Skimmer?New need advice

Hello,

I inherited a 25 year old 40 gallon 15x15x36 with 45lbs of live rock and crushed coral substrate.The tank used to be a reef but the previous owner had it fish only.Im new and set it up with advice from a friend with a undergravel filter,also has a fluval 404 can,two air wands,and a powerhead.There are currently 3 fish(one yellow tang,1 yellow tail damsel and 1 6 line wrass)no coral yet cause im upgrading my lights first but want a reef setup.So tank is super conditioned being as old as it is and water parameters are good except for a little nitrates 5-10ppm.The guy i got it from said the Fluval works as a protein skimmer and I dont need one but i have been reading otherwise.Question is do I need one and if yes I am open to suggestions on type and size e.t.c.

Thanks

 

Hi reddog , veiwed this one a few times whilst considering my comments

These are my opinions and only my opinions , please get other opinions before accepting anything I say!


1 - under gravel filters where very popular when I had hair and a waistline - they are no longer a popular choice for salt water tanks especially as they can be attributed for Nitrate issues later in the tanks life

questions
how deep is your sand bed?
how long has the UG been there?

2 - The Fluval 404 is a external cannister filter and it does not skim - a skimmer removes waste into a collection cup, so its out of the system completely - a Fluval just collects those wastes (the ones it can collect) and keeps them inside it - bacteria will be present and break down wastes - but the most important thing is the the skimmer removes things a cannister filter cannot remove
a cannister filters effectivenes as a biological filter unit is determined by whats inside it (media) and the routine maintenance you perform on it (weekly rinsing using tank water at water change time is my habit) and that helps to prevent Nitrate build up attributed to the filter


Skimmer - many options for your size tank - I am a Deltec fan MCE hang on on my tank, but there are many good models and I hope subsequent posters on here will offer some alternatives

Steve

 

Steve w is right..lol the UG filter can cause severe problems once the reef is establish. must definitely; the canister is not a protein skimmer, and I believe you mention somthing about some bubble wands, if you was cycling I can understand using one, but the bubbles in a salt water aquarium can cause problems, like pop eye on your fish, where the air traps bacteria and then force it self in to the fish's eye.

 

And BTW! Howdy and welcome to 3Reef!

 

R34dawn is right when he says steve wright is right.
Welcome to 3 reef. Octopus also make good skimmers.

 

Steve and the other posters have given you good advice on ditching the undergravel filter and getting a skimmer. Check out the aquacave site on Octopus skimmers. I have the NW-110 and have been very pleased with it. Welcome to 3reef!

 

I've known people to use air stones and bubble wands without detriment to fish. I've never known air bubbles to be of any harm to any livestock. With the water movement in a reef tank, air bubbles are likely to be more of an eyesore than eye candy. For this reason they're not too popular. However I think it's false to say that air bubbles in a tank cause disease.

??

 

Air bubbles created by bubble wands aren't a problem. In fact, a wand/stone that creates fine bubbles are good at oxygenating the water. The problem bubble stones create is a ton of salt creep and corrosion around the tanks. Don't confuse "fine" bubbles with "micro bubbles." Micro bubbles can cause problems in a tank. They can get trapped in the fishes' gills etc.

 

Thanks to everyone who has chimed in and for the welcomes.

To answer Steves questions
1-there is about one inch of crushed coral over the UG
2-Iv had it setup with the UG for 3-4 weeks Im not sure if the guy who gave it to me had it hooked up or not.
I do not have a powerhead hooked to the UG just an air pump and diffusers.
Is the reason they are not good beacause the detrius builds up under the UG plate untill it becomes concentrated enough to spike nitrates?Can I just stop using it and leave it in the tank(reason being I really dont want to disturb my delicate rock design"arches")
Also I put the wands in for aesthetics as they look cool adding fine bubble sheets under the rock arches and I was trying to get a high oxygen concentration.Would a skimmer help with the oxygen concentration?
So I need the fluval and the skimmer?

 

hi again red dog

one inch of sand is good news and you have got the problem dead right in your analysis above

IMO you can do as you suggest - pull out the uplifts and block the holes and leave the base plate in location , with only 1 inch of sand it was not going to be very effective anyway so no harm done

-(other people shout out if there are issues here please - plenum?)


and you do have the fluval running? because we dont want these fish in an un filtered set up

Yes - support your fluval with a good quality skimmer and I believe you will be happy the 1st time you remove the collection cup !!


Steve