Skimmer trade?

[icy1155]

Ok so I bought a used skimmer off of ebay, but the flow is way to high for my little 29gal tank. I think its something like a 290gph wich is way to much flow for my little tank. I was wondering if there is anyone out there that is upgrading or already had done so that was looking to trade their smaller simmer and a couple corals or livestock for a larger skimmer. I saw this skimmer running on a 75gal and they said that it did the job perfectly so around there is the range that I would guess that it works in. I'll post a couple pics if anyone is interested.

Thanks,
Bellamy

 

[Naturebatslast]

Keep the skimmer and set up a sump. What kind of skimmer?

 

[icy1155]

I dont know the brand... pics will be coming later today. I would set up a sump/fuge but the problem is im kind of limited on the $$ so for the moment im gonna have to do without one.

 

[icy1155]

The whole setup...

The Pump... a Maxi Jet MJ1000 with 265gph...

Just the skimmer...

 

[salty3]

Thats a seaclone, not the best skimmer, well not a good skimmer in general. I had one on my 30 gal and it didnt do enough, though I was useing a smaller pump. There are mods for it, go to rc's home page, go to do it your self, then scroll down to skimmers and there is a thread on mods for your seaclone. Good luck, but you might have to upgrade if you want more skimmate. Just my 0.2 though.

 

[Naturebatslast]

Second that, and they are really hard to keep clean. But, I used to run one hanging off the back of a 10 and a 29. I'd recommend, first, get a big bottle of white vinegar and a 5 gal bucket. make a mx of half vinegar and half water. Let the skimmer run in the bucket for a half hour or so. This may help improve efficiency. Next, you can try fixing a "gate" to the output of the skimmer(right where it meets the water. The "gate", for me, seemed to disperse the output and decrease any bubble issues. IMO, the skimmer is under sized even for a 29, but some skimmate is better than none.

 

[smtarr]

I used my SeaClone on my 20g QT and it worked fine, no harder to keep clean than my Amiracle Quad. Now I go skimmerless on my QT. And, I agree some skimmate is better than none. Sue

 

[icy1155]

The flow just seems crazy to me... it is cycling my tank around 10 times an hour through the skimmer... whenever its on my corals all shrink up and dont come out at all when its on...

 

[Naturebatslast]

That's weird, because it's only powered by a MaxiJet 1200. Do you get any skimmate?

 

[icy1155]

Well I only have a 29gal so 265 gph just from the simmer is quite a bit of flow... I havent left it running long enough to collect any skimmate... the longest it was on was around 7 minutes at which point my ricordea and mushrooms shrunk up, my zoas all closed, and the hammer i got from you deflated... i didnt dare leave it on any longer.

 

[Naturebatslast]

Flow-wise, IMO, 265 isn't that much by itself, it's only turning your tank over less than 10 times and hour. I would turn it on and leave for a day or so and see how everything adjusts. I think everything should do fine.
FWIW, my tank is only a 65, but water circulation in my tank is roughly 2600 gph. In my older 29 gallon, circulation was at least 1000 gph, and that was just LPS and softies. Here's a video of it, 29 gallon with soundtrack. Unfortunately the Seaclone I was using is out of view in the sump.

 

[dad300]

I had a seacloneo n a 29 with a refugium and two additional mj1200's.... let it get used to the flow and it should be fine..

 

[icy1155]

So the ricordea and whatnot should adjust if i leave it on? ... Hmm ill give that a try tomorrow and see how it works. That should **** my shrimp off pretty good

 

[spotfin]

With the pump sucking in air and the water movement through the skimmer, the outflow won't be close to 265gph. You could also try attaching a sponge to the outflow to diffuse bubbles.

 

[Naturebatslast]

So what happened?

 

[icy1155]

I have it set back up but before I plug it in I am trying to find a way to divert the inflow to go against the glass, that way its not directly blowing on any coral but still giving me the circulation. Should have it figured out by the end of the weekend.

 

[smtarr]

Set up an overflow box to deflect the flow. Mine came with a suction cup plastic box. That'll take care of the direct laminar flow issues. Sue