The Puffer Forum

I'm planning a 120g FOWLR with 20-30g refugium, but right now I need to set a budget. I got my eye set on getting a porcupine at the end of 2012.

What do you guys recommend for skimmer? Any price range because I'm not sure how much to budget for a skimmer.

You are probably going to want at least a 180 gallon tank to give a porc enough room to swim and turn around in freely. As for a skimmer, some that I know work real well that are reasonably priced are reef octopus and ASM G series skimmers. I would find a local reef forum for someone selling a used skimmer. You will get a much better deal that way. I see smokin deals on people trying to sell skimmers quite often here on an Idaho reef forum where saltwater tanks aren't super popular. I am sure with a little bit of looking you could find a good number of them in Washington.

180g! I'll probably have to rethink the puffer selection since I already have the 120g.

Deltec MCE600 Skimmer is a good skimmer, expensive new but you can find them half price on ebay etc

As for the refugium, I've decided to use a 40g breeder tank. I'm going to make 3 chambers:

1st filter sock
2nd chaeto
3rd skimmer and return pump

Anything I can add to improve water quality. Should I add a DSB or rubble rock? DT will hold roughly 150lbs of LR.

I'll look into the deltecs

I'm going to sell my 120g and try to get a 180g or bigger. This project will be delayed since I had no idea how much this stuff will cost

Might take a few years to restart this Porcupine puffer tank since I'm going back to school and going for a masters degree.