Skimmer question/tank thread

[s1214215]

Hi

I have a skimmer question

I am debating to skim or not. I will have a large DSB and large chaeto chamber in my sump. If go with skimming, I want skimming that is kind to plankton and wont strip it from the water. I have thought about having a bank of 4+ air lift skimmers like the Red Sea brand rather than a needle wheel skimmer. Are they effective skimmers though and strong enough? the largest is rated to skim 90 gallons. www.redseafish.com/Prod121.asp I have read that prolonged feeding methods can reduce skimming effectiveness for some people.

My tank is 150 gallons and sump will be about 75 gallons. I'd appreciate advice on this.

Also where should I place my tank thread? My main aim is to keep NPS with some SPS if I can keep nutrients low.

Here is my tank thread on my local reef club site. http://www.siamreefclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15075&st=0

Brett

 

[dendro982]

I tried to use refugium with chaeto for my 90g with negative results: it more polluted tank, than cleaned it. Same result was in this thread. Your system may differs, of course.

And I started with similar, but different skimmer model (Lee's large CC skimmer, same wooden air diffuser and a long contact chamber) on this 90g tank. It was not even nearly enough. I have no explanations why, just the result.

As for place for the thread, hard to say. It's unlikely to receive advice on NPS at sps forum, while many NPS people have sps in their systems, but lately not much people are answering at this forum. Maybe vacations time.

HTH
Good luck!

 

[sm51498]

I have the little brother to that thing, while it works ok for my little 30 gallon softie tank it probably won't keep up in a larger tank with a heavy bio load like NPS corals require and I doubt that multiple ones will help, from what I understand they compete instead of help each other.

 

[s1214215]

Hi sm51498 and dendro982

Thanks for the reply. I guess this is the issue for many; how to feed without a super-charged skimmer pulling the plankton out of the water as fast as it goes in.

Sorry if I get some things wrong here. I have been keeping corals for over 8 years, but still have much to learn.

My aim if continuous feeding as Chuck Stottlemeir has done, but as I understand it, needle wheel skimmers are not plankton friendly. What to do then if air driven skimmers are not strong enough? What about if I feed 12 hours then skim in the counter 12 hours?

I had thought to use a large chaeto chamber and DSB as mentioned. I had heard about Chaeto chambers getting fouled with detritus though. One reefer I know said he had to stir his each week to keep it clean. Perhaps I am better of without is and go a bigger dsb.

I had thought about GFO or some other resin based nutrient removers. I havent used reactors before - havent needed to as I keep fish loads low.

What method can you suggest to keep nutrients low. I can see this part of the forum is a bit slow of late. I hope it picks up as I think NPS is the most interesting area of reef keeping.

Brett

 

[sm51498]

From what I understand the Tunze DOC skimmers are supposed to be plankton friendly. Honestly a counter current air driven skimmer is not hard to build and can be very effective. I have one I built that did a cracking job on my 55 before I tore the system down and it was easy and cheap.

 

[dendro982]

I'm not even close to you in experience, trying to do my best in the process of learning to keep them alive and well, so everything I said should be compared to what you had seen in your experience

There is article at athiel site with comparison how the different types of skimmers influence plankton removal, together with other things, you likely had seen it many times:

Aspirating impeller skimmers remove very little trace elements, diatoms or plankton when compared to other skimmer designs. This skimmer is most preferred on clam ,carnation coral or soft coral tanks

Turboflotor 1000 for example. I went through different skimmers and ended with this one. It's better, then previous were, but still learning to adjust it to work efficiently.

I'm also always keeping in the sump a bag with phosphate remover (PhosGuard). Bought Two Little Fishes Phosban reactor, that should work for any chemical media, but didn't connected yet.

What some other keepers are using for filtration in their tanks is here, here and here. The last is a little bit difficult to read - very long and bilingual thread, but there are diagrams of the tank setups of joanxavier (whose tutorial on feeding non-photosynthetic gorgonians is here), and colt, who uses set of powerheads - just like others NPS keepers use wavemakers - for keeping detritus suspended in water column for removing by filtration. Otherwise even next model of the same skimmer was not very useful.

Most are using probiotics (RC thread), UV and/or ozone in addition to quite oversized efficient skimmer, feed small portions almost continuously, without stopping skimmer for a feeding.

 

[s1214215]

dendro982 you are a legend. I havent seen this article on skimmers before, but I like the air driven skimmers that Knopp make. I hadnt heard of them either.

The thing is I know a factory near me that could make me an acrylic skimmer and follow their design I think. It will be cheaper than getting one from them in Germany.

sm51498, thanks again too... Great advice.

 

[dendro982]

:wavehand:

 

[s1214215]

Hey guys

Another question. I was talking to a friend about my skimmer project. He said I was wasting my time as my 2500 gallon ReeFlo Snapper pump will mash my plankton anyway. It will be valved back to 1400 gallons on my two return pipes. What is your opinion on this?

Brett

 

[dendro982]

Sideway thinking: maybe use some corner as in-tank refugium, like Steve Tyree separated the cryptic zone in main tank, by high rockwork. Just a thought.

 

[s1214215]

I know what you mean. I have also seen a method using a small pump to feed water through a large PVC tube filled with live rock, overflowing through a tube into the main tank.

But, the thing is. Will the ReeFlo Snapper destroy plankton, or is my friend exagerating? I have read elsewhere on this forum that pumps (according to experts) dont kill pods. What of plankton then?