Skimmer Recommendations

I have both skimmers and in my opinion the Remora although a little more pricey is a better skimmer not to mention more quiet....the BAK PAK with it's venturi (air intake) is noisy.....I don't know where you will be having this tank but mine was in our living room and it (the BAK PAK) was so noisy I had to turn up the TV and was just soooo annoying I put it on a timer so it would skim between 11:00 at night and 6:00 AM. My Bio load was not too big so this was not an issue at the time but I knew it would be.....so I forked over the money and bought the Remora and run it 24/7 and my maintenance and parameters are excellent.....I too went for the cheaper BAK PAK but ended up getting the Remora. Not that the BAK PAK is a bad skimmer it is just too noisy!

As far as your phosphates.......I am not sure the type of filtration you have, but if you have an area where you can place some Phos-Ban or Phos-Zorb they will knock those out.....and that is the true reason you are having your algae bloom. Take it from me I fought this for months and the two things that have stopped it was switching ALL of my top off water to RO/DI water and let the Phos-ban set for 4 days in my filtration.....my tank is soooo clean now it is scary, I fear for the snails and crabs that they will not have anything to eat.

 

My Aqua C has never overflowed. I took the advice from around here and got one and love it. If you want a back pak they have no name copies for really cheap on e bay.

 

Thanks for the info dude..
my tank is in the living room so noise is a huge concern.. I bought a powerhead the other day and now its making my hood rattle alot lol, not to mention it makes the water hotter.

Currently I have a standarrd 29 gallon Top Fin "ready-to-go" setup from Petsmart. I had it stup for my freshwater for about 2 years, and the lady at the petstore said I could use everything came with it.
So I am using the stock hood w/ stock lighting, the stock top fin filtration system that uses the little cloth type bag cartridge with the carbon rocks in it and squeezed a sponge in the filter that the lps sold me to hold bacteria (?) . Not the best setup, but I am just starting and she said it would work for now.

I currently am leaving the lights off so hopefully the algae will start to die off, but I may pick up that phos-ban stuff.. will it work with my top fin filter?

So from the sounds of everyones review, it looks like I will start saving up for this dude -- >eBay: AquaC Remora w/ MJ 1200 Protein Skimmer Aqua C *NEW* (item 130072819138 end time Feb-03-07 20:00:00 PST)

rashr, I took your post into concideration the most being I am in the same situation looking to get a quite skimmer as well as effective. I live in an apartment, so overflow is a huge concern, as well as noise level because it is right in between my dining room and living room. (which is not that much room at all lol)

 

I've had a BakPak for several years and never heard it once- rashr does your air intake have the stock silencer on it?

 

Phos is the cause of the algae

HI,
Many times with new tanks, you will have excess phos, it maybe from food , or tap water, or some other source.
The phos feeds the algae the algae blooms till the phos drops then the algae dies releasing more phos to start the next cycle. many off the other soluable organics help the bloom. You have a really small tank so things go bad fast very fast. Maybe a small sump would help like a 20 gal tall , thsi would add water and maybe you could put in a DSB Deep Sand Bed out of site and the skimmer in the sump to prevent overflow problems. I have my heater in my sump too.
I try and remove phos with phos guard or some pillows. this will clear silica too.
Be sure your not over feeding.
The small corallife skimmer are cheab and very efficient for the bucks many LFS will have them around 60-80 bucks they come with pumps , bubble traps but will need to be dialed in upon set-up and durin use becuase water height is critical to skimmer function.
So you need a skimmer frequent water changes, phos guard and be sure your food isn't creating a problem.
good luck..
Doug

psps you can see the skimmer on the sump bellow its full of that brown stuff..

I made this sump it aint pretty but it works, I use live sand, snails and algae to help control water conditions.

 

A sump is not going to be feasable being that the stand that I have it on will not support it, i will post a pic when possible. Also, its against a wall that is the length of the tank and nothing on the sides. A pic would help you picture this, but a hang-on-skimmer is really my only choice.

also, you said i need phos-guard or pillows.. what are pillows?

 

I have no doubt that I could make that, I just really dont understand what it all does and how the hoses would need to be routed etc

 

er maybe one of these would help

Hi,
Its me again.
Here's a rather small reforgium that could have some deep sand and a place for Algae and pods.
Doug
this ones at aquatreaders not very expensive.

this is the cpr model...



it can hang on the back of your tank and has a skimmer, its sold by CPR.
The light and algae will improve your water quality and remove phos and nitrates, the deep sand will help with bacteria and nitrite reduction. And add a little water. The fuges job is to help remove soluable organic waste that may be accumilating in even clear water this material becomes toxic if it reaches high enough levels things in nature help reomve it, IE alage, large amounts of sand loaded with good critters and bacteria. otherwise its frequent water changes. to dilute the toxins. 1 teaspon of sand may equal a heap of blue bio balls for good bacteria.

Doug

 

I saw something like this on ebay and wasnt sure it was worth a crap..
Anyone have any personal experience with this one in particular?

I was seriously thinking of purchasing the AquaC Remora with Maxijet 1200, but if you are telling me this will do the same thing and then some, I am all game for 50 bux haha.

 

Psps

hI,
The pillows refers to the media bags that are pre-made to remove something they contain media specific for the desired reaction, example a phos ban pillow.
I use the one you add to your filter media instead of carbon. I hope in the future my reforguim can handle the waste better but its stil cycling in.
Tanks need months to get healthy..
Here's and example of a phos remover.



Ps the skimmer may do more good than the reforgium, the phos remover may make algae scarce for the blemmy so watch him.
skimmers are good for dissolved organics, but may lower benficial things like iodine and stronium, so you must add trace elements, reforgiums help slow the process so it isn't really either one or the other its more like the more the better.
doug