do i need a skimmer?

Question

Im stetting up a new marine aquarium 67 litres, ihave a tetratec EX600 canister filter and lots of live rock so do i need a protien skimmer?

Answer 1

They aren't 100% required, as long as you do regular water changes. If you're keeping a reef tank, or some very sensitive fish species, they will be recommended, though.

The protein skimmer will clean the tank in a way your canister can't. What a skimmer does it make a column of very fine bubbles. Dissolved protein molecules attach to the bubbles, and as the column rises, they are pushed up out of the tank and into a collection chamber where they're removed from the tank water completely. If left in the water, these would decompose to create ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate to which a lot of the marine organisms (especially inverts) are sensitive. This can also cut down on algae growth, since algae uses nitrate as one of its sources of nutrition (phosphate is another one, so if you use tapwater, you may need to use a phosphate pad in your canister, or switch to reverse osmosis water if algae becomes a problem for you).

If you know anyone who has a saltwater tank and uses a skimmer (including your fish store) ask to see what their skimmer removes sometime. You might be surprised what comes out of a seemingly "clean" tank. The green-brown stuff in this photo is an example of what this looks like: http://www.reeffrontiers.com/photos_members/data/500/314MazzeiSkimmerTestRun.JPG

Since you have a relatively small tank (about 17 US gallons), you might get away with a smaller skimmer like a prism, but don't get a "Skilter" - these tand to have problems with leakage around the motor housing, even when wrapped with silicon tape.

Since you're just setting up, you wouldn't need one right away, as there's no watse in the tank yet. So you can do a little research on your own and think about this for a few months - as I said, they aren;t absolutely required, but if you notice you're having problems with algae or too high of nitrates (and you're not overfeeding and doing regular water changes), I would consider getting one.

Answer 2

A skimmer, lots of live rock and a good flow of current will usually be more than enough. Add to that your canister and you have a pretty good filtration set up.

I know people who operate with only a skimmer (to get the particulate matter out of the water) and 2 or 3 powerheads to get a good current through the live rock (which takes care of the rest of your filtration needs).

Answer 3

I have a 55 gallon saltwater with both a canister and a protein skimmer. The canister will do all three types of filtering (biological, chemical, and mechanical), however, the protein skimmer works well in filtering out the excess organic compounds in the water.

In short, if you have one, use it, if not, the tank will be fine without it

Answer 4

Here's a link to the Saltwater Aquarium section on FishChannel.com. It is written by Aquarium Fish and FAMA editors and it's packed with articles and information. You could also try the message boards in the Community section if you can't find your answer here
http://www.fishchannel.com/saltwater-aquariums/default.aspx

Answer 5

not as much as you need a U.V. Sterilizer. but a protein skimmer is a good idea. You won't regret getting it.

Answer 6

Not to big for a general filter...