When Do I need a Protein Skimmer

[donthaslthepoff]

ok so I am new to this hobby and just put 4 damsels and 10lbs of cultured live rock into a 55gal tank. my question is when do i need to install a :question:protein skimmer.

 

[yote]

Yesterday:D
Get the skimmer ASAP.The sooner the better.

 

[Teixeira29]

You can install a protein skimmer as soon as you can! What kind of filtration do you have? I was told on here that all you really need for filtration is a really good protein skimmer and live rock and live sand.

 

[donthaslthepoff]

i have a marineland emperor 400 w/the biowheels taken out

 

[yote]

A good skimmer will do your tank a lot better than that HOB filter.

 

[donthaslthepoff]

hob? So what is a good budget skimmer

 

[dustin_P74]

hob= hang on back of the tank, and a good skimmer is a hob octopus skimmer, that and 1-2lbs of live rock is all the filtration you need

 

[yote]

You could also go with a corallife.
You'll pay a little more for an octopus skimmer,but their supposed to be better.I personally ran a corallife super skimmer 65 and it done a great job on my 55gal.If you can afford it,get the octo,if not.Get the Corallife at the very least.

 

[Bifferwine]

Aim for 1 to 2 lbs of rock per gallon. You need, at a minimum, 50 lbs of live rock in a 55 gallon tank. And a protein skimmer is a must for a saltwater tank, in my opinion.

 

[donthaslthepoff]

thank you all for your advise

 

[freshreef]

i ran a marineland emperor h.o.b. filter for about 2 mo be for i got my octopus skimmer and what a differance, the water is 3x clearer and it is polling out all sorts of nasty crap out the water. well worth the money

 

[daugherty]

i have the octo 800s on my 75 and it works great. you are going to hate those 4 devils you put into that tank.

 

[cthegame]

I would definitely get rid of those damsels.

 

[freshreef]

ya i wold get rid of those damsels, i started my tank with 3 and after a cupple weeks thay started killing each other, vary nasty fish

 

[donthaslthepoff]

the demons have already started killing each other off thought about flushing the last two. but what to put into there place? I put a banded shrimp in there a few days ago along with two snails, not much to look at any ideas would be great.

 

[parrotchute]

2nd on the damsels. They are evil, if you can get rid of them, do it. I have two that I barely tolerate the other fish int the aquarium. Until I stop being so lazy and I get to an outdoor shop to buy a small hook & line, I'm stuck with them.
Maybe you could get some pajama cardinal fish (they're pretty cool to look at, but not very active) or a clownfish? Just make sure you do a lot of research before buying them so you don't get something that will be incompatible with something you want down the road....

You can probably get away with less live rock as long as your tank isn't stacked too quickly or heavily.. I started out with a lower than "ideal" amount, and slowly added base rock - former live rock that's a lot cheaper and will get "seeded" by the new rock.

-alex

 

[donthaslthepoff]

thanks parrotchute I looked at some clown fish today and some cardinals also. It funny that you said that about the hook and line thing cause I was just thinking about doing that. thank you for your input.

 

[daugherty]

it works just get a small barbless trout fly

 

[donthaslthepoff]

ok so I flushed the last remaining damsil yesterday and bought a clown fish. My buddy works at the local fish store and when I told him what i was doing he laughed and said I told you they sucked. But what a task of getting that last demon out of the tank.

 

[donthaslthepoff]

so if i have been reading this right i can build a sump do away with the hob emperial and just go with the skimmer and a return pump?