I'm close to ending my tank, this hobby might be too much for me.

What protein skimmer with a budget of 400-600 dollars does everyone recommend?

 

No worries - discussion is what this board is all about. But what I actually said was to change the filter pads one at a time (as opposed to both at once). The reason to change them is to get rid of the abundance of nitrate-producing bacteria. But the reason to change them one at a time is so as not to eliminate the bacteria entirely, as they are beneficial.

At any rate, I have heard of reefers having success with small tanks with biowheels, but mostly I hear complaints about excess nitrates. I have a marineland 400 that I only use on my quarantine tank for this reason.

 

Alright, update.

The clown without Brooklynella isn't looking like he wasnts food and is also just swimming around with his mouth open.

What does this mean?

 

A Vertex IN-80 would be great for your tank (do you have a sump?).

 

No I do not. I was planning on building one in Jan. but now I am not sure.

I think I have finally come to a decision. I have to move to another apartment come May and after a lot of thinking I am going to just leave this tank alone for now and let it continue to cycle and give it to my GF to take over and make it what she wants.

We are going to have to move it in May so I don't want her to add too much livstock after we leave it alone for about 4 weeks.

I am going to save money up till then to build a great sump/fuge and a 75 gallon tank that I am going to chronicle on this site so that everyone knows what I am doing to make sure I do not screw up somehow.

 

we will be here to help!