right setup

[Rock]

Is live rock and a quality protein skimmer enough? Do you really need a wet/dry filter if you have good flow and adequate live rock? What about a refugium? Does a wet/dry filter just had maintainence and possible nitrate build up?

[erebus]

That's all I use (rock and skimmer). I keep a smaller fish load though.

[ErikH]

A wet-dry provides aeration, which you get from a skimmer. Usually they have them built in. The pads catch debris, which if you have a GOOD Clean Up Crew (CUC) it shouldn't matter either. The design of the bio ball is to allow max flow and surface area for beneficial bacteria, which can be handled by LR.
Alot of people use them for these reasons, but if you have all of the equipment that is considered built in on a wet/dry, they will tend to build a sump and incorporate a refugium. A good solid refugium is beneficial in many ways... The main thing would that alot of people want is macro algae to help export nutrients.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/refugium.htm

[Rock]

So what percentage of people use a wet dry filter?

[p00num3lli]

get a refugium... fill it with lots of LR/LS/MACROALGAE/MANGROVES/ and put power compacts over it too keep the macro/mangorves alive with at least 40 watts. refugium's help out your tank alot. read up on them on the web, lots of good information out there.

[LoneStar]

Most people now-a-days don't use wet/dry filters in the saltwater hobby. Although there are people who still do use them, there are better, more effecient ways of keeping your water/tank clean.

A good protein skimmer and a good amount of cured live rock and keep your tank alive and happy. If you end up incorporating a sump with a fuge attached, this will help your water quality even more. The fuge (refugium) will allow a safe haven for pods to grow and will give a home for macro algea to grow.

When using a wet/dry, make sure you replace the filter floss weekly. Alowing this to slip over time will allow more detritus to build up, helping your nitrates to rise. They say the bioballs can trap detritus as well. You can ditch the bio balls and replace that with live rock rubble.

[SoLiD]

I'm another guy with a Refugium here and I love it. I think it has to be one of the most important pieces of equipment in any reef setup. There are way too many benefits from having one.

[Rock]

Good thats what I needed to here in regards to the wet dry issue. I am setting up a sump with a protein skimmer. I am looking at either the reef octopus or the turbo floater 1000. I keep going back to the TF 1000 based on different reviews I have seen. Any thoughts?

[ErikH]

Well, I have heard various things about the turboflotor.... Most of it goes like this
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/54444/ten_reasons_why_you_should_not_buy.html

Conversely I have heard good things about the octo.