Quote:
Originally Posted by Myka
Hi Chase, I would like to suggest you skip a skimmer completely. Imo, the only hang-on skimmer that's worth buying would be a Deltec, and they are very pricey. Considering the size of your tank I would suggest you go skimmerless. Softies and LPS do well without a skimmer. If you were wanting to later get into SPS then you should invest in a skimmer. Right now, if I were you I would put as much money into quality live rock as you can afford. I wouldn't cheap out on dry base rock (especially if you go skimmerless), as live rock is the best filter you can buy, and dry base rock won't function like live rock for at least a year. If you buy cheap base rock (like Caribsea Reef Rock) it will be dense, and will never become truly live rock with anaerobic bacteria in the middle of the rock. I would suggest you try to find about 25 lbs of live rock for your tank. Start with that amount, and you can use all the pieces, look for more if you prefer, or put some in your Fluval if you don't want that much. Rock varies, and so do people's ideas on aesthetics. Some people have 2lbs per gallon crammed into their tanks, and others will have 3/4lb in their tanks.
I wouldn't be too worried about a sump on your tank either. I think you will be happier if you stick to the KISS theory (Keep It Simply Silly). 
If you click on "My tanks" in my signature and check out my 33g reef I used to have, I maintained that LPS dominant reef for quite some time skimmerless. As you can see the corals did very well. The lighting on that tank is a Hagen GLO 2x39w T5HO fixture which is a rather reasonably priced fixture at around $140 I think it was.
Keep your eyes open for used equipment, and live rock. You should be able to find "used" live rock for around $4/lb on these forums. If you go that route, try to take someone with you that has experience with reefs to check out the rock with you to make sure it is healthy and free from pests (like algae, hydroids, aiptasia, majanos, etc). |
All very good advise that I would follow to a T. I used to run a 33 gallon as well without a skimmer, and the LPS/Softies/fish did well. Just don't come close to overstocking until you do look at going with a skimmer. And I wouldn't cook your rock.
As for salt, I was using a high end salt, but the readings weren't great, and definitely not what they were supposed to be. With all the studies out there, and since you are just getting into it, I would suggest going with a cheaper salt that has high grades with most studies, Instant Ocean. Also, most sea salt is at 1.026, so that is something you may want to consider.
As for the fluval, as others have suggested, strip it down, and run carbon in it, and it will work well for you. If this is your only source of flow in the tank, you will probably want to get something more as this isn't very much.