Fish only Tank Skimmer?

How important is it to get the "best" skimmer you can afford for a fish only tank? I have a 90g with 38g sump. I have been looking at the Octopus NW 150 or the Octopus Extreem 160. I can get the Octopus NW 150 now but would need to wait on the Extreem. (I have been also looking at Bubble Magus)
So how important on a fish only tanl to 1. Have the better skimmer? and 2. How important is it to double the skimmer to water size?

thanks!

John

 

With a F/O I'd get as large of a skimmer as you have space and money for. F/O require a lot of hard skimming , I have seen it said over the yrs in many books that a F/O does not require as strong as skimming as a Reef does . And thats kind of true to the point that corals need very clean organic free water But fish create lots of waste . And since most are reef fish they will require as good of water quality as the corals even though they can adjust to more extremes then a coral can ..

 

And to add to Tangsters post, most FO tanks are GROSSLY overstocked or have larger piscivore fish... All the more reason to have a larger than normal skimmer!

Happy reefing!

 

I know from experience that my FOWLR tank...depending on the fish they are HORRIBLE MESSY eaters. I have a golden puffer and I have to do more maintance on his tank then I do in a fully stocked 135g reef tank. I have a great skimmer on her tank and a coil denitrator on it.

Also with many fish only tanks you dont have the "typical clean up crew" to eat the detritus and other stuff in the tank.

 

I agree 100%, especially with schakmel regarding puffers. Depending on what fish you have, you will need a heavy skimmer. Puffers leave the water an utter mess when they chew up and spit out the food. Then you have other fish that are clean eaters but generate heavy waste, like lionfish and stingrays. So it depends on what you want in your tank. But it's better to go bigger than smaller.

 

+1 to all above poster's. It is even more important with a fish only tank. IMHO none of the skimmer's listed are even close to being adequate.

 

Pretty much already said.

 

For 90g, I would go with an Aqua-C EV-180, Bullet 2, Euro Reef, ASM G2, ATB cone, or Bubble King Mini 160.

 

Wow thanks for all the quick answers! The only bad thing is most of those skimmers are so high dollar. I only keep about 6 fish so my bio load is always small. Any suggestions for skimmers $200- $300?

 

I would spend the extra time saving up to get a proper skimmer