Which ATB skimmer for me?

[FizNid]

Which ATB skimmer for me?


Hi I have been reading over this forum a lot lately. Really like the idea/look of the conical ATB skimmers. I currently run a Euro reef RS-100 and it does what it’s supposed to do I am assuming. It usually takes 3 days to get about ¼ a cup of dark skim. Which is normal I guess for my bio load and feedings.

My tank is a 75 gallon with 180 lbs or so of live rock. Most my corals are leathers (about 8) mushrooms, zoes, star polyps, a couple poli frags, some encrusting montis etc. My fish load atm is 1 yellow tang about 3 inchs, 3 perc clowns 1-2 inches, Royal gramma 3 inches. I have lots of snails, crabs, starfish etc. I plan on adding some more fish at a later date but not sure which etc. My sump is a tide pool II that I have the RS-100 sitting in. The water will go from 5 inches(min) to 7 inches(max). I can’t say for sure how much water is in the sump so I am unsure of my total volume(also taking into account the large water displacement of my LR etc).

So my big question is would the small be overkill for my tank? The reason I got the RS-100 was the height of 20 inches. That is why the small would work too. But I also noticed in the ATB club thread another smaller skimmer was posted(looked like it had an aquaclear feed pump on it) and wondered if that would work for me better? If the small is what I need I will definitely get that one. Just want to make sure I am getting the best bang for the buck and don’t oversize to the point the skimmer isn’t producing anything etc.

Oh yeah another reason I like the small is the use of the eheim pumps. I switched out my rio return for an eheim 1262(feeds my ref too) and wow what a diff in noise. That is one of the things I dislike about my ER is that pump on it is very loud. My tank being in my bedroom and all makes noise a big issue on equipment I use.

Thanks for your help and time.

Greg

[GSMguy]

there are lots of people who run skimmers with 600-800 lph of air on -100G tanks, the small should work very well on your tank. go with the needlewheel that way you never need to service the mesh and you wont overpower your tank.


the Multi use that uses the aquaclear is a month or two away from the US but your tank would be on the bigger side for that skimmer.

[FizNid]

Thank you for the fast information. Mesh VS Needle was also a concern. I don't want to have to tinker with the skimmer a lot or face furture problems(Not saying Mesh is bad or anything just for me I want as little to tinker with as possible). I want to be able to set it and forget it so to speak. Clean the cup every 2-3 days or more if needed and I am happy :)


Thanks


Greg

[GSMguy]

the trick will be to acclimate your tank to the new skimmer this should be done slowly IMO racing to get the most nog for pictures will reduce nutrients too fast in an application like your established tank.

i would start skimming as dry as possible at first you dont want to get too much more than the ER is taking out at first

[FizNid]

Hey thanks again for the response GSMguy. Yep definately not interested in competing with pics etc. Just want the skimmer to do it's job and do it well. My ER I have skimming dry atm also. It produces dark dark stuff but still think the conical may do better. No way to tell till I bite the bullet and order one and slap it into my system. I will be making that decision probably in the next 2-3 weeks and will keep checking here for the great advice and posts. Thanks again for your help.


Greg

[victor90]

Greg,

I think you will do fine with a small skimmer. The small skimmer with the eheim 1250 is dead quiet