Is a skimmer a must for FO

I want to start a 120 FO. Is it a must to have a skimmer on this ? I do not plan on having live sand or rock. I will stick with some holey base rock and crushed coral. Also would a rena xp3, magnum 350 pro with bio wheel and a penguin 330 be able to filter this? I hope to have a dogface a niger and a humu humu.

Thanks everybody for your insight.

 

Fish produce the majority of the bioload in any tank. A skimmer (preferably in a sump set-up) is definitely a must for removing waste from the water. The above mentioned fish will produce so much waste as to cause major algae problems from high nitrates without a skimmer and look into a denitrator coil too.

 

what is this coil u speak of ? I was told I would not need a skimmer. Man everyone tells me something different, very confusing. Thanks for your help man.

 

IMO the skimmer is #1 for any salt setup.

 

You need a skimmer.

 

I have a skimmer-less reef setup right now. Any seasoned reefer will tell you that in a FOWLER a skimmer is pretty much useless. A reef is a different story but I'm succeeding without one. Pictures for proof are available upon request.

No, you do not need a skimmer if all you plan to have are fish. Corals....MAYBE....but fish only? No.

Also, Bogie, I'm sorry to point out that in most fish-only setups the use of simple fluorescents are employed. So algae is of very little concern. Only when you go above those is the green demon of much importance.

Will you grow algae, ADOG? Yes!! Will it require a skimmer to control? Absolutely NOT!

 

I've had 2 FOWLER (Fish only with live rock) tanks for over 7 1/2 years and I can tell you this from experience. One tank has a skimmer (38 gallon), one doesn't (20 gallon; well it just got a crappy one 2 months ago). Guess which one always had the lower nitrates and needed fewer water changes? If you guessed the one with the skimmer, you'd be correct. That skimmer pulled out quite a bit of "gunk" every week. There is no way I would run a saltwater tank without a good skimmer ever again. Currently, the 20 gallon has a skilter filter (emergency replacement filter that has a loud, small, almost useless skimmer on it), but I'm looking to replace the skimmer on the 38 and take that skimmer and put it on the 20. I will then remove the skimmer part of the skilter filter as I never intended to use it's skimmer function anyway.

As far as a lack of algae because of low wattage (simple) fluorescents, I don't believe it. You will get algae in every tank, no matter how much/little light you have. The severity of the algae problem will be dictated by your cleanup crew (snails, hermit crabs, and other algae eaters), the quality of the light (replacing bulbs every 6-12 months), as well as the quality of your water's parameters (Nitrates, Phosphates, dKH (alkalinity), PH, Calcium). Keep your parameters good, a quality cleanup crew, fresh bulbs, and you will most likely never have to fight a major battle with algae. In fact, you will probably never have to battle algae as the cleanup crew will keep ahead of it.

Don't use a skimmer if you don't mind doing a lot of water changes. Sure, there are some people who can get by without one, but unless you're really experienced with keeping saltwater tanks, I think you should get one.

Also speaking from experience on this one:

Please DON'T use crushed coral gravel, use argonite sand. The crushed coral will trap a ton of detritus, causing you to constantly battle nitrates. This, I can tell you, will frustrate you to no end, as you will have major algae problems about 12-18 months down the road. For about the first year everything will be just fine. After that, and no matter how good you are about tank maintenance (especially about TRYING to keep the crushed coral vacuumed), you will see the Nitrates problem rear it's ugly head. And then the algae comes. And keeps coming. And coming. And coming. And.........

 

Now, what I say is from one newbie to another. I have been doing this since May 2008, so I am by no means an expert, but I do pay attention and I have done my share of research. So here are my two cents worth.

The coil denitrator can be beneficial. It uses anarobic bacteria to control nitrates. This can be accomplished through water changes also (or using a refugium). There are a few things you can do to control nitrates, so the coil denitrator, if you decide you need one can be put on the back burner for now. You will control your nitrates during the first few months through water changes.

Now, back to that skimmer. Back in the land before time, when skimmers weren't invented yet, people ran SW set-ups successfully. Then, I think in the '70's, skimmers came to be and life was good. They fell out of favor for awhile and then made the great comeback. Now there are sooooo many different types.....it can be confusing to look at if you don't know what you're looking for. Now, not everyone runs one, but the majority of SW aquarists do. Brandon is a good example of a success story that does not involve a skimmer (and with a reef no less!!!---Kudos to his abilities).

However, and this is a big however.....you are new to the SW set-up. Your biggest challange is going to be keeping water quality up. You are already not going to use live rock. LR is the best you can get in terms of dealing with a nitrogen cycle and propogating nitrogen breakdown. If you are going to run a FO system, you still cannot lose by getting a skimmer. Seriously. It pulls out an amazing amount of junk. I have a generic piece of junk skimmer that collects green stuff on a daily basis. It is wonderful.

My point in this long, drawn-out post is that you need some sort of mechanical filtration beyond your canister filter. It works in a totally different way and can do nothing but make life easier for you. If you are not going to go reef, don't go out and spend $400 on a bullet. Get something like a coralife that is rated a little above your tank specs.

There, I said it. And sorry....but that was probably my three cents worth.

Have fun. John.

 

Yes Yes Yes!!!! Extremely important. Do not use shortcuts on this one. Argonite sand also has buffering capacity, which is a good thing.

 

I personally dont think a skimmer is a must.
I have never used a skimmer only ozone. Yes if you use a skimmer, more waste is removed and thus nitrates stay lower meaning less water changes.
But as far as i know fish are not really that sensitive to nitrates. So for a FO tank it wouldnt be a problem.

My friend keeps a predatory tank and he doesnt use a skimmer. Only ozone. All his fish are always healthy and he has some very difficult to keep fish!
I can tell you his nitrates are well over 500ppm. And no, he doesnt have an algae problem, I think its because he uses T8's and i dont think they penetrate enough for the algae!
Oh and to add he doesnt do water changes, maybe a 10 gallon change once a month if he gets round to it. The tank is several years old and he never buffered it. When i tested his PH it was 6.3! (he is now buffering as his emperor has fading colours)

Just my opinoin tho.