Protein Skimmer = no bio wheel?

[Kerchakone]

I've been reading around A LOT and I've found a few places that have said that if I were to get a protein skimmer that the live rock and that are all I'd need (filter wise obviously) Is this true? Right now it's a FOWLR eclipse 12, but I plan on getting some mushroom coral and possibly an anemone.

Another thing I read is that sometimes people can use activated carbon instead of a protein skimmer, but you have to replace more elements in the water. Is this why basically nobody does this? Or is that just bad info?

Also if anyone could tell me what kind of temp increase going from the 13 watt light to a retro 32 watt light would occur?

Thanks in advance!
Scott

 

[Anonymous]

I've never used a skimmer on such a small tank, it's a waste of money. It takes me all of 4 minutes to do a water change on a tank this size, which negates the need for a skimmer.
Remember, all you're doing is exporting nutrients either way.

I don't use skimmers until the tank volume hit's 20 gallons or so.

I no longer have this tank set up, but it looked just like this at 1 year, (only more growth) and only used live rock for filtration.

The maxima, originally from my 150, did very well.

Jim

 

[Ef3s]

Also if anyone could tell me what kind of temp increase going from the 13 watt light to a retro 32 watt light would occur?

12 gallons is a little tank and could have temp swings pretty quick, unless the temp changes by more than 3-4 degrees I wouldn't worry about it. If it does get to warm you can always add a fan to the hood. If one isn't premade for your brand try using a computer fan from radioshack. Also have been told that disturbing the surface of the water can lower temp with evaporation.

 

[Kerchakone]

I've never used a skimmer on such a small tank, it's a waste of money. It takes me all of 4 minutes to do a water change on a tank this size, which negates the need for a skimmer.
Remember, all you're doing is exporting nutrients either way.

I don't use skimmers until the tank volume hit's 20 gallons or so.

I no longer have this tank set up, but it looked just like this at 1 year, (only more growth) and only used live rock for filtration.

So I can ditch the biowheel altogether and have only the light for now you are saying? Even though its not filtering anything, it still seems crazy to me, but I'm a nooB.

I've got 15 lbs of live rock and an inch of live sand in the 12 gallons. I was going to up the sand to possibly 3-4 inches and add a little more rock.

If I were to skip the skimmer altogether how often would water changes need to be done? I know they are easy and quick, but I'd rather not have to do them often.

 

[Kerchakone]

Also if anyone could tell me what kind of temp increase going from the 13 watt light to a retro 32 watt light would occur?

12 gallons is a little tank and could have temp swings pretty quick, unless the temp changes by more than 3-4 degrees I wouldn't worry about it. If it does get to warm you can always add a fan to the hood. If one isn't premade for your brand try using a computer fan from radioshack. Also have been told that disturbing the surface of the water can lower temp with evaporation.

Well in the morning the temp is 74ish and by late night just before I turn the light off the temp is up to 78. Would a fan cool that enough? I have a hard time believing it can do enough. But my problem is I don't want to buy a chiller if this will work and I don't want to kill my fish with experimenting without it.

 

[Ef3s]

You would be surprised what a little fan can do. If it's blowing accross the surface of the water it will cause quicker evaporation but should lower the temp by a degree or two. If the max swing is 4 degrees I wouldnt be to alarmed.

If the max temp as you said is only going to 78 perhaps put a heater in the aquarium set at 78. When the lights are on heating the tank it will stay at 78, when lights turn off and temp drops the heater will keep it at 78. So no swing.

ALso could try directing a power head to agitate the surface of the water..I beleive this could help as well in a tank this small..

I would only look into a chiller if you live in an area where the temp no matter what will be higher than 80 in the room of the tank.

 

[Ef3s]

As for water changes....

Do it when the water needs it.. with proper testing you should be changing the water when any of the Amonia Nitrites or Nitrates reach unacceptable levels. I would recommend increasing sand to about 4 inches. Even if water levels remain healthy will still want to do at least (Bi-weekly to keep trace elements low etc...

 

[Anonymous]

I've never used a skimmer on such a small tank, it's a waste of money. It takes me all of 4 minutes to do a water change on a tank this size, which negates the need for a skimmer.
Remember, all you're doing is exporting nutrients either way.

I don't use skimmers until the tank volume hit's 20 gallons or so.

I no longer have this tank set up, but it looked just like this at 1 year, (only more growth) and only used live rock for filtration.

So I can ditch the biowheel altogether and have only the light for now you are saying? Even though its not filtering anything, it still seems crazy to me, but I'm a nooB.

I've got 15 lbs of live rock and an inch of live sand in the 12 gallons. I was going to up the sand to possibly 3-4 inches and add a little more rock.

If I were to skip the skimmer altogether how often would water changes need to be done? I know they are easy and quick, but I'd rather not have to do them often.

Your live rock and sand are your filters. We're talking biological filters here, not mechanical filtration which usually isn't needed.

 

[mr_X]

i disagree with "do waterchanges when it needs it".
in many cases, by that time, it's too late. if you are to have sensitive corals in your tank, don't stress them any more than absolutely necessary.
i would do a weekly 20-25% change. besides, the sea salt you will use has the trace elements and goodies your corals need. the water will get depleted of these eventually, without waterchanges, and then you'll need to add them manually.
again- you do not want to wait until you have ammonia, or nitrite present to do a waterchange

 

[Kerchakone]

So basically I just need a powerhead or two to move the water. If this is true then I can possibly fit the light retro kit in place of the current filter and run basically 45 watts and have a LOT of light, plus I can set it up to do progressive lighting if I wanted. That would be sweet.

