Not having skimmer for FOWLR???

hey guys!

I wanna know something, i wanna build a FOWLR 55 gallon with 10 gallon sump and about 150 kg live rock...
how important is the protein skimmer???
is it ok not to have one on a FOWLR set up???
side effects of not having one???

and is it ok not to have a wave maker in the FOWLR setup?
its because i dont want anything inside the tank beside rocks, sands and fishes...

any thoughts guys!?

thanx heaps

Frank

 

IMO Frank any salt water tank benefits from the addition of a protien skimmer

having said that, fish are typically not as demanding of perfect water quality that some species of corals are and as such a FOWLR would be a good choice for a tank you wanted to run skimmerless

you may want to compensate and help your water quality by incorporating reactors for chemical media in your sump build, running carbon, GFO and possibly Purigen or similar water purification media

if your going to have a sump, then your tank will be drilled and you can create 2 or 3 holes for water return so as to avoid having powerheads or wavemakers in the tank IMO

Steve

 

thanks heaps steve...

 

IMO, although fish are more forgiving of less than perfect water parameters, the type of fish kept in FOWLR's tend to be messier eaters. Also, I think there is a tendency to over feed more often. Personally, I would think a skimmer is just as important in a FOWLER. If you have a sump, can increase the size a little and put the skimmer in the sump?

 

I agree, FOWLERs are more ofthen then not, higher nutrient loads and would benefit more then a reef tank would.

 

its a 55 gallon so I dont percieve there being many large messy eaters myself

although I did miss the fact that getting 150 kg of rock into a 55 gallon wont leave much swimming room IMO

Steve

 

thanks heaps guys.. im gonna increase the size of the sump and put a skimmer and put most of the rock in.

 

What is gfo?

 

Granulated ferric oxid. ;D

 

im running a marinelife emperor 400 HOB filter and its working great with my 55 gallon FOWLR. water clearity is perfect