Sump/Skimmer...?

[sclabman]

first off, what exactly is the purpose of a sump?

also, is either a sump or a skimmer essential to run say a 20 gallon saltwater tank with one clown, one goby, the cleanup crew, and a couple corals?

:edit: and of course lots of live rock, perhaps 25 lbs of it

 

[saltwater4life]

Sumps are good for any tank i've seen them on tanks as small as 2.5g i'm working on a sump for my 20g and a skimmer will aways help i plan on getting one for my 20g and alot of people have them on smaller tanks but most people say once you get to 29g you should have a skimmer but there good for coral health (i believe)

Nick

 

[YahooFishKeeper]

neither is required for a 20 gal. it ofcourse wouldnt hurt anything, but you could handle that load with regular WCs.

 

[sclabman]

neither is required for a 20 gal. it ofcourse wouldnt hurt anything, but you could handle that load with regular WCs.

thank you *BOUNCINGS

i'm gonna start a 20gallon reef tank soon

 

[joeyjoeq]

Got a tank running? Or is this for future plans?

 

[TRe]

first off, what exactly is the purpose of a sump?

purpose of a sump is to add water volume/increase water quality *thumbsups

also, is either a sump or a skimmer essential to run say a 20 gallon saltwater tank with one clown, one goby, the cleanup crew, and a couple corals?

while both of these things increase the water quality dramaticly you can get away with just doing weekly/biweekly water changes

 

[sclabman]

Got a tank running? Or is this for future plans?

it's a future plan
thanks for the responses everyone

now i need to find a light fixture for my tank (i havent been able to find one)