Skimmer or Refugium?

[FlameangelLover]

Basically I’m just trying to keep waste as low as possible I only have two fish in my 40 gal but I just ordered a 3rd (flame angel) and I would like to keep the extra waist down . I run a HOB and I currently do weekly water changes but I would prefer to change to biweekly so I’m hoping either the skimmer or refugium can help with the extra waist from the fish and longer time without water change. Nutrients I think I’m pretty fine my corals are small and don’t take up much

WCs are not just for nutrient export -- they're also for maintaining trace elements and alk and calcium, etc.

Also, corals don't necessarily do better when nutrient levels are lowered. Why exactly do you want to keep waste as low as possible?

What are the tank parameters, and what (if anything) do you do to maintain them beyond the mentioned weekly WCs?

Oh keeping waste low was pretty much my only reason. I wanted to keep Po4 low. Right now it stays between 0.04- 0.10

 

[Elevated Ecosystems]

Hello I want to upgrade my tank and I was wondering should I get a refugium or a skimmer? I do weekly water changes on my 40 gal breeder . What would you do if you were me and trying to keep stability

Definitely would go with skimmer

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Oh keeping waste low was pretty much my only reason. I wanted to keep Po4 low. Right now it stays between 0.04- 0.10

Right -- but why? And what is it about the addition of the new fish that will be an issue?

Do you track any other parameters? What are they? It isn't really possible to give good advice on what changes to make without knowing what basic parameters are -- I mean, encouraging fewer water changes might be a bad thing, depending on parameters and your current maintenance practices other than WCs.

 

[Seansea]

Skimmer and algae scrubber. Many a people with skimmers will fight hair algae. Noone with a scrubber does

 

[Dom]

I think that might be exactly backwards.

I think you're mistaken.

 

[dschuffert]

I have had both, and after time, just kept the skimmers. A well-tuned skimmer can pull a lot of waste and nutrients out of a tank.

 

[Boehmtown]

I've ran refugium and no skimmer in every tank I ran. From large fowlers, reefs, sps dominated etc. My only thing is a like a moderate amount of fish. If you want tang gangs and stuff , you'll benefit from a skimmer more

 

[Narideth]

I run a skimmer on my 15g cube and I wouldn't want to take it out - I actually even have a backup for it in my emergency supplies kit.

Skimmers as far as I understand it, suck up proteins before they're broken down by your biological filter, so fish poop, food, etc that dissolves into the water column. For me, that's quite useful, but I consider it necessary for the additional gas exchange. The addition of a skimmer on that tank got the PH up where it needed it to be and really gives me peace of mind as I have a mostly closed lid on that tank.

A refugium pulls out nutrients after they've broken down through the biological filter into Phos and Nitrates. They do the same thing, just at different stages of the tank cycle's process. If your goal is to lower Phos, you could technically do either one and be successful.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I’ve run a skimmer and refugium for years. In my experience, Refugiums reduce nitrates but do little or nothing for phosphates. I have to run GFO to keep phosphates in check.

 

[Uncle99]

Skimmer, best bang for your buck IMM.

 

[FlameangelLover]

I’ve run a skimmer and refugium for years. In my experience, Refugiums reduce nitrates but do little or nothing for phosphates. I have to run GFO to keep phosphates in check.

So in your opinion get skimmer first and then refugium and if my Po4 gets out of control use gfo. Correct?

 

[Rob A]

Skimmers will overflow and make a mess at some point and they have to be cleaned, pumps fail etc. You could try an undergravel refugium filled with rock and algae. Refugiums add a ton of stability and you can put cool things in it.

 

[Sam7]

Heres the best advice....get out of the hobby fast before you go broke and all your hair falls out from stress LOL

 

[JoJosReef]

Santa Monica Surf turf algae scrubber and underneath it a bunch of live rock for a cryptic refugium! Get some TBS rubble and it'll be covered in sponges in no time!

 

[bobnicaragua]

So in your opinion get skimmer first and then refugium and if my Po4 gets out of control use gfo. Correct?

A skimmer is pretty essential. It pulls out nutrients before they break down and increases aeration and PH. If something happens, the skimmer will filter the water quickly.

The refugium will reduce nitrates and increase biodiversity. It helps a little with PH at night. You can really do without a refugium, but I feel it helps with tank stability.

I run a Reef Octopus 150 and a Trigger System Triton sump with an 11 gal refugium on my 135 gal SPS tank.

 

[FlameangelLover]

So in your opinion get skimmer first and then refugium and if my Po4 gets out of control use gfo. Correct?

A skimmer is pretty essential. It pulls out nutrients before they break down and increases aeration and PH. If something happens, the skimmer will filter the water quickly.

The refugium will reduce nitrates and increase biodiversity. It helps a little with PH at night. You can really do without a refugium, but I feel it helps with tank stability.

I run a Reef Octopus 150 and a Trigger System Triton sump with an 11 gal refugium on my 135 gal SPS tank.

Yess I love seeing people sumps! Sometime next year I want a sump so I love to see all the components . Is there a way to turn a regular aquarium that is not drilled for a sump into a sump aquarium

 

[Rich Klein]

Hello I want to upgrade my tank and I was wondering should I get a refugium or a skimmer? I do weekly water changes on my 40 gal breeder . What would you do if you were me and trying to keep stability

Both