Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

Brandon and I just set up a 43 gal Hex for a friend. There is only enough room on the back for either a filter or a hang on the back skimmer not both. Which do yall think would be more beneficial to have a filter or a skimmer. The tank is set up with a deep sand bed with 30 pounds of LR. The tank is just going to have soft corals and a few fish. We are going to try to keep the fish load down to a minimum.

I vote a skimmer, and use powerheads for circulation... you don't really need a "filter" for a tank that size anyway, just circulation.

Skimmer. A CPR Bakpak would work good for a 30 and are relatively cheap.

how about a Aquarium Systems Protein Skimmer, I'm looking at one on ebay. It come with a MaxiJet 1200 powerhead. I think I can get it really cheap. Has anyone had one of these skimmer before?

I think this is the one i'm looking at on ebay.

http://www.marineandreef.com/shoppro/pr ... rs_AS.html

I have no experience with those but Jim is using the bigger version on a 75. With a light bioload (keep in mind that a deep sand bed will increase the bioload) it should do fine.

I am actually running that exact one, SeaClone 100 on my 56 gallon Column and will say it was simple to install and is working flawlessly. Took me about 10 minutes to install.

I also bought mine off ebay as they are atleast $80 cheaper than anyone retail wants to part with them.

Oh yeah, they are setup for either hang on side or they can be in sump.

No room for a sump down bottom ?

Not really, it would be too much work. I set this tank up for someone that has never had a salt water tank so I want to try to keep it as simple as possible. I got the Skimmer that I was watching on ebay. Thanks everybody for the opinions.