A Few Salt Water Questions

[Boids-n-more]

i want to start a 30-40 gallon reef tank. I would like to have corals and crustcians with a few coral friendly fish. 1 do i need a protein skimmer for that size of tank ? 2 I'm old school but pretty new to salt and how do under gravel filters work for them ( power head or air driven ). 3 Are hang on the back filters ok ( it would be a aquaclear). The tanks would either be a 40 breeder or a tank that i have thats 32 gallons measurments are 36 long 17.5 high and 12 deep ( mesurements are in inches ) what would you suggest for the crustacean stalking lvls. And the last one , i saw a decorator crab today and thought it was pretty cool , how are they with reef type tanks. Thanks alot.

 

[FishQueen1]

1) do you need a skimmer ? you dont have to have one , but with out one you will have to do more water changes . also may run into HA problems .im sure others can better explain this . i run a 25gal seahorse tank skimmerless just have to do steady water changes , im also fighting HAin that tank . not to big of a deal with out corals .
2 UGF i wouldnt use cause with a salt tank you sand bed help buffer the tank , i feel UGF will remove the good stuff from your sand bed .again someone can better explain this
3) i use a hang on aquaclear filter on my seahorse tank , i just filled it with live rock rubble .

you stock this needs more info , like what do you plan for fish , corals , live rock ect . every fish , coral , invert , has to be planed out . also tank placement is very important for corals .
hope this helps

 

[crazyelece]

1) I would recommend it. Technically you can get away without it but you must be religous with water changes as well as spot on with feeding and other maintenance.

2)UGFs are a very bad idea in a saltwater tank. Live rock is a better filtration method anyway and doesn't have any of the maintenance issues that an UGF presents.

3)HOB filters like the aquaclears work well as suplimental filtration as well as a small refugium. I would strip all the filter media out of it and place some live rock rubble in the bottom of it if you use it.