Newbie skimmer help please

[Apostle]

Hi folks, I’m new to this game having just purchased my first tank. It’s 50g and going to be set up as a reef tank.

The only thing I’m yet to purchase is a skimmer and I’m after some advice please. Would a skimmer with a flow rate of 220g per hour be too much. Could this de detrimental to my 50g tank or is it a case of the bigger the better?

Any advice would be much appreciated.
:)

[Jeff_edge540]

Which model were you looking at?
BTW: reef tanks need A LOT of flow 1000gph+ on your 50gal.

[Apostle]

Thanks for responding.

I’ve been looking at the V2 Skim 1000. Any thoughts.

[kau_cinta_ku]

never heard of that skimmer but that isn't even close to the flow you want in your tank the tank only should have 750gph flow at the min. is this a HOB skimmer or in sump skimmer? but for skimmer size usually go with an overrated skimmer my tank is a 46 gal now but my skimmer i have is rated at 140 gal. as i am upgrading to a 75 gal. next month.

[eckrynock]

[welcome]

He's not asking for total flow, just flow rate through the skimmer. Nobody has all of their tank flow go through their skimmer. Apostle, depending on what type of corals you keep, 750 to 1000 gph TOTAL tank flow is recommended. That skimmer is rated for a 220 gal tank, 4x the size of yours. It never hurts to "overskim" a tank. This model should be fine. Cheers!

[Apostle]

Probably because I’m in England that you’ve not heard of that skimmer.

Just been on the company website. I got it wrong, it will skim 220gph with a flow rate of approx 660gph

Here’s the link if anyone’s interested.


http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/aquarium/v2skim-skimmers.asp

[Apostle]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice eckrynock.

It makes more sense now you mentioned total flow, although I did mix things up a bit in my initial post. I think I’ll go for that skimmer then.

Thanks to everyone for the quick responses

[CarmieJo]

All of the technical terms can get really confusing. Read as much as you can, I don't believe that you can over-research this hobby! I've also learned a lot by listening to the TalkingReef www.TalkingReef.com podcasts. If you don't have an iPod or MP3 player you can download iTunes and listen on your computer. (iTunes and the podcast are both free.) Good luck with your tank. :)