really big skimmer or really really big skimmer..?

[l337dave]

Hi,

I'm in the process of setting up a shallow sps tank, I'm planning a very heavy fish load (anthias / cromis shoal + 3 smaller angels + longnose butterfly) with a few acro / monti colonies allowed to grow out.

the tank will be 36" x 20" x 16" ish so that's around 50 gallons.

I'm not planning on using a lot of rock, to maximize water volume / swimming space and also for visual reasons.

I have someone local who is selling both a TS1250 and and a TS1060, he only wants £40 more for the 1060.

my question is that although the 1250 is more than enough for the size of tank I am planning would I be better with the 1060 seeing as it's on a plate for me?

basically will I run into any problems running a skimmer that is that much oversized for the tank - will it stop collecting easier than the 1250? will I strip the water too much for the SPS?

I don't have any plans to upgrade in the near future so the skimmer will be running this tank for the foreseeable future.

thanks!


dave.

[l337dave]

anyone..? :)


dave.

[Indyws6]

Greetings :)
I'm not a skimmer expert, but have been told that drastically over-sized skimmers will not work well. The reasoning was that it would be difficult to maintain consistency; the skimmer would do it's job and skim until there was nothing left to extract, but then there would be a peiod of time where it did nothing. Instead of a steady-state situation where the water parameters are relatively consistent, it leads to a "high & low" situation with repect to disolved organic compounds. That seems to be logical, but...

I still don't understand how you can over-skim water - there are either disolved organic compounds that can/will be removed, or there aren't. But, as I said, I'm not an expert (maybe when I grow-up :) )

[JRaquatics]

It all depends on the design of a skimmer. I personaly don't think you can over skim a tank. There are just skimmers that can over skim the tank to were it shuts itself down, these are just poorly designed skimmers. Most well designed skimmers have an extended contact time/dwell time, good air to water pull ratio, turn over rate, energy efficiency, etc. etc.

l337dave you will be better off asking how efficient the skimmer is to other reefers that have or are using the skimmer your interested in. I personally say go with the largest skimmer you can afford if you plan on keeping SPS.

[l337dave]

thanks for the replies, both points I hadn't thought about before, My previous tank used a MC500 that I thought was OK, the tank was about the same volume but much more lightly stocked.

with this tank being more fish heavy the 1250 didn't seem like that much of a step up in terms of volume handled.

will be cheaper to run with only one pump tho! :)


dave.

[B.C.theReefer]

Go with the bigger one. I say this for more than one reason. First, I agree with JRaquatics, you can't really over skim water. Yes, some trace elements will be removed by vigorous skimming. But that's why we do water changes and add supplements. Second, I don't trust the ratings alot of companies are putting on their products. And that doesn't just apply to aquarium products. They may say their skimmer is rated for a such and such size aquarium. But how did they get those numbers. Did they test it on a heavily stocked FOWLR set up or a lightly populated reef? Or both? Who knows? That's why I have always gone with a skimmer that is larger than recommended. Currently I have a 120gal. set up (including sump and skimmer volume) and run a skimmer rated for 250gal. It only collects for a couple hours shortly after feeding and my nitrates are always undetectable.

[l337dave]

These are the volumes for the MC500 that I used to run on a 45gallon tank, I think I could have skimmed a lot better.

Normal Stocking 550 lts (120 UK gallons)
Heavy Stocking 360 lts (80 UK gallons)

the new tank is more or less the same volume ~55gallon (wide this time instead of deep)

the TS1250 has these ratings:

Normal Stocking 750 lts (166 UK gallons)
Heavy Stocking 500 lts (111 UK gallons)

and the TS1060 has these ratings:

Normal Stocking 1500 lts (333 UK gallons)
Heavy Stocking 1000 lts (222 UK gallons)


dave.

[mile sq. reefer]

Cant comment on the skimmer but thats way too many fish for that size tank. 120g would be better.