Protein skimmer vs. Emperor 280

[imaginal]

Hi all. I was recently gifted a 40gal bowfront and decided to start my journey into reef keeping. My live rocks arrived yesterday and I'm thrilled to start the exciting process of cycling!

In the meantime, I'm trying to get properly equipped. The tank was bought second hand and was originally used for freshwater. He gave us everything he had and I've been scavenging through what he gave us trying to find use for it. One thing that came with it was a marineland emperor 280 cartridge filter with biowheel. I found the pdf manual online and found that it should work fine for saltwater. However, there doesn't seem to be many other people using this sort of solution. I've also read that in many cases it can just get in the way of cycling. Is it worth running this filter, even during the curing of some rock?

It looks like a protein skimmer is likely my next buy. I don't have a sump, so is hang on back a solid option? Any recommendations?

 

[Peppie]

You can use the biowheel filter less the bio wheel, but the skimmer will be far better.
Be sure to get a HOB skimmer that is rated for aprox. 90- 100 gal tank.

 

[imaginal]

So really I would just be using the filter to hold carbon and mechanical filtration? Is it worth it? As far as protein skimmer, I'm gravitating towards the reef octopus bh2000, but I'm open to suggestions. Would this be overkill for a 40 gallon tank? Can you have too much skimming? Anyone know how loud this thing is?

 

[Peppie]

So really I would just be using the filter to hold carbon and mechanical filtration? Is it worth it? As far as protein skimmer, I'm gravitating towards the reef octopus bh2000, but I'm open to suggestions. Would this be overkill for a 40 gallon tank? Can you have too much skimming? Anyone know how loud this thing is?

This is the same skimmer I run on m 90 AIO. It does a great job.
The media in the power filter would be the best way to run it IMO. Yes it is worth running it that way
No need to worry about over skimming your tank with that size skimmer

 

[imaginal]

That sounds like a plan. What is the purpose of removing the bio wheel from the setup?

 

[NanaReefer]

Personally I highly recommend the Reef Octopus BH-1000 HOB Skimmer. Why? I just bought one!! Awesome skimmer!! Well worth the $189 investment. The best part is the *external* pump. Here's a pic after only 24hrs running on my 26g