What skimmer is appropriate?

Hi i'm new to this forum, and i'm wondering if, when i start up my first salt tank, what tipe of filtration will be needed.

Its going to be a 30 gallon Peacock Mantis tank. Would this skimmer be enough: Supreme Skilter Power Filter/Skimmer - 250

What other filtration do i need?

 

in saltwater we strive to obtain the most natural filtration possible. the majority of the "filtering" will come from the beneficial bacteria present on the surface area of your live rock, these bacteria will continuously transform organics and waste to nitrate, the last stage of the nitrogen cycle.

similarly your sand bed, if deep enough, will trap toxins inside it further cleaning the water.

on top of these natural filters we can bring a "helping hand" with a skimmer/reactor/ mechanical filter.

with this being said keep in mind the larger the water volume the easier to maintain water parameters. now seeing as this will be a mantis tank the bioload wont be heavy i assume (iv never kept solemnly a shrimp tank so i might be wrong on this) therefore a skimmer is not forcibly needed.

personally i would add one anyway as i believe any further filtering helps, but this is coming from someone who has a heavily stocked tank with hard corals.

otherwise the product you posted seems legit. hopefully someone on here actually used the same and can give you direct feedback, welcome to 3reef!

 

Unfortunately, you get what you pay for in this hobby. While a lot of skimmers in that price range might look good or sound like a good deal, you usually end up with a POS that can't be adjusted properly and/or dies in a very short time. I personally have no experience with that particular unit, but I did learn my lesson the hard way with a model that was quite similar from another 'budget' brand.

That said, given enough live rock and decent flow, you probably wouldn't need a skimmer at all. However, if you wish to use one for additional insurance, I'd suggest checking out nano skimmers from reputable manufacturers such as Reef Octopus or Hydor.

 

Mantis are messy eaters so a skimmer would always be welcomed.As Mr.B has stated though don't waste your time with cheap equipment with your small water volume a weekly water change regimen will go far.Good luck.Mantis are fascinating and quite intelligent.

 

So skimmer is not 100% needed but could help. what other equipment would i need for this tank?
-is an external filter, sump, or a heater needed? im in so cal, so is a heater needed? is a cooler?

if i stock the tank enough with liverock, could that, a powerhead, heater and the tank itself be the only water controlling factors i need?

 

If you are not going to plumb the tank into a sump you will need either a HOB filter or canister (must be routinely cleaned) to remove suspend particles via mechanical filtration.
For a Mantis you're going to need biological filtration (rock/substrate/colonized filter media) and mechanical filtration (floss/sponge/foam).

 

awesome thanks. What HOB filter do you recommend?

 

You could always mod an Aquaclear HOB filter and turn it into a refugium. Or just leave it as it is if you wanted.

 

I do like the Aquaclear because it comes in bigger sizes and has plenty of room within the housing.

 

what size should i get? is the 50 gallon enough for the 30?