[Hillybean06]

Hey all i'm Hilary and i'm new on reefland...
I have 30g Oceanic Cube and i need help on either building a protein skimmer or finding one that is good for my tank.... i have had my tank set up for over 2 years and haven't had a protein skimmer do i necessarily need one my fish aren't having any problems and i have had them for 2 years also... now i recently added some new fish and would like to eventually add hard and soft corals... any suggestions would be helpful..!!!!
Thanks...

[scubadude]

Hi Hilary
Welcome to Reefland

Can you tell us a little more about your tank? Do you have any filtration in it at all? How much live rock do you have? How long has the tank been set up? How many and what type of fish do you have? Have you tested your water for SG, PH, Temp, Nitrates, Nitrites Ammonia or anything else? If so please tell us the results. What type of pumps are you using, and what type of lights?

I would strongly recommend running a skimmer on your tank especially if you are considering getting corals Here is a link to a simple DIY one that might work for your tank

TOTW 8-30-05 Cookie Jar Protein Skimmer...

If you dont think you are up to a DIY skimmer then I would recommend something like a CPR bakpak or possibly Prism skimmer for your size of tank.

[Poseidon]

I'll second the CPR BakPak, I also like the Remora hang on skimmers.

[Hillybean06]

OK well i have a Rena Xp3 canister filter for a my 30gal oceanic cube... its been set up for 2 years i have had all my fish for 2 years....Fire clown, sebae anenome, clarkii clown, whitetail pygmy angel, 2/4 stripe damsels, 20lb live rock, purple lobster, and LTA I also have turbo snails and blue and red legged hermits... most of my tests are perfect and have been stable for along time i check then every other day i'm pretty good with that i have a nova extreme HO t5 lighting system with a 460nm actinic blue lamp and a 10,000K ultra full spectrum and a moon white lunar lamp..my water is crystal clear and my fish love it they have grown a lot since i got them two years ago i was also wondering if it is recommended if i can get anymore fish and about the skimmer do absolutely need one...

[Poseidon]

How often do you do water changes? A common practice without a skimmer is to do frequent water changes. I run a fairly large skimmer on my system, and I can tell you for certain that I am glad the skimmer removes what it does, have you ever smelled that gunk?

[Hillybean06]

i do 10% water changes every other week... and no i have never smelled that put by the way you are putting it it prolly smells pretty bad.....

[Poseidon]

The water changes are probably a big reason for your success, keep it up!

As for the smell of skimmate, IT IS NASTY!!!! I skim rather dry, and it actually looks like, well it looks and SMELLS like, well uh.... POO!

[Hillybean06]

wow thats pretty nasty....lol well do you suggest that i do get a protein skimmer or should i just keep doing everything i am doing..!!!!

[pearl_aqg]

A protein skimmer is a great idea if you are gonna add more fish and since your current fish are growing - the skimmate might smell nasty but just imagine if that stuff was still gunking up your water! It'll really help process the additional waste and in general is just invaluable for saltwater tanks, will also help keep your filter running smooth and keep it cleaner. Look for the tallest one you can afford, the taller the chamber the more effective.

[Randy]

One idea would be to take your system one step further with an overflow so you can use a sump. From what I read above it would appear that you do not have a sump.

Out of personal experience I could not recomend a CPR backpack skimmer ... sorry Poseidon, but I've owned one and it didn't do squat for me

A sump will give you many advantages and give you quite a bit of versitility with your system.

#1 It will give you surface skimming and this will help your lighting do a better job.

#2 You could place your heater and all of your equipment (including a skimmer), heater, etc... inside the sump which will be out of plane view. This is always a pluss.

#3 A sump will give you more variety of skimmer types to choose from. You can get away from HOB skimmers.

#4 You can use an oversized skimmer for instance. You can choose an in-sump skimmer or a recirculating type skimmer (wich is MUCH more efficient). If you choose an in-sump skimmer you can feed this skimmer from your overflow.

#5 You can simplify your filtration metods (depending on what you currently use) by useing a filter sock. The water that comes from your overflow can be dumped into a filter sock to perform all the mechanical filtration you need. You don't even have to use a sock if you wish.

#6 A sump will also increase your total system volume.

I could go on and on, but you wanted skimmer advice

I have built 2 different skimmers before so here's the links to their build:
6" PVC Needle Wheel Skimmer ~ DIY 6" Needle Wheel Skimmer

4" PVC Needle Wheel Skimmer ~ DIY 4" Needle Wheel Skimmer

[The R/C Man]

Adding a skimmer will be vary benificial to your system. Even with water changes every other week it will still pull out quite a bit of disolved organics I am sure. You could use a Remora Aqau C. It is a nice skimmer and works well. My suggestion would be not to add any more fish if you are planning to add corals. It seems as though you may be pushing the tanks bio load. Have you thought about adding a sump or refugium to increase you water volume?