You might have missed this comment, as it was a later edit... But am still curious about the new change...:smile:

Don't know what kind of skimmer you have, but mine (Vertex) looks pretty bad, just after a week...

I couldnt agree more. I want to do as little as possible. I have a lot of regrets with the setup of our original tank and I dont want to make them again. The least amount of work I can do, the better. So I think I will buy a bunch of filter socks, as large as I can fit. How do I know which kind is the right kind for me?

Buy an assortment and see what you like for each , when scrubbing down my tanks I use the nylon socks and clean by hand , for general use I use the polyfibre and they last over a week and clog less.

200 micron 7" X 16" socks worked best for me (when I was using them).

Ok, good to know. Chances are my LFS will have one kind and one size so I think I will have to travel to find what I want.

Next question is skimmer. I think I have decided on a Vertex. Has anyone found anywhere that has super good prices on them or will give you a deal if you buy everything from them?(lights, skimmer, pumps etc)?

I have a csc450 and not that nothing ever builds up but my skimmer is well oversized and nutrients are undetectable so I don't see the benefit to cleaning it? Skimmer really only pulls out so much doc

Contact concept aquariums they can help you out on all that ( I am biased though lol ) or pm me and I can do it.

Mine is the older In-280. Since I combined my tanks into one sump (230g system), it is probably a little overworked. But it sure pulls out a lot of gunk every week, despite my pre-filtering with the sponge. So I think it is doing a pretty good job. My nutrients are kept very low as well, zero for nitrates and near zero for phosphates.