any problems with having a skimmer too big for tank?

[Snakebyt]

I am setting up a 40 breeder, i talked to a guy today that i sold a skimmer to a couple years back and he still has it and has agreed to sell it back to me.

Its a MRC M1 skimmer modded with a mazzei injector instead of a beckett, i used to run it on a well stocked 100 gallon with a 55 gallon sump. I am going to be putting it on a 40 breeder with about a 20 gallon sump.
When i had it on the 100 it was a great skimmer, but that tank was pretty heavily stocked. This tank will have alot less bioload on it compared to the 100 gallon tank i used to have.

Will it hurt to go ahead and use this skimmer? I know its overkill and i dont know if ill get the same performance out of it on such a light bioload. Would i need to adjust it differently?

[jjk_reef00]

I'm a very big fan of over skimming so I think it should be fine. It just means you can feed more. :)

[Osaka-san]

Just upgrading my skimmer and doing a bunch of research. Manufacturer comments like:

If you have a 100gal now and are thinking of upgrading to a 200 gal later this is the unit for you.

or

Ratings that separate capacity by either bio-load or by type of corals you want to keep

demonstrate that there really is no real consistent quantifiable "size" guidelines. Additionally performance varies widely. If you go by the flow rating you may be in for a big surprise! Some produce much more product for a given flow than others. Its an area where id personally like to see some real metrics applied. It could be an efficiency rating (weight of skimmate per watt hour of power consumed) or performance (weight of skimmate per hour or gallon). I think the general consensus is that more is better. Read, compare, and buy the biggest unit you can afford.

[CLINTOS]

I would keep an eye on your coral's if you have a small fishload and large skimmer ime I've bleached coral's with a large skimmer small bioload

protein in protein out even food