Need Help Starting My 37 Gallon

[nivekid]

As the title says I need some help. I've been doing some research on things and I have some dry rock and a RODI system on their way to my house. Here are the specs of what I have so far.

37 Gallon
Old Wet/Dry to use as sump (may swap for 10 or 20 Gal AGA)
2x55 Watt PC Lights (I know their not the best but they'll have to do for now)

What I need help with is the skimmer. I'm getting mixed info on what to get. I want to do mostly soft corals but I was also thinking of adding hammer, torches, etc. too. Some say you don't want a skimmer with soft corals and most places say to get the best skimmer you can afford. What should I do? If its best not to mix softies with LPS then i'll nix the LPS. Any advice appreciated.

[muttley000]

It looks like you may want to invest in more circulation before the skimmer. While I think a skimmer is very important, if you don't have enough flow to keep the detritus moving around in the water column it won't be as effective.

[nivekid]

I've got an extra maxi-jet and I was planning on getting something else in addition to it also. Should I also pick up a skimmer?

[mthomp]

with your pc lights you may be hard pressed with lps type coral. although with a tank your size 100 watts may be enough.

and yeah, cant go wrong with a skimmer, just do yourself a favor and get one that is rated for 1.5times what your doing. that is just my oppinon

[nivekid]

See, that's why i'm confused, some say its best to not skim a softie tank. They claim that they need a little organic matter in the water. Is this true?

[snarkes]

Softies do like some junk in the water, but you're still going to want a skimmer for sure. The corals will be just fine.

[nivekid]

K thanks snarkes. That's what I was thinking. I was a little scared of not having a skimmer at all. Would I just do water changes less frequently? Any recommendations on good skimmers for my size tank?

[zachfishman]

Originally Posted by mthomp

with your pc lights you may be hard pressed with lps type coral. although with a tank your size 100 watts may be enough.

You'll be fine doing LPS with 2x55 PC lights - so long as the fixture has a decent reflector. I'm growing lots of frogspawn and candy canes in my 120 lit with only 2x65watt PCs and a 48" 40watt 20k tube. They're in the upper 1/2 of the tank though.

[zachfishman]

Originally Posted by snarkes

Softies do like some junk in the water, but you're still going to want a skimmer for sure. The corals will be just fine.

Funny, my junky water didn't do squat for my baby umbrella leather. Little sucker never grew past 1" in diameter over the 6 or so years I had it! (in several different tanks / lighting conditions).

[snarkes]

Originally Posted by zachfishman

Funny, my junky water didn't do squat for my baby umbrella leather. Little sucker never grew past 1" in diameter over the 6 or so years I had it! (in several different tanks / lighting conditions).

Who knows. My Xenia, Favia and GSP TOOK OFF in my tank when I was doing shall we say "poor maintenance" at the beginning a few years ago. In fact, all of the above loved my Nano the most and there isnt really any filtration there other than the LR/rubble.

[nivekid]

ya zachfishman, my lights have great parabolic reflectors. I may just stick with mostly softies though. It is nice to have more choices though