Best Internal skimmer for a 10 gallon

I will be getting my 90 gallon moved out of my parents tomorrow...

 

My friend gave me her old 20 and 2 pumps, a Rio 600 and a Maxi-jet 600 after she moved out of my basement. I'm still debating on which pump to use as they both work fine. I have decided that I'll use a SeaClone Protein skimmer as it seems to be the best deal for my budget and is rated for up to 100 gallons. I will also be getting a Wavepoint 4 lamp T5 lighting fixture and I will add Moonlights to it when I can afford them. I just need to come up with the time and money to sit down and start my build. I want SPS but LPS and softies would be fime with me. I'd really love an RBTA eventually but I'm not sure in a 20 gallon. If I do decide to go with SPS I will be getting 2 of the Ocean Stream pumps the move 500 GPH, is that too much flow?
The boyfriend says that he wants 5-7 fish in it and I've been constantly trying to tell him that there's no way with corals in the tank. Anyone have any ideas on how to better explain this? All he has ever owned are freshwater tanks and he says it's alright to crowd fish a little but in a 20, well a 17 after mods, 5 fish is pushing it.

 

That's funny, here is a thread on worst newbie mistakes. I think I counted "seaclone" in 12 posts LOL. It's really a just a complete POS.... sorry just being honest.... Dumbest thing you did as a Newbie! - Reef Central Online Community If you look around, it's a general trend with newbie mistake threads

Again though, no skimmer is going to work great in a small tank. 20g it will work better than 10, but still for the measly amount of skimmate you going to get, and overflows you'll likely deal with because your cranking it up so much to try to get any skimmate, water changes will go further with less headaches. Let us know how the skimmer goes

 

K. Maybe I'll keep doing my research on skimmers... Still can't afford it anyway... I want to stay under $150 for a skimmer though... Anyone recommend any? Or should I stick with the Aqualife? Thing is, I'm worried about min and max water level.

 

If your going with a small skimmer, the tunze is the way to go. Not that I'm recommending a small skimmer

 

so is it better to go bigger? like maybe a Coralife?

 

Would the Coralife be a better Skimmer?

 

I have the Reef Octopus NS80 hooked up to my 26g and it's a great lil skimmer-price perfect

 

Thanks NanaReefer, I'll look into it.

 

ive ran a coralife and had so so performance