which deluxe

[mrpizzaface]

I am putting together a new system. Display will be 328 gallons, with an attached frag tank of 80 gallons. I plan on stocking heavily. Which size Deluxe should I get?

 

[slief]

I know you say heavy stock load but a heavy stock load by our standards is 1/2” of fish per display gallon & our skimmers are conservatively rated. For a truly heavy fish load they Deluxe 250 would be a great choice but anything short of a heavy load, the 200 would be a good choice as well. If you plan on running an automated fleece set up, then you definitely want to go a size down on the skimmer. Or if you’re running filter socks in intend on swapping them or cleaning them every few days, the same would apply.

 

[mrpizzaface]

I thought i remembered you saying that filter socks had little impact on skimmer sizing in a previous thread, as skimmers removed dissolve organics and particulate organics would be to heavy to attach to bubbles (i am paraphrasing).

I do plan on using filter socks, and changing them at least once a week. Would the 250 struggle to skim on a 300 gallon tank with too small a bioload?

 

[mrpizzaface]

the quote I was thinking of was from this thread
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2631250

 

[slief]

I thought i remembered you saying that filter socks had little impact on skimmer sizing in a previous thread, as skimmers removed dissolve organics and particulate organics would be to heavy to attach to bubbles (i am paraphrasing).

I do plan on using filter socks, and changing them at least once a week. Would the 250 struggle to skim on a 300 gallon tank with too small a bioload?

When I mentioned filter socks, I prefaced it by stating "œswapping them every few days". Some people get anal with their socks and change them daily or every couple days in which case the solids the socks trap never get a change to break down into dissolved solids/dissolved organics much in the same way the fleece removes solids before they break down. If you're like me (which is sounds like you are) and only change them weekly (I went longer) then socks will have very little impact on dissolved organic removal and as such, will have next to no impact on the skimmers performance.

I would not recommend the 250 for a low bio load 300. I ran a 250 on a 480 sized display with over 70 fish in it of which 10 more more were 8-10" fish like tangs, rabbit fish, butterfly fish etc. These skimmers are very conservatively rated and very efficient in dissolved organic removal. Sometimes, less is more and these skimmers perform very well when sized properly to the load at hand. A Deluxe 250 would be OK with a moderate to heavy load in a 300 display but a Deluxe 200 perfectly suited and very consistent with a lighter to moderate load. So if you are planning a truly heavy load, then by all means, get the 250. If you aren't planning on a heavy fish load, then the 200 will be a great choice.

 

[mrpizzaface]

So were you to use a deluxe on your previous 480 gallon system, you would have used the deluxe 250?

 

[slief]

So were you to use a deluxe on your previous 480 gallon system, you would have used the deluxe 250?

Yes. But I also had a fairly heavy load in that system with over 70 very large & smaller fish that were fed a LOT! I contemplated a 300 but I honestly didn't feel as though the load was heavy enough for a 300 and knew the 250 would have been the perfect choice. As I said, the BK skimmers are very conservatively rated and you are far better off having a skimmer that is properly rated to the display load and always consistent than a skimmer that is oversized & hardly consistent. And my system was a total of about 700 gallons. This included the 480 gallon display, 60 gallon display refugium, 40 gallon frag tank and the sump and main refugium under the tank.