Which Skimmer for 320 Gallon Display

[deave]

Hi, I currently am setting up a 96x30x30 display tank (320 Gallons with 1" acrylic), and a 120 sump / refugium. The tank would be heavily stocked once I am done. Which skimmer would work best? Thanks!

[slief]

For a 320, I'd suggest either the Double Cone 250 or Supermarin 200. The Supermarin 200 is a much heavier construction. Both skimmers have about the same tank load capacity and while the 250 is a larger skimmer than the Supermarin 200, the 200 is slightly more efficient (for it's size) in terms of it's ability to export dissolved organics. It's also made from much heavier materials and is hand welded where the main body begins it's taper towards the neck where as the double cone has an extruded body which is cheaper to produce. Both are terrific skimmer and would work great on your display. In fact, I would be hard pressed to recommend one over the other as I really like the designs of both skimmers.

There is also the Supermarin 250 but I think that is going to be a bit oversized for your load. I run one on my 480G display that has 50 or so fish in it. Many of which are larger tangs and with my load, I consider my tank to be at the lower end size wise for the SM 250. As such, I wouldn't suggest it for your display size as I don't think it will be very consistent unless you run it extremely wet which would make it overly sensitive.

All of these skimmers mentioned, include the RD3 skimmer pump which is an amazing pump. It allows fine tuning unlike any other DC style pump on the market due to the adjustment increments through the pump controller. On the 250 sized skimmer, the sweet spot for the pump is around 36-38 watts. On the 200 sized skimmer it's between 28 and 32 watts so they are also very very efficient compared to comparable sized skimmers. The sweet spot depends greatly on the amount of DOC's in the water but the beauty of the RD3 is the ability to really fine tune the pumps speed in very small increments.

Not only are these pumps silent, but they are also twice as heavy as any comparable pump meaning that it's constructed extremely well and doesn't suffer the same kind of issues that most other DC pumps do. This is due to the way the block is built and the size of the magnet on the impeller. It makes for a much more powerful & reliable motor that isn't as sensitive to buildup on the impeller and magnet. It also features water cooling/circulation through the magnet cavity that helps reduce calcium buildup on the magnet which results in better performance and longevity.

[deave]

Awesome! Thank you so much!