Need best skimmer for 70 gal total heavy load SPS tank - quiet - 28" stand clearance

fcmatt

Member
Need best skimmer for 70 gal total heavy load SPS tank - quiet - 28" stand clearance

Hey all,

I cannot believe I am creating another skimmer post asking this... but I am.

I am in the planning stages of a 40 to 60 gallon display with a 20 gallon long sump. My stand, when the doors are open, has 28" inches of clearance plus a couple more inches above that. I plan to heavily stock fish that are appropriate for the size as well as grow out SPS. Or I may go more clowns, anemones, and SPS. Either way I like to feed and think SPS do well in a heavily stocked tank within reason.

I would like the skimmer to be quiet. To give you an idea of what I mean by quiet is that I think vortech pumps (both the mp10 and mp40, not quiet drive) are just too loud after a year of use in certain modes. Many here will know what I mean if you have owned them. I plan on a bean drain to assist with noise as well. Anyway...

I also think a skimmer should be rated properly for the tank/bioload. Not too big where is becomes finicky. I also think the taller a skimmer is the better it can function due to contact time.

I would appreciate anyone who cares to post their medium and high end choices price wise. I do not mind spending money on a piece of equipment that works, is quality, and lasts/maintainable.

I have been googling, searching here, asking around and I just cannot make up my mind and want more input that is tailored for my situation. It seems venturi only and beckett skimmers which have been around forever (lifereef for example for venturi) are making a ?comeback? but pin/mesh/#$%#$ wheel are dominant and use less power. I am leaning towards a @#$@#$ wheel skimmer. (Yes I read lifereef's website, lol).

I am unclear why I may want a DC pump as they were not really around much when I got out of the hobby 5 years back. I am open to them though.

So with that said can anyone give me some advice? Bubble King, NYOS, RO, Skimz, etc.. so many now days?

I just want a good quality, quiet, as tall as I can get, maintainable, less finicky skimmer I can buy. Thank you!
 
First is the Bubble king Double cone
RlSS is good with DC
For budget and performance Bubble Magus

All are silent
 
First is the Bubble king Double cone
RlSS is good with DC
For budget and performance Bubble Magus

All are silent

I have the BM (Curve 5) on a 75g and while it is pretty quiet, it certainly isnt silent. It can be finicky with water level changes; along those lines, some people cant get them running right at the recommend water levels and have to raise them up much higher. I originally had to run it in roughly 8" of water but now have it tuned well at 10.25". I've had good results with it and cant complain for the price but those are a couple of things to keep in mind. I haven't used the others mentioned so I cant provide any type of comparison.
 
I have read on the sponsor forum area for BK that the bubble king double cone requires more tinkering than the the mini. So if I went with BK I would probably chose the mini 160. It is reviewed as quiet but appears to be tailored for wet skimming while I think I would prefer dryer (unsure on that but the spec sheet does mention wetter skimming). The pump seems to be reliable with proper maintenance but having the pump inside does mean more work on occasion to clean it. It would be the most expensive option by far which is a negative but too many times I have tried to save money in this hobby only to go out and buy right the second time.
 
Do not count your sump towards volume of tank for sizing the skimmer. 40 and 60 gallon tanks are small and easy to over size the skimmer.
 
I have read on the sponsor forum area for BK that the bubble king double cone requires more tinkering than the the mini. So if I went with BK I would probably chose the mini 160. It is reviewed as quiet but appears to be tailored for wet skimming while I think I would prefer dryer (unsure on that but the spec sheet does mention wetter skimming). The pump seems to be reliable with proper maintenance but having the pump inside does mean more work on occasion to clean it. It would be the most expensive option by far which is a negative but too many times I have tried to save money in this hobby only to go out and buy right the second time.

40 gallon is really on the small size for the mini 160. If your display is going to be 60 gallons the Mini 160 would work fine. If you set the skimmer up so it's higher in the sump meaning not too deep of a sump level, it will dry skim just fine. It's all about the level you set the bubble to foam line in the body. The smallest size tank I would recommend this skimmer for would be a 50 gallon with a heavy stock load.
 
