Skimmer or canister filter?

[Eric]

Unfortunately my canister filter "died" and now I need to replace it.

My question is would you recommend I get another canister filter or get good protein skimmer?

My reef tank is 37 gallons and currently has a mini nano skimmer that was just meant to supplement my canister filter. I have ~40# of live rock for bio filtration.

If I were to get a protein skimmer what should I look for if it will be my only form of filtration besides the live rock? What price range am I looking at?

 

[steve-s]

You won't be able to replace a HOB with a skimmer in the same price range. Expect to pay somewhere between $125.00 and upwards for a decent model. Personally I would choose the skimmer hands down but if your doing very regular large water changes once or twice a week it's not a must. There's no reason why you can't have the best of both worlds really. The only benefit a canister really has is flow through media. Passive placement of carbon and the like can be just the same as using nothing.

It would be fairly easy to put a mesh basket into one of these skimmers and serve the same purpose as the canister. I do that for my 27 gal with the BAKPAK. For your tank size though I would go with the Aqua C Remora.

 

[MikeS]

Agreed with Steve....

The LR is going to provide you with plenty of biological filtration, and a good skimmer will remove lots of crud from the water before it becomes problematic. Canister filters generally tend to be problematic in a reef tank anyway, as they rapidly convert nutrients into nitrate before they have a chance to be removed by other means. Your tank is IMO better off in the long run without the canister. As for carbon use, as Steve stated, there are plenty of places you can put carbon....in a skimmer like a bakpak or AquaC, you can get a cheap HOB powerfilter like a Whisper and put it there, you can get attachments for most powerheads that are designed to house carbon....

On skimmer choice, again I agree with Steve, the AquaC Remora is a very good hang on skimmer....

MikeS

 

[tike]

Skimmer!! and Aqua remora all the way!

 

[burning2nd]

skimmer aqua c Remora!

 

[morgan]

had a canister filter took it off never looked back

 

[Eric]

Thanks for all the advice. I took it, bought the skimmer, and I am already amazed by how much gunk has been filtered out!

 

[burning2nd]

witch one, did you buy?

 

[Eric]

Couldn't wait to get the Aqua C in the mail, so I bought a Corallife Super Skimmer 65g model.

It looks like it's working great!

Thanks for all your help!

 

[Sherman]

That Coralife is a GREAT skimmer. Smokes the AquaC out of the water, but be very careful. Needle wheel is the way to go. The problem with those skimmers is they are flood prone. There are many MANY accounts of them working so well that the collection cup fills up and starts overflowing. If the skimmer is inside a sump, this is not really a problem. If it's a HOB, you have to keep a close eye on it.

I use a Remora on my 38 and was given a Super Skimmer 65, but I couldn't pull the trigger, and passed the freebie on. Another friend had a Remora on his tank for a couple years before he installed the Super Skimmer. Within a week, even his wife asked "Why does the water look so much cleaner?" so you KNOW it works. For me, it was reliability versus performance.

 

[morgan]

awsome stuff keep up the good work canister filters and the biggest nitrate traps and a real pain to clean