power head

[offshrefshin]

hey all. ok i have been thinking alot about my ideal fish setup... i was talking to my LFS and i think i wanna go with a dwarf lion and maybe a clown in a aneome or something. but here is my question right now i have 12 lbs of live rock in a 20 gal high. i have a cascade 2oo power filter and a power compacted to go along with it. i am thinking about adding a power head to the mix and does anyone think a protien skimmer is needed. i was looking @ the skilters which have a built in protien skimmer just any advice would be appericated

[BubbaWPB]

Welcome to Reefland, neighbor!

Once you see what sorta stuff a protein skimmer pulls out of a tank, you'd never think of running a tank without one. I've never used a skilter, but from what I recall, they don't have a very good reputation.

Which LFS are you haunting?

Bubba

[offshrefshin]

tanks alot and marks ark they seem to bethe only ones with decent live rock and good prices even though i got a nice pc for only 70 buck from fish fantasia

[BubbaWPB]

I'm in Tanks A Lot a couple times a week... they're about the best around for livestock and corals. They also just got a big shipment of live rock from Fiji. For dry goods, you need to shop around for good prices... sometimes the internet is the best deal.

For a 20 gallon tank, you might want to consider a Prizm skimmer. They're not bad for small tanks.

[offshrefshin]

yea my buddy likes thhem alot. he says they are the best in town and i just bought 20 pounds of live rock. this one guy told me the best way to go is 1lb per gallon for the best setup for stablilty. i was also thinking about going with this lighting system http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=904. i am not looking to get crazy with coral in this tank it is just my starter tank i have a 75 gallon i got for free in my garage. is 130 watts going to be enough for the LR. i am going to look into that prizm skimmer. thanks.

p.s. do you have a aol sn?

[CSeaSee]

Welcome to Reefland! With live rock, it's generally a good idea to fill the tank 1/2 to 2/3 of the tank volume, instead of relying on a lb/gal. rule. The general idea here is surface area- you want as much of it as possible, and dense rocks are going to have less of it than porous (lighter) rocks. I second the Prizm for a small tank- I've got one on my 10-gallon.

[BubbaWPB]

is 130 watts going to be enough for the LR.

p.s. do you have a aol sn?

130 watts will be plenty for coralline algae to grow on the live rock.

I haven't had a screen name on aol for about 6 years....