I might be crazy, let me know what ya think.

danewell

danewell

Member
So money is a little tight, and I know that skimmers can remove too much of the good stuff for corals. So my thought is to grow some chaeto and other algaes in the sump and glue some to catch water flowing over the walls in the sump to clean the water. I also have a 3 inch sandbed and plenty of snails, hermits, worms, pods, mysis, and an eel to keep it turned up from becoming deadly. Thoughts on the set up please.
 
D

DaveK

Well-Known Member
There is nothing wrong with growing macro algaes to help clean the water. There is no need to locate it by gluing it to anything. Just make sure the water circulates through it. Macro algaes take some time to process the water. This is why you see a recommended flow for a refugium to be much lower that the flow through a sump.

In my opinion, I'd use a skimmer. While there are people that do believe a skimmer removes "too much of the good stuff for corals", I have never found this to be the case. There is a reason all that skimmate removed really stinks. If your really in doubt about the, you can run the skimmer part time on a timer, but I run mine all the time.
 
danewell

danewell

Member
Thanks Dave. That is an idea, I could run a skimmer when I can afford it and run it while I am at work. Skims some of the nasty out, and I don't have to have extra noise coming from the tank. Worst thing about hardwood floors is keeping track of water and the lack of noise absorbtion.
 
jjmoneyman

jjmoneyman

RS Sponsor
I have a hardwood floor and don't hear my skimmer at all, but it is in my sump. A skimmer doesn't have to be noisy.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I'm totally with DaveK. I have to say I don't buy into the "Skimmer removing too much good stuff". I agree that it has to remove some beneficial stuff but it's well worth it to get ALL that nasty stuff out. I've run tanks with and without and WITH it makes things so much "Easier". They work hard so you don't have to.

One problem I have with using macro-algae like you listed it that it will act exactly like a sponge or some other filter media and trap detritus. This will build quickly and cause cascading water parameters. If you have macro positioned so that the water is feeding it with detritus heavy and the MACRO will trap this and be the beginning of a headache.
 
danewell

danewell

Member
All the water is srunning through a sock filter, but I will take your guys word for it and get one as soon as the money is available. Until then I guess it will be regular water changes. Any recomendations on one? I have 20 inches of clearance to set it up and its a 110 tank. Thanks guys.
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
I've only used GSM skimmers but I'm sure there are many that will work for your application. Go ahead and save for a quality unit rated 2x tank capacity :)
 
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