Skimmer question.

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rdnelson

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A friend of mine is looking to set up a new tank. He apparently is a bit delusional because he seems to think I know a little about this hobby. LOL.

Anyway, he asked me a question tonight for which I do not have a good answer. He wanted to know if a certain skimmer was to big for the system he is thinking about. I told him that I believe when it comes to skimmers and sumps, there is no such thing as too big. I am confident that holds true with the sump but what about the skimmer? Is there a point where the skimmer could be so large that it becomes ineffective because there just isn't enough bio-load?
 
I would tell him to stick with the +1 rule. Take the system volume and double it. A skimmer rated up to that volume would be the best bet. I've always heard there is no such thing as a skimmer that's too big but why waste the money on a huge skimmer when a smaller one would do the job, right?
 
Darth Reefer;834721 wrote: I would tell him to stick with the +1 rule. Take the system volume and double it. A skimmer rated up to that volume would be the best bet. I've always heard there is no such thing as a skimmer that's too big but why waste the money on a huge skimmer when a smaller one would do the job, right?
Click to expand...

That was kind of my thoughts. However, I don't think money is the number one concern in this case. He is not sure on the tank just yet but is thinking of a remote 100 gal sump. He wanted to know if he could "grow into" a larger skimmer. My thoughts were that if you think you may grow the tank later, it may not be a bad idea to "go big or go home" on the skimmer now.
 
Yeah if he's planning on upgrading the tank soon then might as well get a skimmer big enough to handle it. Worst case scenario: the skimmer will not produce a constant head of foam. It will build up as organics build but once they are removed the foam will dissipate until the organics build up enough to produce good foam again. Long story short, it still gets the job done.
 
So if I understand correctly it would be something like this:

A properly sized skimmer needs X number of organics a to maintain the foam thereby removing organics. If the skimmer works to good organics may drop to Y and you lose the foam and have no removal. So organics start to increase again but when they hit X the skimmer is now working correctly. End results, organics will never go higher than what a properly sized skimmer would allow.
 
Everything I have read on the subject says that is correct. Disclaimer: I am relying on the knowledge of others and am in no way an expert myself, lol. If anyone else knows this too not be the case hopefully they will jump in.
 
A skimmer can be too big for a system. There are a lot of variables that go into it, however. It's not nearly as straightforward as we would like! First, the system water volume and the bioload are going to be factors while the other variables are the diameter of the skimmer neck and the amount of air that the pump is able to pull into the skimmer. What skimmer are they looking at and what's the water volume/bioload?
 
Mufret is correct, you can oversize. I should have asked how oversized he was thinking of going. I was just thinking he was wanting to cover the additional 100 gal sump. If you put a skimmer rated for 600gal on a 100gal system then no it will probably not perform properly. If it is just oversized enough to allow a little room to grow then the scenario I described before would apply.
 
What would be a downside of over sizing?

A few recent studies suggest that skimmers aren't as efficient as we think. I say get the biggest baddest mofo possible.... They'll be buying a bigger tank in a few months anyways..

Edit: Even if the skimmer is skimming and then not skimming, isn't it still skimming? If the organics in in your tank are too low to skim, then that's a good thing! :)

Edit: Tell them to run ROX carbon to fill in the blanks.
 
Ripped Tide;834750 wrote: What would be a downside of over sizing?

A few recent studies suggest that skimmers aren't as efficient as we think. I say get the biggest baddest mofo possible.... They'll be buying a bigger tank in a few months anyways..

Edit: Even if the skimmer is skimming and then not skimming, isn't it still skimming? If the organics in in your tank are too low to skim, then that's a good thing! :)

Edit: Tell them to run ROX carbon to fill in the blanks.
Click to expand...

That was kind of my thought process. But then you all know how dangerous it is when I start to think. :-) This is someone who has an existing set up in his office but is now looking to do one at his home. I havent had the chance to go oever all the details with him but the conversation we had just sparked my curiosity in this subject. He is looking at an MRC MR-3R. Apparently some local dweeb is involved in building these things. hehehehehe
 
You may want to reach out to Raj or Jeremy and ask one of them. I want either the pro 1 or pro 2 skimmers.
 
Can you over skim?

This partly depends on how you measure or assess the effect of over skimming.

So first, how are you measuring if it's over skimmed or not?

If you measure over skimming by a visual lack of production of foam, you may be mistaken.

Also foam does not simply consist of 'organics' first of all. There is an inorganic fraction as well.

Oxidation is occurring also. How much the skimmer contributes to this is an unknown.

The mechanism of skimming (how it actually works) may surprise you and a great many others as well.
 
I would just tell him to get a skimmer rated for double the size of water volume, so 100g sump+90g tank= a 350-450g skimmer. That way if he ever upgrades he's all set to go and a skimmer rated for twice the volume shouldn't affect anything negatively and it allows room to grow. Also a 100g sump can be used for much larger tanks so he's pretty much covered on the sump and skimmer if he chooses to upgrade once he decides that he needs more room. I'd go for a skimmer rated for 400g-425g tanks if money isn't a issue. Make sure he throws in a pair of mp40's into his goody basket if money isn't a factor.
 
I concur with a minimum 2x rating for skimmers.

There are many upsides to this rule of thumb, and no downsides, IMO.
 
Yeah, I would say 2 times at the min. Looks like he is planning on several tanks all on one system so I think he would want even larger than x2.
 
my previous skimmer (450g+) would handle more than 5X my display volume (90g) and it pulled out some SICK mud..

yes, I tasted it once..


the skimmer will skim until it's too dirty to create the bubbles..
remember, the bubbles are what pull out the proteins.. as long as it makes bubbles, it'll pull gunk out of the water column.
no matter what skimmer he gets, if he keeps it clean so it manufactures microbubbles, it'll keep skimming until theres nothing left to skim (impossible)
 
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