protien skimmer

Originally Posted by KaLiB

Protein skimmers are highly recommended but not a must. I've seen successful setups that don't run with a skimmer.

Protein skimmers just remove wastes in the water, therefore aiding in filtration and nutrient export. However, i read that they also skim out the useful stuff like trace elements.

You can try looking at those airpump driven skimmers, some of them are very compact and can fit into a 1.5' tank without taking up too much space.

highly agree.. PS is not a must.

PS is the only filtration I have in my tank. Except for a small piece of filter wool before the water enters the sump tank.

Originally Posted by eiki

PS is the only filtration I have in my tank. Except for a small piece of filter wool before the water enters the sump tank.

u r adopting the berlin system???

ps is not a must,unless you stock your tank real slow.
and i mean SLOW!

Originally Posted by ReDDeviLs

ps is not a must,unless you stock your tank real slow.
and i mean SLOW!

even if u hav PS, u oso hav 2 stock it slow.

Originally Posted by eiki

PS is the only filtration I have in my tank. Except for a small piece of filter wool before the water enters the sump tank.

yes...many tanks have operated without protein skimmer. I use a marco ps, very effective; to me i feel it is very useful in ccycling new tanks and when there is a die off in the tank, u can see the ps works by removing dissolved organics.

it is like a battery on standby when the filter cannot handle. it is useful and it is friend indeed when in need.

2 feet is small for ps, but if u have a sump, u can place ps there. any ps is better than none, cheap or expensive so long it works.

Originally Posted by devilfire

u r adopting the berlin system???

Right now got LR, 4" sandbed, 1 dwarf fuzzy lion, 1 algae blenny & a boxer shrimp in the display tank. Will be going into corals soon. But read about bio media being nitrate factories and not good for corals.

Hate canister filter as I find it too troublesome for maintainance & bio media need to clean out every 1-2 weeks. So decided no bio media in the sump. Just a small filter wool, got LR, 4" sandbed & a halloween hermit and PS. Water change every 2 weeks.

I find PS much easier to clean. So far so good. Got pods growing in the tank also.