The Marine Aquarium: A Components Breakdown

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Glad you found this post helpful.

[TrooperKal]

The first post I read on these forums, and I'm glad it was. Very informative!

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Glad it helped.

The section on LED lighting is definitely going to need to be updated. When I get a chance, I'll put something together.

[MLBfan]

I love this guide. {In this picture, I'm the guy, the red one is the Component Breakdown, and the baby is my future SW aquarium}

I have a question as to what overflow boxes do. Sorry if I missed that part if it was in the guide.

[Cliff]

A overflow box is a HOB Overflow that you can use to set up a drain line into a sump if you do not have a drilled tank. Example below:

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/of...800GPH%29.html

[Big Blue]

Great resource!
I would just add my biological 2 cents ...
Skimmers as used in a reef tank are useful if the tank is biologically poor. But in a well balanced aquarium ecosystem, one would realize that s/he will get the same amount running it 24/7 or just 6 hours once a week. However, and for the ones who can successfully host anaerobic bacteria, running a skimmer 24/7 will affect their population.
As for the sump, it has an additional benefit: biological filtration. That is a good place for aerobic, facultative and anaerobic bacteria to colonize and process organic matter.

[Cliff]

I don’t think skimmer are needed because a tank is “biologically poor”. I think they are helpful due to the high level of difficulty associated with replicating the delicate balance of the ecosystem we find in the ocean inside our aquariums which are a closed systems. Take how we stock our tanks for example. Our aquariums are drastically overstocked (in terms of bioload) when compared to filtration capacity of the ocean(s) around the world. That is why we compensate for these short comings with protein skimmers or other types of filtration like large amounts of live rock and algae scrubbers just to name two of them.

Having said that, I would most certainly agree with you that skimmers are not always required to have a healthy and stable aquarium. When it comes to a closed loop system, you will need many different approaches to filtration and maintenance combined to over compensate for having a closed loop system, a skimmer is just one of those many things that can be added to your overall approach to filtration.

Just one of those things we use to make the hobby a little easier for us and safer for our fish/corals.