Over Skimming

Mr Smiley

Mr Smiley

New member
Is it possible to overskim?

I have a 150G tank, and am planning a 55g Sump/Fuge. Id like to buy a skimmer once. And im thinking about when i upgrade in the future.... So if i were to buy a Skimmer rated for 300G or so would that be bad for a 150g with a TWV of lets say 185G? I plan to start with a FOWLR then move into beginner coarls and maybe SPS way later on.

Thank you.
 
I'm not sure you could ever remove TOO much waste from the tank. At some point the skimmer may be overkill for your needs, but it's never going to suck anything good out of the water except some of your salt if you wet skim :spin1:
 
I dont want to get a monster skimmer just to see it sit there and not skimm.

This will be my first skimmer and i really dont have a set budget for one.

I Just want to invest in one that will get the job done and do it extremly well. But also not way oversized for the first set up of around 185g.
 
If you're going to have a FOWLR, chances are you're going to overstock it a bit and feed with a heavy hand. Get the best skimmer you can afford. I have a 150 SPS reef with @40 gallons in the sump. I skim wet with an ETSS 900XR. It's rated to skim a 400 gallon sps tank and knocks the crap out of the water.

Then, when you go reef...you're all set. You're not going to find too many that will tell you not to get the largest skimmer you can afford. I've never met anyone who said they skim too much..especially on a FOWLR
 
KeMo said:
You can really only remove 20-30% of waste no matter how much you skim.
I did over kill on my tank yes. I have a DeltecMce600 rated for something like 150 gals and its on my 39 gal.
This is a good read about what I said above. You can only skim 20-30% ..
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/1/aafeature2
Click to expand...

This was a good read. A little confusing at points. It seems nomatter what an air bubble can only hold so much and the smaller, but not too small, is better.
Also seems that the volume of the skimmer matters some what, but all comes back to the size of the bubbles. Am i seeing this right?:hmm1:
 
I dont believe in over skimming.. Its mainly going to remove fish poo and extra nutrients in the water column. I over feed and my skimmer is rated up to 125 gallons. My tank is only 20 gallons...and everything is doing great.
 
Alex T. said:
If you're going to have a FOWLR, chances are you're going to overstock it a bit and feed with a heavy hand. Get the best skimmer you can afford. I have a 150 SPS reef with @40 gallons in the sump. I skim wet with an ETSS 900XR. It's rated to skim a 400 gallon sps tank and knocks the crap out of the water.

Then, when you go reef...you're all set. You're not going to find too many that will tell you not to get the largest skimmer you can afford. I've never met anyone who said they skim too much..especially on a FOWLR
Click to expand...

Well i think i can plan to spend less then $1000 on a skimmer. more then that and ill have to considder if its really worth it. I only want to buy one and i dont want to find out its a piece of junk and give it the Boom Stick treatment:wavehand:

As you said it will be FOWLR tank to start, then a few months later ill start in with leathers and Lps. then after i get a handle on that ill move toward SPS.

The skimmers ive been looking at are the Lifereef, Octopus, Bubble King, I-Tech (still havent seen prices on thease). These seem to have there own pros and cons. I know i dont want to hurt anything by getting lets say a skimmer rated for a 1000 gallons and put it on my 185g. That is both a waste of money and im sure it wouldnt skimm all that well, although i could be wrong.

So maybe a skimmer rated for 400g wouldnt hurt anything, and when i do upgrade to lets say a 180DT and a TWV of maybe 280g ill still be ok?
 
huskysglare1 said:
SWC Skimmers are pretty good. I have an SWC 200 and I love it's performance. I got it for 60 bucks.
Click to expand...

Ive been reading up some on SWC Skimmers. They seem to be The same as Octopus, but Octopus beeing the copy of SWC. Im liking the 250A Extreme. Ive also read that the Askoll 1500 pump is much better then the Sicce pumps. Im having some trouble deciding now. I like Lifereefs Claims, but I cant seem to find much infor on them.
 
SWC skimmers and Octopus are made in the same factory so I have herd in china..
As for you Q on the page I posted.. Yes you got the just of it..
I would also look into Deltec Skimmers as I have on and it is a beast..
 
When I saw this thread title I opened it with the intention of linking to the Ken Feldman article haha.

You should add Vertex to your list of skimmers to look at. Very reasonably priced and good performers.
 
The problem with getting to large a skimmer for your system is that it will not pull enough waste to form a stable head of foam. The foam will build and then just collapse pulling no waste out of your water. So yes you can go with a skimmer bigger than you need, but don't go to big as it will be more useless than a skimmer that is to small for your size system.
 
I have a 150g tank and use a SWC300A skimmer. It's rated for 300 gallons with a heavy bioload, and 550 gallons with a light bioload. I have 5 fish, and it's constantly pulling stuff out. At $600 I think it's a pretty good bang for the buck.

I liked what I read about the Askoll pump compared to 2 sicce's.

I'm just starting an upgrade to a 240g tank, and plan to continue using the 300A.

IMO, you can't overskim.
 
the devils advocate says that over skimming will remove nutrients that could be broken down into coral food.
 
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