Do I hafta: use ro/di, sump, skimmer, fuge, ATO

Sk8r · 01/26/2008, 02:35 PM

Answer 1: in very small tanks and in all-in-ones you can get by with out a sump or dedicated skimmer; and a fuge, but use ro/di. The alternative is nasty algae and a lot of work. An ATO [autotopoff] is recommended, but harder to set up. The better yours is, the more stable your tank will be. The more you rely on live rock and sand, the better: the smaller your fish load the better.

Answer 2. in regular tanks above 40 g, sump and dedicated skimmer become an increasingly good idea---reason: crud builds up. Filters are problematic: they build up crud, and it turns to nitrate. You just can't get nitrate to 0 while running filters. If you have 1 lb per gallon of live rock, you can achieve 0, if you have no filter, and if your fish load is small. Sumps and skimmers go hand in hand: otherwise the equipment in plain view begins to dominate your tank. There are other reasons, too: dumping chemicals in is best done where there are no fish or corals, like the sump. A skimmer is good, because it takes out stuff a filter can't: amino acids is what it targets. And your evaporation rate is now large enough an ATO will save your sanity---and prevent the daily bounce in salinity which does your fish and corals no great good. And if you aren't using ro/di from the get-go, I fear you'll be posting one of those: "MY tank is a year old and I'm drowning in hair algae!" threads.

Answer 3. In a larger tank, you need all the help you can get...meaning all of it is recommended. They're more stable, but they have a killer evaporation rate, like gallons per day [my 54 evaps more than a gallon daily] and a skimmer is really, really the way to go for the protein waste. If you don't have a sump you have very little place to put a skimmer except in plain view, and skimmate is ugly stuff: your roommate will start laying down ultimata. Besides, by now you have so much chance of having more fishfood [ergo more phosphate] that you'll start wanting a fuge because otherwise you have yards and yards of algae to scrape.

HTH.

01/26/2008, 02:35 PM	#1
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	Do I hafta: use ro/di, sump, skimmer, fuge, ATO Answer 1: in very small tanks and in all-in-ones you can get by with out a sump or dedicated skimmer; and a fuge, but use ro/di. The alternative is nasty algae and a lot of work. An ATO [autotopoff] is recommended, but harder to set up. The better yours is, the more stable your tank will be. The more you rely on live rock and sand, the better: the smaller your fish load the better. Answer 2. in regular tanks above 40 g, sump and dedicated skimmer become an increasingly good idea---reason: crud builds up. Filters are problematic: they build up crud, and it turns to nitrate. You just can't get nitrate to 0 while running filters. If you have 1 lb per gallon of live rock, you can achieve 0, if you have no filter, and if your fish load is small. Sumps and skimmers go hand in hand: otherwise the equipment in plain view begins to dominate your tank. There are other reasons, too: dumping chemicals in is best done where there are no fish or corals, like the sump. A skimmer is good, because it takes out stuff a filter can't: amino acids is what it targets. And your evaporation rate is now large enough an ATO will save your sanity---and prevent the daily bounce in salinity which does your fish and corals no great good. And if you aren't using ro/di from the get-go, I fear you'll be posting one of those: "MY tank is a year old and I'm drowning in hair algae!" threads. Answer 3. In a larger tank, you need all the help you can get...meaning all of it is recommended. They're more stable, but they have a killer evaporation rate, like gallons per day [my 54 evaps more than a gallon daily] and a skimmer is really, really the way to go for the protein waste. If you don't have a sump you have very little place to put a skimmer except in plain view, and skimmate is ugly stuff: your roommate will start laying down ultimata. Besides, by now you have so much chance of having more fishfood [ergo more phosphate] that you'll start wanting a fuge because otherwise you have yards and yards of algae to scrape. HTH. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.