my first saltwater question

[hzheng33]

I have kept FW tanks for some time and i thought it's about time for me to get a taste of the salty side. i have a handed down 30gal tank with live rock and some small fish (clown + damsel).

Question: is a protein skimmer needed in this setup? i really don't understand how the skimmer traps the waste in the water. i understand that the smaller the microbubbles, the more efficient the skimmer is. but i really don't understand how these bubbles are capable of collecting the waste and be eventually collected in the waste cup. i head started to spin the minute i read the skimmer disrupts the polarity of the substance. i would appreciate if someone can explain me the process in layman's term

 

[picoreefguy]

to answer your first question no a skimmer is not needed. i have run several tanks without skimmers and havent ever had a nitrate problem but other filtration methods have to be used. that being said its never a bad idea to run a properly sized (one thats rated to at least 1.5 times your water volume but more is better) skimmer. as for how a skimmer works the easiest way to explain it would be that organic junk in the water likes to stick to the surface of water. so by blowing a bunch of bubbles into the water you create lots of surface area and since bubbles like to go to the top of the water they take that junk with them. and as all that junk gets to the top and the bubbles build up they get thicker because there is more and more junk building up and eventually the bubbles start going over the top of the neck of the skimmer and pop leaveing the junk there instead of in your tank.

 

[hzheng33]

if i get a large protein skimmer and a sizable sump, could i run two tanks using the same set of equipments? for now, i will do FOWLR. one with puffers and the other for community

 

[picoreefguy]

yes you can do that but there a few things to consider.

1. make sure there is enough room in the sump for all the water that will drain from both tanks in the event of a power outage. if there isn't enough room you will have a flood.
2. if you're going to run both tanks off of one pump use valves (either gate or ball) so that you can turn off the flow to either tank if needed and you can control the flow in either tank as one tank may need more or less than the other one. or you can use two pumps. each sized for the tank it will run.
3. this isn't specific to the type of setup you're talking about but since you're new to saltwater i thought i should mention it. when setting up your tank make sure there is some sort of device or safety measure to prevent your return lines from starting a siphon in the event of power failure. there are a couple ways to do this you can have one of your returns very close to the surface so it pulls air shortly after the pump turns off breaking the siphon. you can drill a small hole just above the waters surface in your return line to do the same thing. or you can install a check valve which, instead of breaking a siphon by allowing air in, will not allow back flow by lowering a flap that blocks the flow when the water stops moving