I do need a skimmer.

[Sir Patrick]

There are so many skimmers out there that will work in your hob fuge, for less than $50.

[schminksbro]

Octopus hang on skimmers work quite well. Jamie is talking about growing some sps corals in her tank and I would contend that without a skimmer she will never win the input vs removal battle essential for her success. The water changes necessary to maintain a tolerable nutrient level will be a constant shock to the system which will make stability very difficult to achieve. The tank will basically never mature. I would wager that her NO3 will never get below 20-30 ppm and stay there.

Some sort of surface skimmer will entrain them into the water where they at least stand a chance of being consumed. Even the protein skimmer she is going to need some sort of intake from the surface to get at the stuff floating there. Right now the fuge is just intaking water a few inches below the surface.

I still contend that all of the protein skimmers for this size tank are a waste of money....I would call them inefficient water heaters. Now if Jamie wants to put a 50 gallon sump under this tank...we can talk protein skimmers.

[MizTanks]

There are so many skimmers out there that will work in your hob fuge, for less than $50.

Where? I've been to so many sights looking and haven't found one yet under $100

[binford4000]

There are so many skimmers out there that will work in your hob fuge, for less than $50.

This is true.But I have found that you usually get what you pay for.It's hard to swallow that fact at times.If you choose a cheaper product it's pretty much a given you'll replace it as your tank mature's.I think your spot on about putting slots in the skim box to help remove the the film layer your concerned about at this time.As you stock the tank consider a skimmer,I never meant you had to have one now.The HOB skimmer I recomended has a skimmer bucket and is well known for it's production value in small systems which are inherantly more difficult to maintan as you already know. I am replaceing a Kent skimmer in about a month with a cone skimmer and if you can make it work on your system we'll make a sweat deal for ya.Let me know how much room you have in the sump.It's rated for 300 gal and will be the last one you'll ever need on this tank.And yup this is a UPer to UPer deal ha ha ha

[bigbill]

You need a surface skimmer...not a protein skimmer. A protein skimmer will not help with the film on your water. You need to make the intake of your fuge take water from the surface of your tank then you won't have any film on the top. To do that you need to essentially put the intake in a "cup" that is at the water surface...then water entering the cup will come from the surface. Your tank will look much better and have better oxygen exchange.

+ one on skimmer wont take the foam off

[jimsflies]

I'm pro-skimmer too...When you guys find a small form factor skimmer that actually works let me know. I've owned three skimmers in my short time in this hobby...a deltec mc500, a remora aquaC, and a EuroReef RS80. None of them were worth the plastic they were made from. Someone told me I needed to mesh mod the euro reef...but I never got around to that.

I think if you are under 30 gallons, your best bet even if you are keeping sps is a weekly water change and keeping your bioload in check.

[MizTanks]

Jim, this is the one I've been reading about. I originally had asked if this one could go into my fuge. But discovered that my lights would be in the way.

http://reefbuilders.com/2011/03/12/hydor-slim-skim/

[Sir Patrick]

New Glazer Pico Skimmer wants to play with your organics

[MizTanks]

New Glazer Pico Skimmer wants to play with your organics

Sir, I was looking at that one too. Not quit sure I understand how it works though. Any idea?
There's a couple others there I was looking at too.

Also could you explain to me how having a skimmer in my fuge or hob-ing on the fuge would keep my tank skim free?

[Sir Patrick]

By skim-free, do you mean film on your water surface free?