Help with ID on skimmer

[Sam2000001]

Hey guys,

When I picked up my tank this skimmer came with the package. I'm having trouble ID'ing this skimmer since the name has been removed.. If you know what skimmer this is, do you know if it would be sufficient for a 65g or should I invest in something else.

I was looking up different types of skimmers. Would this be a venturi or Turbo design? To me it looks like a turbo design since it has some inside baffles that the water falls upon and uses a maxi1200 pump to send water in. It also has a small screw valve near the top of the pipe.

Thanks

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

That's an AquaC Urchin, the in-sump version of the Remora. A good little skimmer. Technically, it's a unique design (i.e. not a traditional venturi) used only by AquaC. There's an injection nozzle inside the skimmer that works sorta like a Beckett, only scaled way down.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

PS - it'll be fine for a 65 if you don't overstock. Definitely borderline if you have a heavy load on the tank.

 

[Sam2000001]

Thank you very much! For now I will keep this skimmer because I don't plan on overstocking. At the moment I have a 2 chamber sump. I am getting sort of confused on the layout of this setup.

Basically, the tank drains into chamber one that houses some rock, chamber 2 is separated by 1 baffle and a sponge to rid bubbles. Chamber 2 has both the pump for the skimmer and the return pump. Is it ok to have both pumps in the same chamber?

I am also curious if this skimmer would work with a refugium, if I decide to make one.

Drain --> refugium section --> Skimmer and Return in same area?

I have read the n00b section on sumps, and it was a good read.

 

[PRDubois]

I dont see why not

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

You want the skimmer in the same compartment as the tank drain at best. Certainly not in the same compartment as the return pump.

Skimmers generate a lot of tiny bubbles (aka microbubbles) and you generally don't want those getting sucked up by the return pump and carried up into the display tank. Hence, most people try to keep the skimmer away from the return pump.

Also, the water coming out of the tank drain plumbing is the richest water in your system in terms of the kind of stuff a protein skimmer can remove from your water - so having the skimmer close to the tank drain is a plus.

If you were to do a three-section sump, you might want:

Drain/skimmer -> refugium -> return pump

Or:

Drain/skimmer -> return pump <- refugium

This second layout lets you control flow to the 'fuge separately from the rest of the sump. You can T off the return line and, with a ball valve, redirect some of the return pump's capacity to the 'fuge section. Then, you can adjust the ball valve to get the flow you want.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

PS - remove the sponge, or at least rinse it out in the sink once or twice a week. Otherwise, it'll become colonized with bacteria and start breaking down organic matter in your water. In the old days, this was considered a good thing - but now that we have powerful skimmers to remove that material totally from our tanks, reef keepers no longer prefer to break it down with bacteria colonizing sponges or other similar media.

 

[Sam2000001]

Thanks again! Great info and will put it to good use!