Sealife refugium

It time for the bioballs to go. My nitrates are at 20ppm after a water change and i cannot get them to go away. I have ruled out almost everything else except the bioballs. I have removed a third of them and plan on keeping removing them over the next month slowly. I know alot of people here here make their own but i am not the handy type of guy. The only tool i can use is a hammer and well that would just not work to make one.

My LFS sells sealife systems and i have a protien skimmer from this company that works great. My question is has anyone had any experience with this brand? I have posted a link below and I am thinking about going withy the 200. Would that be enough for a 120 gallon?

Sealife Systems ReefMasterPro

If not is there another brand/size someone can recomend?

I rellay like the 400 - the lfs has one but I would have to cut a hold in my stand to get it in there.

 

i have heard that you want your fuge to be at least 1/10th the size of your DT to be very beneficial, but then again anything is better than nothing. brand doesnt matter. it just has to have a dsb, macro algae, and light. pretty simple requirements. you can buy one or make your own. you dont have to be too handy, just go buy a 20-30 gallon aquarium, have a glass shop cut some baffles, and silicone away. no tools really needed. the plumbing is the hardest part, and you have to do that yourself either way.
The ones in the link look really nice. if price isnt an issue then go with one of these.

 

that 200 is plenty big for a refugium for your tank. Ive got a 14 gallon under my 125 and its growing like mad.

 

trading the bio balss for something that will remove nitrates is a good idea...rock rubble, algae etc.. all good choices. Skimmers help to remove waste that would otherwise become nitrates, but it doesn't lower nitrates itself if you want to get techinical.

 

if you can fit the 400 get the 400. you cant go to big with a refugium

 

Both my tanks sit at 20ppm. IMO and according to the LFS you would be lucky to be below 20. I removed my bio-balls several weeks ago and replaced them with live rubble and I also have a fuge with 3 different macro algaes. I also do weekly water changes.

 

I bought the 400 today. Now ofcourse another question currently i have an external pump should i go with an internal one in the sump so that i do not have to drill the new sump?

 

its up to you if noise is a problem then internal deff. but if it doesnt make a diff then whatever you have.

ps. you dont have to drill with an external you can just pvc up and over the wall of the fuge