protein skimmers, fuges and sumps????

Hello out there, I have a few questions but 1st let me let u in on what i am running with. I have a 25 gallon, tertra ex30 power filter, a 40 gallon air pump with airstone , 15 pounds live sand, and only about 10 pounds of live rock(in process of getting more), 2 turbo snails (one has 2 worms on its back with orange brown crowns, very small, ive read up on these and most say they might die or fall off when they get bigger, TRUE OR NOT? What r they), 1 brittle star fish, 1 3 stripe damsel and one yellow tail damsel, it has been running for a little over a month but i dont have a protein skimmer and just want to know what would be a good choice for my tank. My water is very clean right now and tests good. The tetra ex30 says it has a bio scrubber and filter on it, does the bio scrubber do anything more than other filters do? Do I need a fuge or a sump and what r they for? This is my first tank and dont want to mess things up. All living things seem happy relaxed and r doing good and eating.

 

welcome to 3 reef iljpking

Ill answer the bits I am confident on and leave the rest to others
the 2 worms are probably fan worms and these are filter feeders and beneficial , they may die off, and leave their empty cases on the snail shell

with the 2 damsels in the 25 gallon, you might struggle to add more fish - the 3 stripe especially is prone to bullying in fact I will say - seeking and destroying any new introductions

Tetra ex 30 - not familiar with this product so cannot comment

Protien skimmer - as its a small tank and you already have an air pump you could look at a Berlin 60 air driven skimmer (Used one myself and was impressed with what it pulled out) or a Sander air driven model or Aquamedic have 1 small air driven model - with just those 2 fish and the star in the tank IMHO you would be OK with a good air driven one

Steve

 

Hey thanx for the quick reply, I was scared no one would see me. I will check out that skimmer. Oh and the damsels r a little ruff, I want to add a clown or cardinal but not sure. My stripe one is actually the calm one but will fight back, probably since I added it second, my blue yellow tail was very territorial and I put him in a small tank and let in hang inside the tank for about a day and a half when I added the other guy and now they just pick at each other once and a while but in the beginning the yellowtail would not eat just so it would make sure the other wasnt getting any of the food. I hope the fan worms live, they r pretty cool. Thanks again. do u know about diff algae on live rock.

 

algae on the rocks
I know a bit, and replied on your other post

dont worry, your not invisible, people will see you and people will reply to you - I understand that newcomers may think they would be ignored , but thats not the case on this site - some really nice people and if you stick around you will find out.

Damsels - the stipey knows his place with regard to the YTB but may take it out on fish number 3 - just be aware they are normally the more aggresive of the 2 species

Steve

 

Thanks again and I saw ur other reply right after I put up my question sorry. I do enjoy this site, best ive seen, lots of help, and cool people. Thanx again. I should probably stick with the 2 I got, ur right, I dont want any dead fish or waste money. I think Ill wait until I can afford a bigger tank.

 

For a 25G tank, you will be able to have a couple clowns or small fish. The 3-stripe damsel is one of the most aggressive damsels there are. Mine was a real PITA and was relocated to his own home in my nanocube.
My suggestions would be to double your sand to get about 2" of sand bed. For 25G, think about 30-40lbs of rock for your system as a starting point minimum. Any more than that is personal preference. Think of your Tetra filter as a mechanical filter only. Tetra calls it a "bio-scrubber" as their own way of saying it will provide you with some nitrifying bacteria. If you aren't going to run a sump or fuge, get a good quality hang on tank protein skimmer. What a sump/fuge is, is a sub system in your aquarium (usually located underneath the tank in the stand) where your water will drain into, get filtered and pushed back up to the tank. They are designed to house all your filtration equipment, as well as a place to use algae to absorb the nutrients in your tank. Look at my album to get an idea of what it looks like. I would highly suggest running a fuge, it makes the tank environment MUCH more stable.