Rlss 6i if you can find one.


Edit: After rereading the ops first post the tank size is actually 60 gallons. The Rlss 6i might be to big.
 
Oversized

Oversized

Do not count your sump towards volume of tank for sizing the skimmer. 40 and 60 gallon tanks are small and easy to over size the skimmer.

Is there really such a thing as overskimming? My local fish guy thinks not. What are your thoughts?
 
Yes there is, the best skimmer is one that is balanced to the bio load. So one should not go by manufactures ratings because they are all over the place and near impossible to get a accurate ratings. So better to ask what skimmer for my size tank, bio load, corals SPS LPS softies etc.

For example the Bubble King 160 is perfect for a 90 gallon tank so is a I-Tech 10
Aqua Maxx S Cone-1 is perfect for a 60 gallon tank but has a large sweet spot so it can be used on smaller tanks and a little bigger.
 
Is there really such a thing as overskimming? My local fish guy thinks not. What are your thoughts?

I don't think there is really such a thing as "over skimming". Skimmers will only remove so much of the dissolved organics regardless of size. The only exception would a grossly undersized or poor quality skimmer which won't perform as well. An oversized one vs a properly sized one won't result in any lower dissolved organics in the system. In fact, a properly sized quality skimmer often will result in consistently lower dissolved organics than an oversized one. The reason being is that more often than not, larger sized skimmers have larger diameter necks. The larger the neck, the more dissolved organics they need to fill the neck with foam. In the absence of enough dissolved organics, you won't generate enough foam to fill the neck and generate the skimmate. Instead, you will generate bubbles that burst at the surface instead sticking together and creating good foam. What happens is that the skimmer will perform well for a day or two until the DOC's are reduced. Then it will idle along for days or more until there are enough DOC's to generate a good foam head again. During the idle process, the DOC's are going to rise. A properly sized skimmer will remove DOC's consistently in the form of skimmate which means consistently lower organics in the water.

There is a caveat though. As Moondoggy noted, skimmer ratings are all over the map. The cheaper skimmers are often over rated where as some of the higher end skimmers are conservately rated. This kind of makes it tough on the consumer. When it comes to skimmers that are properly rated, basing the skimmer on the display size is best because it's the display where the load is concentrated. Our sumps don't contribute to the load, they are actually contribute to load reduction and skimmer sizes are based theoretical loads. As such, I typically recommend basing skimmer sizing on the display volume and not system volume.
 
I am currently using a deltec sc1351 and love it on my setup. My display is 34 gallons, 9 gallons sump, and 16 gallon frag tank. I am heavily stocked/fed with fish and will have a heavyly stocked sps tank as well. Currently I have 12 frags growing out in the display and 3 frags in the frag tank. I will soon have 30+ more frags on way shortly.

As the others before me have posted you can go larger but you will get DOC accumulating in the neck of the skimmer, this is what happens to me. I clean out my skimmer every two weeks and instead of the cup being full the neck is full of sludge. I could probably raise the level inside the skimmer neck to only fill the cup but I prefer dryer skimming and its been working so why fix it.

My skimmer is overrated, which is ok, but its not hugely overrated. If you plan on a larger system in the future then go with a slightly larger skimmer now, it'll save you money down the road. Just know that the skimmer wont perform like you expect it to for the right sized tank.
 
yes you can over skim, and what ends up happening is it cause's the skimmer to run eradically, i would put a link to about 15 different skimmers i have used on a tank that size but it is against the rules, so i will just say i have had atb, ati, bubble magnus, euro reef, tunze, deltec, skimz, bk, vertex and so on, the best skimmer or i shall say favorite skimmer i used for a tank that size was a atb 840..
 
If anyone cares to know, after a lot of research, I went with the Bubble King Double Cone 150. This is for a 57 gallon tank with a sump. Heavy bioload for the size eventually.
 
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