Refugium and Skimmer?

[DustinWayman]

Hey everyone, next month I will be setting up my new drilled nano tank and I was wondering if I should put the skimmer back on the setup or not? It is an 18 gallon tall tank and a 5.5 gallon refugium that I am putting inside my stand. What do you all reccomend? Should I put the CPR Bak Pak back on or just let the refugium do the work?

Thanks!
~Dustin Wayman

[Ed]

Dustin,

I'm sure you will get different opinions on this but, I would use the Bak Pak at least to start. Most successful skimmerless tanks are well established, IMO a new tank would benefit from a skimmer.

Just my two cents.

Ed

[witecap4u]

Cant hurt to do both, for now at least.

[DustinWayman]

Hey guys, the tank has been up for around a year now. I dont mind putting it on, I am just trying to work out the plumbing.

~Dust

[matt]

I guess it depends on your bio load, but if you have the skimmer, I'd use it. I had a prizm skimmer on my 10 gal for a couple of years and it really pulled stuff, and the tank was very healthy with low maintainence. Having the skimmer will help stabilize your ph, too.

Matt

[witecap4u]

You would also want the refug to be well established before going skimerless for best results. Why not just get the plumbing setup for no skimmer, then throw the backpak on the back of the tank or refug, and pull it off after a couple months...cs

[prof]

You might want to post this question to www.nano-reef.com. They would be better versed to answer a nano question.

I would agree with everyone here that setting up a skimmer is a good idea but I don't think it is nessecary. I have been running a 20g for a couple of months now and it is doing great. No skimmer, no refugium. I am keeping a close eye on it though, a small fluctuation could be catasrophic.

KEEP UP WITH YOUR WATER CHANGES!

Enjoy,
Dave