As far as the powerheads... Would one be sufficient? I don't plan on much more than polyps and like I said an anemone eventually.

I'm thinking one powerhead pointed across the tank to the opposite wall and one at the surface to ripple the water plus a fan to cool as well. Sound good?

Thanks for the info thus far guys.

 

[Anonymous]

As for water changes....

Do it when the water needs it.. with proper testing you should be changing the water when any of the Amonia Nitrites or Nitrates reach unacceptable levels. I would recommend increasing sand to about 4 inches. Even if water levels remain healthy will still want to do at least (Bi-weekly to keep trace elements low etc...

Excuse me, Dr. Gordon Freeman,

There is nothing in your post I agree with.
For starters, water changes need to be done on a regular basis based on the bio-load and filtering capacity of the tank in question. We do not test the water and then decide to do a water change based on elevated nitrogen. Further, an established and well maintained tank does not need to be tested for any of those things with proper maintenance, especially ammonia and nitrite, something that a basic understanding of the nitrogen cycle will make manifest to you very quickly. Both of the latter items should be at or near zero with a functioning biological filter.

As someone who's been doing this for several decades, and has run both deep and shallow sand beds, I would disagree with your recommendation on a 4" bed. That item is really the only thing open for debate.

Lastly, nobody does water changes to keep trace elements low, we do water changes among other reasons, to replenish them.

 

[Ef3s]

Was under the impression that it was a new aquarium since he is talking about adding sand and rock....

 

[Anonymous]

If I were to skip the skimmer altogether how often would water changes need to be done? I know they are easy and quick, but I'd rather not have to do them often.

Do you have 4 minutes a week? Bi-weekly will work to, but it depends on your bio-load, your feeding practices, and the filtering capacity of the tank.

 

[Nemo2007]

I also have an Eclipse I used to start my adventure with saltwater aquariums. I have the Eclipse 29. Concerning lighting, I upgraded to a SunPaq 65W retrofit. I also use two Maxijet 600's (7.5W) on a Currentsea wavemaker for additional flow. The lights and the pumps together add significant heat to the system. I should also mention, I use a protein skimmer. Fish did well without one but I couldn't keep crustaceans alive for long until I got one. The benefit and hindrance of the Eclipse system is that everything is enclosed. A plastic C-clamp and long siphon tubes allowed me to add a Proaquatics Pro 75 sump with included protein skimmer.
The point is, I use a Mag 5 to return water to the display tank which consumes 40W. The amount of extra heat added to the tank by power heads is relative to the wattage they consume. Keep that in mind when picking a pump.
With all of that said, my tank stayed at 82 degrees or less just by opening the lid and turning on ceiling fans until I moved to Florida. By the way, in the wild coral reefs can get up to 86 degrees or so for short periods of time. If your tank only gets up to 78 degrees, it sounds like you don't have a problem. Many reef keepers more advanced than me keep their tanks 78-81 degrees.

 

[Anonymous]

Try 83 degrees.
That way when it goes to 85, you're not making panicked posts on the forum about your massive heat spike. The corals don't even notice.

People can't seem to figure this one out though.

 

[Kerchakone]

The 78 degrees is with the 13watt bulb in there currently. I ditched the biowheel and threw in a powerhead yesterday and the temp is hovering at 76 where it used to be in the 78 range and the powerhead is directly next to the thermometer.

I've been looking at some light kits and I found one that is dual daylight and dual actinic but it's 80 watts. Is that too much light? I like the 4 different color temps but 80 seems retardedly high for a 12 gallon. The tank is 15-16" deep and the light would be 18 or so inches from the bed when all is said and done.

 

[Nemo2007]

The 78 degrees is with the 13watt bulb in there currently. I ditched the biowheel and threw in a powerhead yesterday and the temp is hovering at 76 where it used to be in the 78 range and the powerhead is directly next to the thermometer.

I've been looking at some light kits and I found one that is dual daylight and dual actinic but it's 80 watts. Is that too much light? I like the 4 different color temps but 80 seems retardedly high for a 12 gallon. The tank is 15-16" deep and the light would be 18 or so inches from the bed when all is said and done.

That works out to be about 6.7 watts per gallon. That ratio should allow you to sustain higher light requiring organisms. However, I don't know how you're going to retrofit your current hood without substantial modification. Many have experienced meltdowns when trying to upgrade Eclipse systems. I have seen meltdowns of aquapod acrylic lenses with stock lighting. You will definately want to consider the fan mentioned above unless you live somewhere very cool.

 

[Kerchakone]

I'd go hoodless if I went with it. More airflow and more light, plus I think it'll look better.... and MUCH more access for feeding and such. No more removing the entire lid to feed.

 

[Anonymous]

That works out to be about 6.7 watts per gallon. That ratio...

Again with the watts per gallon thing. :?
M E A N I N G L E S S

 

[Anonymous]

I'd go hoodless if I went with it. More airflow and more light, plus I think it'll look better.... and MUCH more access for feeding and such. No more removing the entire lid to feed.

Much more evaporation too.