Opinion on 2 items

[Chuck_NJ]

I am a newbie putting together a 72 gal bowfront. I am looking into wet dry filters here are 2 i see listed on ebay that i may be interested in the 1st is a complete setup but I am not sure how good the skimmer is . I emailed the vendor to find the mdel of skimmer. here is the link. the price is a buy it now for 4279 including shipping seems to good to be true

http://cgi.ebay.com/200-Gallon-Aqua...ryZ46310QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The second is just a wet dry that need a skimmer here is the link i dont know what the final bid will be or how much for a skimmer for it

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=120354727574

 

[Phyl]

They are typically just venturi style skimmers that are part of the filter, not a separate item/brand. I have a wet dry we ran on our 120 that I'd sell you for 100$. It comes with one of those venturi style skimmers. Truth be told though a simple 15g tank with baffles would be all you'd need.

 

[cmsurfr22]

my experience with those all in one sumps/skimmer/wet dry is that they are a waste of money. i started out with one of those and wound up taking all the bioballs out as they were a nitrate factory. then i upgraded the skimmer. then i upgraded the wet dry to a sump with more baffles and a refugium built into it...one of those custom acrylic ones. my advise is skip the wet/dry and go for a 15 gallon tank with baffles like phyl said and use the money you saved towards a very good skimmer, one that is oversized for your tank, especially if you want a lot of fish. my skimmer is rated for a 750 gallon tank and i have it on a 210. you pay for what you get in this hobby and if you think it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

 

[qwik]

The skimmer looks like this Corallife venturi skimmer .

If you look at the ad the first few pictures have one skimmer and then theres a different skimmer in the single photo? That scares me a bit .

I would go with Phyl's the suggestion of building a simple fuge,might as well add a second chamber for chaeto while your there ,and buy a great skimmer . It will cost about the same and will actually be able to the job you ask from it . And if you did want that skimmer its on sale for about $110 at drsfostersmith. That leaves $150 to build a sump . For that you can build a simple sump and have enough $$$ left over for a phos reactor/pump .Check melevs site for sump suggestions or just ask your questions on this forum . Enough knowledge here to set you up the right way . Wish I found it before I wasted money on equiptment I am now replacing.

 

[DaveK]

I'm not a fan of trickle or wet / dry filters on a SW system. The problem with them is that they are very good at the reduction of ammonia ->> nitrite ->> nitrate. What ends up happening is that this creates a massive nitrate buildup over time, and this in turn leads to massive algae problems.

My choice would be for a berlin type sump and a large powerful skimmer. The berlin sump by it self is basically a mechanical filter, and a place to put chemical filter material. The skimmer removes most of the waste products before the rest of the biological filtration, which is mostly live rock, need to process it.