need advice for 30 gallon nano

[Yankeefan91]

Hello nano reefers,

I need some help deciding with my future AGA 30 gallon nano. For filtration, would the medium aquafuge refugium be ok or would I need a skimmer too? (Btw I plan on doing water changes every week.) Also for lighting would the 192w pc lighting be fine for shrooms, zoos, lps and maybe sps or would you recommend metal halide? Lastly, for circulation would 20X gallons per hour be good or should I increase to 30 or 40 gph? Thanks

[chocolateblnt]

Skimmer's are very efficient at mechanically taking out bigger pieces of protein before they get converted through the cycle... Although some people are able/prefer to keep tanks skimmerless, It's hard to get away without one.

It also depends on your bioload & filtration ... if your planning on a few fish and only running the aquafuge then a skimmer is almost a sure thing.

[Jolio99]

you would be fine with weekly water changes without a skimmer.

[KING OF THE REEF]

i agree with julio, i am doing a 20 gallon tall reef with no skimmer but 5 gallon water changes every 3 days (im keeping a little heavier fish load than normal cause i will be trying to breed a few species of fish)

[surfnvb7]

you would be alright with water changes every week, and skimerless. but it will eventually become a chore to do every week, and even if you have your own RO/DI. you'll notice your water bill increasing a whole lot.

i think anything above a 20g should have some sort of skimming on it, just because the whole point of getting a bigger tank is to put more bioload in it (more fish, more corals).

i think your choice here, would be to see what is more cost effective... buying a $100-$200 skimmer would pay itself off in the amount of water changes you do weekly in about 6-8 months.

personally, i would do a fuge and a skimmer if thats possible. i'd get a skimmer first, and you can always DIY a very cheap aquaclear filter into a fuge if need be later. CPR aquafuges are cool, but expensive.

as for the lights, 192w of PC may be enough to keep some things alive, like shrooms/zoas/lps.......definately not sps though. i am a big fan of MH no matter what. although, your tank is an "odd size" for MH lighting. i have an AGA 30g myself. you may want to look into VHO or T5-HO lighting. if you go with MH, i think 2x175w SE or 2x150w DE would do the trick and get the most coverage in your tank. some people might say 250w DE or SE, but i think that will leave .

where in virginia are you? let me know if you want some links to price out how much MH's are. a good site to look at is www.hellolights.com