hello, i am wondering if i can get your input on a decent yet compact protein skimmer that is recommended? i have a 30 gallon uni tank (built in sump) with no space for an extra tank to build a fuge or external skimmer especially due to the space my chiller takes up /: . i’m wondering if anyone may suggest a “mini” or good hang on protein skimmer that’ll still do a good job in controlling nitrates etc? i will soon be starting to feed my corals some reef roids + marine snow 2-3 days a week and i’m afraid it’ll make my nitrates spike along with the mysis shrimp i feed my fish. any advice would be awesome. ps i have some chaeto the size of a softball in my sump which seems to be a great place for pods to reproduce rather than absorbing nutrients since it hasn’t grown so big yet so i have given into considering a protein skimmer instead of pursuing that aspect. sorry for the long message and thank you to whoever can put in their 2 cents!
protein skimmer suggestions??
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IMO Tunze in tank skimmers are great for smaller tanks; DC option or turn down the air on the AC version.
Chaeto and a skimmer can work great together; no growth - maybe not enough pur or maybe not enough fertilizer-- it can't out grow it's environment.
Do not oversize your skimmer- will not work well.
Chaeto and a skimmer can work great together; no growth - maybe not enough pur or maybe not enough fertilizer-- it can't out grow it's environment.
Do not oversize your skimmer- will not work well.
Pntbll687
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The skimmer you need is going to depend on the bioload of the tank. I honestly don't think small "nano" skimmers work all that well and water 5g water change once a week will export more nutrients than the skimmer.
How many fish are in the tank? How much coral?
Post a picture if possible
I used the included then later the tunze nano on my old 37L(10gallon) AIO tank.
Honestly ended up removing it and using water changes as primary method of nutrient removal.
I don't know if it's true, but I read(and believed) once that these small skimmers really don't do much. It's not that you should oversize a skimmer on your tank, but rather a skimmer sort of needs to be a minimum size to be effective at all....and the size of the nanos just don't cut it.
With my new larger tank, it's very different the amount and color of skimmate I see produced on this tank compared to when I had a nano.
..............and there is a good chance I just didn't know what I was doing
But if I were you i'd try to find someone using these nano-skimmers and showing good results (Good/consistent skimmate coming out). I just never achieved that with the nanos I tried.
Honestly ended up removing it and using water changes as primary method of nutrient removal.
I don't know if it's true, but I read(and believed) once that these small skimmers really don't do much. It's not that you should oversize a skimmer on your tank, but rather a skimmer sort of needs to be a minimum size to be effective at all....and the size of the nanos just don't cut it.
With my new larger tank, it's very different the amount and color of skimmate I see produced on this tank compared to when I had a nano.
..............and there is a good chance I just didn't know what I was doing
But if I were you i'd try to find someone using these nano-skimmers and showing good results (Good/consistent skimmate coming out). I just never achieved that with the nanos I tried.
Pntbll687
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Just keep your feeding under control and everything will be fine.
I have a 33 long frag tank with just rock and powerheads, dose aminos daily and feed daily, and still struggle to keep nutrients up.
As the tank matures it will get easier. I actually change 5g once a month on my frag tank.
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