skimmer selection help

karazy · #1 01-31-2009, 03:17 AM

okay, well ive finaly basicaly got my aquaC urchin sold (knock on wood)
and now im confused on what skimmer to get.

the tank is a 29 gallon AGA, with a about 12 gallon sump.
i want to have lots of zoas, rics, and LPS, and about four fish(TS blenny,cherub angel,percula clown pair)

now i cannot decide what skimmer to get.

the thing is, i only have a 6.5"x14" space to put the skimmer in, unless i could run the skimmer as an external, or if i flipped my sump, took out a baffle,
and had a 6.5"x14" fuge and an 11"x14 inch place for my skimmer and heater,
and i would still have to run an external pump.

so im looking for a skimmer between 150-250 dollar skimmer that works very well and is as quiet as possible(aren't we all? :P).

im looking at the vertex skimmers which id have to do the tiny fuge thing with i think. Anybody have any comments about the vertex?

and no i dont want to get a coralife super skimmer :P

so please, make a suggestion

Skimmerking · #2 01-31-2009, 03:35 AM

Well why waste your money yong fella, just do water changes with a tank that small you really dont need a skimmer IME and IMO. if you did 3 gal water change every week man you would be up on your levels ..

If i had the choise i wouldn't get a skimmer for a tank that size i would just do regular WATER CHANGES. dont waste your money.

reeferious · #3 01-31-2009, 04:02 AM

asmodeus is correct. at one time i ran a heavily stocked 33 gallon system. no skimmer but i kept religious weekly 10 to 15 percent water change and everything was fine.

karazy · #4 01-31-2009, 04:04 AM

thats some interesting and possibly enlightening info.

im thinking the vertex would totaly overskim it now that i think about it, and not leave any nutrients.

im also thinking i might need a small skimmer just for how many corals i want and how many fish.
oh, and i feed my fish every day.

Rbacchiega · #5 01-31-2009, 04:46 AM

go with the water changes Karazy. Then put the 250 towards fish!

Then you could use your sump as a frag tank...or nano!

karazy · #6 01-31-2009, 05:08 AM

well i think i might get a lil mor advice first, but i think ill probably end up not using a skimmer

the tank is at my moms house in my room and im there all the time so i will deffinatly do 5 gallon water changes every week

and randi, im still gonna use the sump. why? because i wanna have a fuge. why? because i love all the lil macro algaes and lil sump critters you can get. its like having a whole other planted SW tank!

Skimmerking · #7 01-31-2009, 01:35 PM

well rid the skimmer and get a good top off unit. Reef keeper maybe. I would get the 20 gal tip top shape. there was one oneRC that had a amazing unit SPs top ights controller you name it it had it and it has a sump too.

mseepman · #8 01-31-2009, 04:57 PM

How high is your water? For $69 i've been really impressed with my BMQQ Bubble Magus from Nuocean.com They also now make an external version though I know nothing about that.

The one thing that I had to do was re-do my nano sump so that I could get the water high enough for the BMQQ. It skims like crazy though and is pretty quiet.

karazy · #9 02-01-2009, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmodeus

well rid the skimmer and get a good top off unit. Reef keeper maybe. I would get the 20 gal tip top shape. there was one oneRC that had a amazing unit SPs top ights controller you name it it had it and it has a sump too.

i dont exactly understand this sentence (no effence)
could you maybe say it in another way?

oh, and in my equipment section the baffle is 10" tall

Myka · #10 02-01-2009, 06:11 PM

I don't understand the theory behind not needing a skimmer for a small tank. If someone can provide a decent explanation for that I'm all ears.

IMO, a skimmer is just as useful on a 250g tank as on a 5g tank. It performs the same job with the same results. The Tunze Nano Skimmer is a bit on the expensive side, but is nice and small, and would be a great performer on a tank your size. If you want something cheaper, maybe try the Bubble Magus which I have heard a lot about, but I couldn't recommend on my own accord as I really know nothing about it.