Got a skimmer you're not using?

[GPhiAce]

You have a sump, but not a section big enough for a skimmer? So how much room do you actually have, ie 12"x7"? I don't think I see that in here. Were you planning on using 2 remora Cs? I don't think 1 will be enough to adequately work, or at least it will take a long time?

I agree with everything Dave and Joel wrote. If you don't have a problem, then don't change anything. i am still learning that.

I don't think that using a TDS meter will do you any good. You can monitor your nitrates to give you a good idea if you are OK.

 

[Engloid]

I have an 11x12 area that has to house the skimmer and return pump, which is a mag24. I may be able to sometime rig up the mag24 to work externally, if I can find the right fittings for it.

My nitrates are 0-5ppm. It's not at 0, but depending on the light, it could be read at 5ppm. It's closer to 0 than to 5 though. That's testing a week after a water change.

I'm using the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals "master" test kit. One thing I don't like about this kit is that it says to fill the tubes to the white line, which is supposed to be 5ml of water, but when I use a syringe, I find that the white line is not exactly at 5ml of water.

Therefore, your advice is to not bother with another skimmer?

 

[GPhiAce]

My advice would be to not get a new skimmer. If your nitrates are low, and all other parameters are in line- why change anything????? Take that money and get some nice corals or fish. The only reason I would change skimmers in that scenario is if my skimmer was not energy efficient and I could get a comparable energy efficient skimmer.

 

[cee]

This can be run externally. It was designed to do that. Speaking with the previous owner I may have forgotten to install an o-ring and the silicone is precautionary. He ran it externally w/ no problems. I'll probably work on it some later but it is a heck of a deal for that price. If I getting it working to my satisfaction chances are I won't want to part with it as it has gotten great reviews. I don't want to push someone onto something they're not interested in, though.

Dave

 

[GPhiAce]

Hey Dave, what pumps are on there? Do you know the air pull or watts per pump? By the specs, that is an impressive skimmer.

Engloid- I think I saw above that you were thinking of gravity feeding an external or HOB skimmer (don't feel like going back up to quote). I would advice you not to. Although it can work that way, and you will get out of using another pump, it consistency of the water going to the skimmer will be low. If you plumb it from an overflow, you will have varying amounts of water shunting to the skimmer and won't be able to dequately control the flow. this will lead to problems tuning your skimmer in the long run. I did this with my MRC 2R and did not realize that the gravity fed intake was the reason why it was difficult to tune.

 

[cee]

It uses 3 Aquabee needlewheel pumps drawing about 20 W each. I'm not sure of the air draw but it is posted somewhere, probably on RC.

Dave