help : Resun SK-05 Protein Skimmer

[mhke]

hi guys, im a newbie with saltwater aquarium.. just 2 days ago, i set up my 35g aquarium, put in it 8kilos of live rocks, 10 kilos of sand, and 8 damselfish.. also purchased a RESUN SK-05 Skimmer, my problem is, i dont really know how high or where inside the tank should i put the skimmer, when i installed it, it doesn't produce foams (dirty bubbles?) in the top container, was it because it only operated in 3 days? if so, how long does it take for a skimmer to produce those dirty bubbles? hope someone can shed light on this matter.. thanks guys..



btw... anyone here from the Philippines.

[Bifferwine]

Hi and welcome! Before we discuss the protein skimmer, I suggest you remove the damsels. They are probably just going to die. You don't need the fish to cycle the tank, the live rock will cycle it just fine. And if the damsels do live through the cycle, they will end up killing each other. They are very territorial and aggressive fish, and they'll also kill any other fish you try to add to the tank.

In a tank that size, you are limited to keeping 3 or 4 fish maximum.

Now about your skimmer. All skimmers go through what is called a "break in period". It can take several days to several weeks for the skimmer to start working. It's normal for it not to produce skimmate when you first set it up. Also, if you just set the tank up, there's nothing dirty in the water for it to pull out. Once your tank starts cycling, it will start pulling stuff out.

[mhke]

wow thanks mam bifferwine for the quick reply, so what i have to do now is remove the damsels first, my problem is where to put them...for the store where i bought them is quite far from my place...and i dont know anyone from around here in my place that have a saltwater set up.. well i guess i just have to return them to the store where i bought them..and probably trade the fish for live rocks..

[Bifferwine]

That sounds like a plan. You want to wait a few weeks before you add your first fish, and then add one at a time. Wait a couple weeks in between adding new fish too. But it sounds like you're going to have a decent setup.

[hibye]

What kind of dameselfish are they? I know that he yellowtailed ones are very nice while there are other ones that kill anything close to it's size like the dominoe damselfish. Like Biff said"only have 3-4 fish in that kind of tank" IMO if you just wanted a dameselfish only tank you could probaly keep up to 6 max. (depending on species though). I know that rigosharon has that skimmer on his 20 gallon tank and i think that he posted a video on youtube. try typing in nano skimmer,reson, or 20 gallon protein skimmer on youtube and you might find it. hope this helps

[mhke]

thanks.. i already saw rigosharon's vid on youtube, and last night i noticed that some skimmate are present on the top container of my skimmer..well i guess it does really work..

about my damsels, i have 2 dominoes, 2 yellow tail, 2 three stripe damsels, and the other pair i dont know the name,(yeah i bought a lot for a 35g., very newbie that time.) and the bigger one of the domino always picks up all of his tankmates, it's like he owns the whole tank.. and my problem is i dont know how to catch him.. and another thing, last night when i came home frm work i saw one of my three stripe damsel dead on the sand.. is it possible that the dominant domino murdered him?)

thanks for your replies..

[dustin_P74]

very likely he was murdered

[Bifferwine]

He was probably murdered by the aggressive damsel. The easiest way to catch them would probably be to temporarily remove the rocks, then go after them with a net. In a tank that size, it shouldn't be too hard.

[hibye]

If I were you I would keep the yellowtailed ones and get rid of the other ones becuase dominoes ans three stripe are one of the bigest and most aggresive dameselfish.I also know that some people on here get them out by a smal fishing hook?

[mhke]

wow, thanks guys, i really learn a lot here in just 2 days.. hopefully i can catch those dominoes asap.. its really irritating to see that one fish always attacks another.