do i need a skimmer?

[Monster00101]

I am starting a fowlr. if i only have two fish in a 85 gallon do i need a skimmer. I have a picasso and niger trigger. Both were in my reef and now they are both in a 30 gallon qt. I was gonna set it up using a couple canisters until i can afford to buy a sump and large skimmer. I do plan on adding a couple puffers after the filtration upgrade. Both fish are small 2 and 4 inches and the water in the qt with just a power filter never has any quality issues. let me know what u think.

Thanks jeff.

[INCEPTION7]

I would definitely get a skimmer. Those two fish get large and eat alot, not to mention they are messy. You'd probably be able to get by for awhile as long as you are dilligent with large water changes and run chemical filtration. Eventually, however, you will need a skimmer or at least a fuge.

[Monster00101]

I have a sump being built its just not gonna be ready till the end of next month. Then i will buy a large skimmer. I didnt want to buy a hang on cause the sump is coming. imo everything i can hide the better. I would wait but my triggers are in pretty tight quaters and the poor little guys are not happy about it. I am religious about wcs so that wont be a issue.

[Monster00101]

When starting this tank i am using established rock i have been collecting and keeping alive in my qt and the back of my reef. Should i use some of the water from my reef to help with cycling or will it not help? I also keep alot of bio max in my reef sump for starting new tanks.

[saltyguy51]

There's not much use in using you're old water unless you have to. All the good stuff is in the rocks and sand and whatever media you have. I ran a FO (150 gallon)for a few years withour a skimmer and didnt see any problems at all even with keeping a few angels, but then the water changes have to be consistant, but it is a worthwhile piece of equipment. Remmeber they only pull 30% of the DOC's out of the water so dont think by buying the lastest and most talked about skimmer is going to make perfect conditions without other good housekeeping, but I'm sure you know that allready.

[Monster00101]

Yeah if theres one thing i learned keeping a reef is mantinence is everything. The first time i got lazy i lost a coral. never again. this is not the hobby for someone who wants a mantenince free decoration. haha. I didnt know they only pulled 30%. 30% is still an effective piece of equipment.

[saltyguy51]

Yeah if theres one thing i learned keeping a reef is mantinence is everything. The first time i got lazy i lost a coral. never again. this is not the hobby for someone who wants a mantenince free decoration. haha. I didnt know they only pulled 30%. 30% is still an effective piece of equipment.Yes it is and provides lots of O2 with all those tiny bubbles

[Monster00101]

Thats a very good point thanks. I will have to use one of my air pumps until i get the skimmer. A little off topic but i use an old skimmer pump for mixing my salt water. The airation is amazing plus it moves more water than the little pump i was using.

[T-T-Trigger]

Skimmer on fish only is great for helping give that extra margin of error. But certainly not a necessity, imo. Even the simplest thing like feeding them slowly so no food slips into the nooks and crannies,and only what they will eat at the moment can make a huge difference in h2o quality for FO tank.
I run a filterless/skimmerless mantis tank now for 2+ years. Big mantis though (7" now), eats alot of food! So maybe I am biased when it comes to fo style tanks :)

[Stuart60611]

I would not even consider operating your system without a skimmer. Those two triggers are very messy eaters. You are not going to be able to house much of a clean up crew with these fish and will depend on the skimmer, especially in that undersized volume, to remove the by products of uneaten food, and you will have to feed quite a bit of food to these fish each day. Moreover, I do not think even medium term you will be able to house these two triggers in this water volume. Moreover, I think adding a couple of puffers is not something that is doable in this size system with those two triggers. The picasso will grow slow, but the niger should grow at a decent clip.

[jjsan]

I would because I noticed that high nutrients brings out HLLE.

[Monster00101]

there is a total of 5.5 inches of trigger per 85 gallons. I will have a skimmer and fuge in a couple weeks. They won't do much growing between then and now. I'm sure ill be fine I am also using established rock. Been in my reef for about a year now. I will just have to he carefull about feeding. I am also running two fluval 404s. I was wondering about the clean up crew. Is there any clean up crew that will survive in a tank with these fish? I had the Niger and a yellow tang in. The 30 gallon tank for qt at the same time and there was no water quality issues. So why would there he issues in the 85? Also every book I have read says the Niger should be in minimum tank size of 75 gallons and the Picasso 65 gallon.