We have a salt water aquarium. 50 gal. My husband isn't too pleased with the performance of the filter we have. He asked the owner of a salt-water fish store what he recommended upgrading to. He suggested that he upgrade to a REALLY good protein skimmer and get rid of a filter all together! I'd never heard of such a thing!
Has anybody done this? Any advice or cautions?
Thanks!
2007-01-17 14:05:58 · 11 answers · asked by Honesty given here! 4 in Pets ➔ Fish
It is a fish and reef tank
2007-01-17 14:50:55 · update #1
If you have 1.5lbs-2lbs of cured live rock per gallon of tank volume and a high quality protein skimmer, then a filter isn't necessary. As previously mentioned, the live rock will function as a filter.
2007-01-18 09:35:52 · answer #1 · answered by Kay B 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, a tank will run just fine on a protein skimmer alone,provided that the tank is well cycled and certain parameters are observed. That includes careful feeding and water changes at regular intervals. Good luck. P.S. There is and author named Julian Sprung who is a columnist for Freshwater And Marine Aquarium Magazine, and an authority on this sort off setup. PeeTee
2007-01-17 23:40:49 · answer #2 · answered by PeeTee 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
If you have fish, you need a filter. A wet/dry filter with a protein skimmer is definitely a nice setup.
2007-01-17 22:34:11 · answer #3 · answered by Venice Girl 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we do not have a skimmer on our 55 gallon. But we have a really good Eheim canester filter system. Yes you need a filter system. What else is in your tank? You need oxygen in your tank, so with the filter we have, we also put in an air stone.
2007-01-17 23:16:59 · answer #4 · answered by Jewelz 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes a protein skimmer is a good idea espacilly if your are going to use live rock and invertabrets. look around there are some good filetes shop around and look at diffrent styles. Like a wet dry filter. Beloow are some links to help get you started
2007-01-18 00:32:36 · answer #5 · answered by bnotagain 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yup, this is actually a common thing, especially in tanks with alot of live rock-which are actually big filters, themselves!
Keep in mind, this is only for reef tanks, though. Any other saltwater tank, especially with big fish, will require a filter.
There's alot of info on this subject if you google it--pros and cons.
2007-01-17 22:17:35 · answer #6 · answered by Bluebear 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You have to have a filter. I got my best results using a biological filter I made. It is under the gravel and actually uses this as a medium. It is also possible that you have your filtering system over loaded.
2007-01-17 22:17:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Filters do more then skim out protein. It sounds to me like he wanted to sell you something. YOU MUST HAVE A FILTER on every tank. They filter out excess sodium, chlorine, etc.. and salt water fish are very picky.
2007-01-17 22:10:20 · answer #8 · answered by Scott W 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You must have a filter, a filter circulates oxygen throughout the tank.
2007-01-17 22:31:13 · answer #9 · answered by yayrunescape 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You definitely need a filter.
2007-01-17 23:27:46 · answer #10 · answered by kvn_klng 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