protein skimmer

[natan]

I've survived (well, my tank has) so far without a protein skimmer in my 15g. All I use is carbon filtration. Of course, the nitrates are a constant issue and I'm afraid to remove the biowheel. I do not overfeed (got good discipline on that) and I replaced most of the gravel with sand.

I know it is necessary, but just how urgent is the protein skimmer right now? I am maintaining a bunch of soft corals, a blue damsel, and a bunch of inverts: a peppermint shrimp, 4 red hermits, banded shrimp and a small purple lobster (yes, I gave it another shot, and yes, I am an invert freak).

From the cheaper skimmers what would suit the 15g nano best? (I read about those Octopus skimmers...)

Also, how do skimmers affect the coral nutrients?

 

[cthegame]

Well in a 15 gal you would probably have problems even if you had a skimmer. I mean a tank that small is very hard to keep stable. But a skimmer is an essential part of this hobby. You can do without it, but you will need to make sure to keep up those water changes as that along with live rock will be your main filtration.

 

[reeffreak]

Many of the nano skimmers on the market are junk.The Octopus and most other good skimmers are to big to fit on a nano.Most people don't run a skimmer on nanos and just do frequent water changes instead.

 

[Bifferwine]

A skimmer is even more important on a tank with sensitive inverts like shrimp and lobster. But like others have said, I have not heard of a high quality nano skimmer yet.

 

[natan]

Looks like I'm looking for the impossible. The good news is: there is not much I can do. Is this good?

 

[cgoodman381]

the newer 28g jbj has a skimmer built into it. Seems to work ok, but iv only seen it at the lfs. I have a 12 and a 24g. Iv never really had a nitrate problem, but then again I overstocked on rock and sand to help out with that. At this point I do about a 15% water change every other week and they dont go above 5ppm.

 

[fatman]

Your only heavy producer of detritus is your damsel fish. If you are really into invertebrates I would actually suggest you get rid of the damsel. I would feed only thawed frozen food (and only the particles not the fluids) to the inverts and increase the sand level to the maximum depth you find tolerable. Meaning hopefully at least three to four inches deep of a sugar fine sand. Within a few months this will provide good enough nitrification to allow the removal of your biowheel, and within 6 months or so the deep sand bed denitrifiers ought to start making a noticeable difference in the accumalation rate of your nitrates. It is quite possible that without a fish load the deep sand bed will start to do away with all nitrate accumalations within a year. In the mean time, I would recommend at least a one gallon water change every three to four days. I would not run carbon continously, but run it only when needed and then only in small amounts and for just a few days at a time. If you need more carbon use than that there is something wrong with your system, meaning; your feeding levels or the load on your system (number of fish, critters and corals). Skimmers remove nearly all suspended organics from the water. That is why most people shut them off when feeding corals.

 

[McCrary]

reeffreak and fatman have great advice, as always. Frequent water changes are going to be your best friend when it comes to maintaining good water quality in your tank. The protein skimmers that are available for small tanks don't seem to be much good, your money would be better spent buying more salt and more water. Carbon should only be run for a couple days a month, it removes lots of stuff but your water quality needs to be good without running it constantly. A damsel is way too big for a 15 gallon tank, I have seen them grow to 4" and bully some tough fish. A firefish would be a good choice as they are not active, small and peaceful.

 

[hibye]

Refugium perhaps?

 

[sen5241b]

I've heard people swear by the Sapphire NanoSkimmer (which fits nicely in the BC29). Its fairly new on the market. It might be overkill for your tank.

I put the $30 oceanic skimmer in my tank only an hour or so ago and its already got tea colored water in the cup but then there's probably a lot to skim in my tank.