What's the difference? Sump, Filter, Skimmer

I just bought a 45 gallon tall tank that's cycling now. I have 65 #'s of live rock and 20 #'s of live sand. I hope to have more of a reef and a few fish when it's all ready. I bought a 305 Fluval canister filter and an Aquatic BakPak skimmer, which is what they told me I needed. The Fluval doesn't fit under the cabinet I have so I have questions.

1. Do I need the Fluval Filter with the BakPak Skimmer, which looks like it also has a biological filter.

2. My son wonders why I can't just have a sump under the cabinet. The aquarium isn't reef ready.

I'm not sure what I really need and what people are just selling me. I thought I did my research and everything would fit, but it doesn't...very frustrating !!

Thanks !:-/

 

if u can get a sump goin then do it
it will how ever require an overflow box which could mean u have to drill some holes or buy an after market hangon over flow which IMO are junk

in any case u are always going to want that skimmer running as it will help to remove bad elements from yer water column

the canister will allow u to remove hard rubbish from yer water and also allow the bacteria to grow that u need for your reef

edit:the skimmer will also revome good elements from yer water but u replenish those when u do water changes

 

Go with a sump if room allows. also employ live rock and sand and a protein skimmer! These will cover the three types of fitration being carbon included.

You don't need a backpac!

 

I am in a similar situation to yours.

I was "sold" on an Eheim canister and a hang on skimmer, really should've done my research before going out and spending money... guess I was just excited. Sump is definetely in the plans for the near future.

Remove all filter media from the Fluval, they're basically just nitrate factories. I use my canister for carbon and rowaphos, which actually works quite well since the canisters pressurize the water and force it through the said media. From what i've read, this works better then simply throwing in a bag of rowaphos/carbon into the sump... best case scenario would be a phosban reactor.

 

sump
A sump is a separate container connected to the main tank where filtration takes place
What is Protein Skimming?
There are some impurities that accumulate in the water of your aquarium that will most likely not be fully removed via your mechanical and biological filtration. These impurities are called dissolved organic compounds (DOC's). For quite some time, commercial and industrial filtration systems have employed a process called foam fractioning to remove DOC's. A protein skimmer is essentially a foam fractioning system for your aquarium. It pulls out water, removes DOC's, and returns the clean water to the tank. If not removed from the water, the DOC's would result in a buildup of oils and phosphates from fats, and nitrates from proteins. Exactly how protein skimmers remove DOC's will be explained below.

How Does a Protein Skimmer Work?
Foam fractioning is a relatively simple process. If you agitate pure water by blowing bubbles into it, the bubbles at the surface burst quickly and no foam develops. However, if the water has fats and/or proteins dissolved in it, the bubbles will not burst as easily and a foam will form as you continue to inject air bubbles. If you've ever blown bubbles with a straw in a glass of milk, you've seen this in action. Milk is basically water with some fats, proteins and sugars dissolved in it. So when you blow bubbles in it, a foam forms. If you were to continually blow bubbles into the milk and scoop the foam off the top, you would eventually remove most of the DOC's (fats and proteins), as well as some of the water.
This is what a protein skimmer does. It creates bubbles in the water and as foam forms on top of the water, it falls into a collection container while the clean water (the stuff that wasn't part of the foam) is returned to your tank. There is a variety of mechanisms by which different protein skimmers accomplish this, but they all operate on this basic idea.
Do I Really Need a Protein Skimmer?
Although protein skimmers are pretty simple conceptually, they can get a bit pricey. When setting up a new aquarium, there are many different accessories that can be added and most people don't want to spend the money to get every possible add-on right off the bat. So, naturally, you want to know just how essential each accessory is.
Protein skimming is not absolutely essential, but it is close. You will be able to keep fish alive in your tank without it, but it certainly won't be an ideal environment. It's kind of like getting a hamster, but not cleaning its cage. It will live for a good while, but it will be constantly immersed in its own waste and that will gradually take its toll. If you can't afford one right away, consider waiting a little longer and saving up a little extra money to get yourself a protein skimmer. Once you have it running and you see the brown scum that it collects from your water, you'll understand why you needed it

 

Thanks for dropping the science about skimming. I am new and have hooked one up, simply because I was told to...big ups for the hows and whys of the PS!

 

Great Post Luna...I gave ya karma for it! it should be a sticky or you might even wanna do an article!

 

I would love to write an article, but that was a "copy and paste" deal. Thanks for the karma. Luna

 

Karma to you Luna, hey'.. ya went thrue the trouble of finding it and showing others and explanation , so what if its a "copy and paste" .. it was well said by the "author"...

 

Why does the canaster not fit under your cabinet? I had a Fluval 3 and they are fairly small comparitively. If you do not have room for the canaster, then I doubt you will have room for a sump as they are much bigger.

What I ended up doing on my 55g was I got an Ecosystem hang on back refigum. (You still need the canister running) That way I could have some of the extra water volume, plus added mud and macroalgea. I bought the biggest one I could find,