is not toughened glass. You could use a wear which would clip on the tank, then you would not need to drill. If you are going to drill, I would drill the back panel and not the bottom. If it cracks when they drill (not likely to happen) it will be easier to repair. It will also mean that you don't have to mess around with your stand. I assume it is an Aqua One stand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeveus Posted May 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Thanks for your help guys. At this stage, I am going to go with a hang on skimmer. Any idea on how much these cost? I will have it so that it hooks off the filtered water in the trickle filter on top, then have it going back into the tank. I will just have to do weekly water changes of 10%? Once the skimmer is up and running. So many ideas, so much confusion lol. When I origonally started the idea of marine. I was told by the petshop that I could easily fit a protein skimmer inside the tank, by the same outfit that sold me it. I was horribly wrong... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 lfs = business = money. need i say anymore?... except that there are a few good shops out there who are genuinely concerned in the consumers best interests. read: few Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 "reef" has just had a shipment of deltec skimmers in. I pick up my big AP902 tomorrow morning!! Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 lucky b!@#$tard!!!! that's what i want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 You coming to AK Layton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Na, it has been sent down. It arrived on sat, but the depot was closed by the time I got there. Don't worry I'll post some pics, along with the new 4' frag tank i'm setting up, which will eventually be used as the sump for my new tank. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeveus Posted May 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 lfs = business = money. need i say anymore?... except that there are a few good shops out there who are genuinely concerned in the consumers best interests. read: few What do you mean by IFS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Lfs, local fish shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Layton - Great skimmer Pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Deeveus, You keep talking/hinting about filters and filter media? Just wanted to make sure you know that you don't want/need to any biological type filters in your tank (other than live rock which works as a filter), if your not sure why it is because you want to avoid nitrate in your tank as much as possible, read some posts to find out more. If you do try to run only a little live rock and use filters you will only be able to keep fish (no corals other than the odd mushroom) plus will be a slave to large regular water changes to keep the nitrate down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Deeveus - I think you need to do a little more reading before you move on any futher. I would reccomend 'natural reef aquairums by Tullock published by TFH'. It will answer all of your questions and is a very easy to read and friendly book. After reading the book, things will make a lot more sense to you. I don't think you've quiote grasped exactly what your trying to do yet or whats invloved. I also see you advertising for fish, in all fairness if your adding fish in the next 2-3 months you are in for trouble. pie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeveus Posted May 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Roger that Pies. I've had a decent look around with watching a video and reading atleast one book. What I am confused with is all the opinions coming in my direction. I.E people are telling to do things one way and others are telling me I am wasting my time with it, if you know what I mean lol As soon as I can get that out of the way, I'll be fine, but atm I am going to plumb in a skimmer to my trickle filter on the lid and go with that, and do atleast a 5% water change per week and aim for atleast 20% per month. This should be sufficient as I have access to NSW, and can get access to DI water through Paul B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 people are telling to do things one way and others are telling me I am wasting my time with it hahahaaa, that is the very nature of this hobby! granted though, at least you are asking questions and taking on advice without getting shitty patience and plenty of research are the keys to maintaining a successful reef tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 The problem is methods have changed so much in the last few years. There are still alot of 'old school' marine keepers out there. When I setup my first tank I was advised by an 'expert' at the LFS to put in UGF and canister filter, little bit of live rock, little bit of dead rock, wait two weeks and add fish. This is old school, it might have worked (in fact I ran this setup for a few months) but was only be able to keep very low numbers of fish, almost no corals, and algae!$%!$&!$& Check out the Berlin method that most people tend to use now, good skimmer and lots of good live rock. Really simple and it works. There are things you can add to this like calcium reactors etc depending on what you want to acheive but the idea is so simple. Get rid of as much waste as you can via the skimmer and let the rock take care of the rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeveus Posted May 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 hahahaaa, that is the very nature of this hobby! granted though, at least you are asking questions and taking on advice without getting shitty patience and plenty of research are the keys to maintaining a successful reef tank. LOL :) Do you see what I mean, its not that I don't apreciate the help but its all confusing me, I know to have a highly successfull reef tank, I NEED to have that SUMP! On the other hand, if I am only running fish at the moment, I think from what information I have gathered here I can sustain a decent tank with NSW and DI water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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