any advice appreciated

[APD]

Hi all,
im a keen aquarist with a thing for fresh and brackish water Australian natives. i am considering delving into a full salt water set up. i have come across a 3x2x2 aquarium that i was considering for this. the tank howver doesn't have the boxed in corner section i have noticed on many coral and reef fish tanks. my question is, is this box a housing for the protein skimmer? and is it fully necessary? was considering the Red Sea Prizm hang-on skimmer aswell. any light shed on this matter would be appreciated.

Thanks

[CSeaSee]

Hello APD, WELCOME TO REEFLAND!!
Answer one: the "boxed in" area sounds like an overflow- water flows down into a sump, where any number of things can be kept. The water is then pumped back up to the main tank.
Answer two: Protein skimmers are considered necessary on the vast majority of tanks. If you're willing to do massive water changes to keep the water clean, that's also an option. I think you'll find that just about everyone recommends that your protein skimmer is your most important investment.

The "Red Sea Prizm" is truly a terrible protein skimmer on anything larger than a 10 gallon tank. This is not sarcasm or a vendetta. I speak from first-hand experience. There are some excellent hang-on-tank (HOT) skimmers out there- AquaC Remora, CPR BakPak are two. e-Bay often has them (and others) for cheap. The Prizm isn't one of these "excellent" skimmers. It's not even an adequate skimmer, so please don't waste your money now or think that it'll "be enough." Spend a few extra bucks and invest in something that you'll still have 5 or 10 years down the road.

[wozza]

yeah what he said!