backpack II, or no...

skilter · 03-24-2004, 03:28 AM

ok i have a 5.5 nano... cycling, its a young lad at the moment... but i know i can avoid a skimmer and do the water changes each week at about a gallon at a time... but i want to also have a skimmer im not very comfortable w/ out one...

i have a backpack 2 not being used at the moment, that i used to have for my 40. now i know it would be overkill for sure but i was just wondering if i could use it?

or if not what do u think i could use that wouldnt be too costly? (that would fit)

thx all!

-don

skilter · 03-24-2004, 08:58 PM

plz someone reply...

it may be a stupid question but all you have to say is yay or nay.

ckreef · 03-24-2004, 09:51 PM

On a 5.5 I would not do a skimmer at all. I know you wanted one but almost any one is overkill and a 1 gallon water change weekly is more than adequate to cover your basis.

A skimmer on that small of a tank will actually be a potential problem that could really crash that small of a system.

Be brave. My minibow 7 with a huge coral load has been going for approx 8 months now with only a 1 gallon change every 7 - 10 days. Ocassionally it will get a 2 gallon and a really good cleaning.

skilter · 03-24-2004, 09:56 PM

hey thx ckreef, yeah i know i had dreams of goin all out... but ur right too much is and can be dangerous... thx for the reply!

as for a quick question, do u think that a aqua clear 150 would be a good hang on the back refugium? (you know as my tank progressed in the coming months)

thx again for the reply... you have given me the strength master.

ckreef · 03-24-2004, 10:39 PM

Aqua Clears in my mind make the best HOB filter/refugiums. They are shaped right and made out of smoked plastic so you can see inside. Also there are numerious mods that can be done in order to make a more conventional refugium.

I would fit the biggest AC HOB filter on the tank as possible up to a AC300. Then also order a smaller impeller and fit that into the bigger filter. Example would be an AC300 with a AC150 impeller. You would get the size of the 300 for refugium space but only the flow of a 150. Plus the AC300 will easily acomondate a heater placed inside the filter to get it out of the tank.

All the motors for the AC Mini up through the AC300 are all the same they just use a different impeller so impellers can be swapped around to get different performance out of different models.

skilter · 03-25-2004, 03:04 AM

oh right on
thanks for all the info!
btw, i really love ur minibow reef... i give you mad props, it looks awesome!!!

-don

ckreef · 03-25-2004, 04:38 PM

Thanks Don --- I am currently putting to gether a slide show presentation which should positivly ID the corals in my Minibow. Lots of tank pics along with a lot of reference pics and some good general info on ID'ing corals.

I do have it 95% completed but it probably won't get the finishing touches for another month or so. I'll post a link where it can be downloaded once it's complete. But it will be a big file. Over 6 megs already.

skilter · 03-25-2004, 05:14 PM

thats awesome!